You're not just doing your job, you're constantly figuring out
your job. And that's exhausting.
And that's what we end up calling pressure.
But a lot of that pressure is actually confusion.
If you've ever worked in a kitchen and it felt like this is
way harder than it should be, not just physically but
mentally, like you're constantly catching up, you're constantly
reacting, then you're probably right, but not for the reason
you think, because it's not just the pressure, it's the system
you're working inside. You're listening to Fugitive
Chefs, a podcast about what happens when chefs step outside
the traditional kitchen part. I'm for Khan, I've worked in
kitchens like Noma and Mugaritz, and today I work outside
restaurants, currently as senior innovation chef at Kraft Heinz.
And this episode comes from something I've been thinking
about a lot recently, especially after speaking to Fabian on last
week's episode, who's building tools to improve how kitchens
actually run. But this one is not about his
product, it's about something bigger.
I think more chefs feel, but they don't really have a
language for when kitchens feel hard.
We usually explain it in very obvious ways.
We say it's long hours, it's physical, it's stressful, it's
service pressure. And all of that is true.
But at the same time, here's what I've also started
questioning. If that's the only reason, then
why do kitchens feel more intense and chaotic than other
jobs? Because if you think about it,
Healthcare is intense, construction is very physical,
startups are stressful, startups, entrepreneurship, all
this is super stressful. It's unpredictable.
But kitchens feel messy, like things are falling apart very
quickly in there. And I don't think that's just
because of the work itself. I think it's because of the how
the work is structured in most restaurants that we know today.
Let me explain what I mean with something very simple.
Think about, think about prep. Think about how prep is done in
kitchens. In most kitchens, you will come
in, you check a prep list. But that prep list is written
differently every day. Sometimes it's clear, sometimes
it's not. Then you ask someone, do we not
need more of this? Do you check your stock?
They say, will you ask if they need more?
They say, yeah, maybe. I think so.
Or they say check the fridge or ask the sous chef.
So now when you're already checking, asking, confirming,
and if this is happening for everything, think of every
person in the kitchen. If it's so people dependent,
people controlled, it happens for recipes, you might find 2-3
versions of it. And this is not just
restaurants, it's also in like massive innovation kitchens and
companies that I work with today, there's like 6-7 versions
of same recipes, different formats, different measurements,
different times of they've been updated or used for particular
events or particular purposes. Ordering.
Imagine the whole ordering processes are also tied into
these kind of messy systems. It's all in someone's head.
The station setup depends on who's working that day.
Every station in in most restaurants, I'm not talking
about the fine dining, because there's a lot of other dynamics
of Labor that make things work the way they work.
But in most restaurants, the work becomes very personal.
So what happens in all these situations is that you're not
just doing your job, you're constantly figuring out your
job. And that's exhausting.
And that's what we end up calling pressure.
But a lot of that pressure is actually confusion.
It's not really the physical pressure of the job, fixing
things last minute, repeating conversations, making mistakes
that could have been avoided. That's not intensity, that's
inefficiency. And that's what makes, when I
spoke about construction and all these jobs, when I said them,
these are really intense jobs. But ours seems like for most,
and this isn't, I can't put all of them into one bubble, but
most restaurants which are chaotic and where I hear people
from that they're stressed in those environments.
It's the inefficiency. It's not, it's not the
intensity. So the question is, if this is
so obvious, why hasn't it changed?
And from what I've seen, it comes down to three things.
First time, no one has time to step back and fix systems in
restaurants. At least that's what people keep
saying, that they do not have the time for it.
You're always in service mode, you're always reacting.
You're never really designing for a system.
You're never really intentionally making a system
that will work, but you're just reacting to a system that
doesn't exist, to a system that has come up and was very
personal to the person who has been in that position before
you, who's possibly managing your job.
It's based upon them. Second, I would say the second
factor in this is culture. This is belief that this is just
how kitchens are. The struggle is a part of the
identity that if it's chaotic, it means real.
And actually, if it only means real, if it's chaotic, it only
means if you work in a kitchen, if it is chaotic, it's like
together in a very, I don't know, very respected way for
some reason for no, for no, for no real reason to it.
And I think that's dangerous. And I would say the third piece
over here is lack of exposure. Most chefs have never seen a
different way of working, so they assume this is normal.
They keep switching between kitchens, which are all chaotic,
so it feels like it's normal. And if something feels normal,
you don't really question it. Right now.
This is the part I wish someone had told me earlier.
If you're in a kitchen and thinking I'm not fast enough, I
am not organized enough, I'm not cut out for this sometimes.
Believe me, it's not you. It could be you.
I mean, this is a podcast which a lot of people listen.
It's about you. How to take interpret this
because this is me speaking my mind out loud and everything I
say is my truth. It's not your truth, but there
are pieces that could match your puzzle.
So when I when I say that when you feel you're not fast enough
or organized enough or knock it out for this, it could be that
it's not you. There is a high chance that it's
just that you're inside a very badly designed system.
And no matter how skilled you are, a bad system will always
slow you down. And that changes drastically how
you see your career. Because now it's not just about
becoming better, it's about understanding the environment
you're in and what can you do within that environment without
questioning it and challenging it.
If you're not in that position, if you're in position, of course
it's upon you to challenge it. But if you're not in that
position, judge yourself very relative to the environment
you're in Now. Obviously you can't redesign
your whole kitchen tomorrow, but you can start noticing things
differently. Start asking yourself, making
notes, journaling, especially if you're interning, especially if
you're starting out, because you have the room to do that for
yourself. Where do mistakes keep
happening? What do we repeat every single
day? Where do people get confused?
Those are system problems and even small changes help writing
clear prep list, organizing recipes, documenting what works
in these scenarios. Not because it's corporate, not
because suddenly we can all work in offices and take notes and
sit down in desks, but it's because it creates breathing
room. And honestly, that's what most
kitchens are are missing. I feel they're, they're missing
this because in the rush of things, they're just repeating
very consciously what they know doesn't work.
But it's just going to get them to the end of that service.
So if you're thinking about these things more seriously,
that's exactly why I have built Fugitive Chef Circle.
We meet once a month. It's a small group where chefs
are figuring out all of this together.
The link is in the description. And maybe the take away from
this episode is simple. Kitchens are not just hard.
They're not just hard places to work at.
They're often badly engineered. And once you see that, you stop
blaming yourself for everything. If this resonated, share it with
someone who might need to hear it.
I will see you in the next episode.