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You're not just doing your job, 
you're constantly figuring out 

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your job. 
And that's exhausting. 

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And that's what we end up 
calling pressure. 

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But a lot of that pressure is 
actually confusion. 

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If you've ever worked in a 
kitchen and it felt like this is

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way harder than it should be, 
not just physically but 

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mentally, like you're constantly
catching up, you're constantly 

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reacting, then you're probably 
right, but not for the reason 

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you think, because it's not just
the pressure, it's the system 

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you're working inside. 
You're listening to Fugitive 

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Chefs, a podcast about what 
happens when chefs step outside 

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the traditional kitchen part. 
I'm for Khan, I've worked in 

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kitchens like Noma and Mugaritz,
and today I work outside 

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restaurants, currently as senior
innovation chef at Kraft Heinz. 

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And this episode comes from 
something I've been thinking 

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about a lot recently, especially
after speaking to Fabian on last

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week's episode, who's building 
tools to improve how kitchens 

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actually run. 
But this one is not about his 

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product, it's about something 
bigger. 

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I think more chefs feel, but 
they don't really have a 

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language for when kitchens feel 
hard. 

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We usually explain it in very 
obvious ways. 

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We say it's long hours, it's 
physical, it's stressful, it's 

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service pressure. 
And all of that is true. 

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But at the same time, here's 
what I've also started 

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questioning. 
If that's the only reason, then 

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why do kitchens feel more 
intense and chaotic than other 

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jobs? 
Because if you think about it, 

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Healthcare is intense, 
construction is very physical, 

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startups are stressful, 
startups, entrepreneurship, all 

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this is super stressful. 
It's unpredictable. 

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But kitchens feel messy, like 
things are falling apart very 

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quickly in there. 
And I don't think that's just 

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because of the work itself. 
I think it's because of the how 

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the work is structured in most 
restaurants that we know today. 

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Let me explain what I mean with 
something very simple. 

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Think about, think about prep. 
Think about how prep is done in 

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kitchens. 
In most kitchens, you will come 

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in, you check a prep list. 
But that prep list is written 

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differently every day. 
Sometimes it's clear, sometimes 

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it's not. 
Then you ask someone, do we not 

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need more of this? 
Do you check your stock? 

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They say, will you ask if they 
need more? 

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They say, yeah, maybe. 
I think so. 

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Or they say check the fridge or 
ask the sous chef. 

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So now when you're already 
checking, asking, confirming, 

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and if this is happening for 
everything, think of every 

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person in the kitchen. 
If it's so people dependent, 

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people controlled, it happens 
for recipes, you might find 2-3 

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versions of it. 
And this is not just 

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restaurants, it's also in like 
massive innovation kitchens and 

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companies that I work with 
today, there's like 6-7 versions

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of same recipes, different 
formats, different measurements,

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different times of they've been 
updated or used for particular 

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events or particular purposes. 
Ordering. 

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Imagine the whole ordering 
processes are also tied into 

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these kind of messy systems. 
It's all in someone's head. 

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The station setup depends on 
who's working that day. 

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Every station in in most 
restaurants, I'm not talking 

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about the fine dining, because 
there's a lot of other dynamics 

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of Labor that make things work 
the way they work. 

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But in most restaurants, the 
work becomes very personal. 

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So what happens in all these 
situations is that you're not 

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just doing your job, you're 
constantly figuring out your 

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job. 
And that's exhausting. 

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And that's what we end up 
calling pressure. 

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But a lot of that pressure is 
actually confusion. 

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It's not really the physical 
pressure of the job, fixing 

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things last minute, repeating 
conversations, making mistakes 

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that could have been avoided. 
That's not intensity, that's 

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inefficiency. 
And that's what makes, when I 

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spoke about construction and all
these jobs, when I said them, 

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these are really intense jobs. 
But ours seems like for most, 

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and this isn't, I can't put all 
of them into one bubble, but 

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most restaurants which are 
chaotic and where I hear people 

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from that they're stressed in 
those environments. 

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It's the inefficiency. 
It's not, it's not the 

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intensity. 
So the question is, if this is 

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so obvious, why hasn't it 
changed? 

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And from what I've seen, it 
comes down to three things. 

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First time, no one has time to 
step back and fix systems in 

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restaurants. 
At least that's what people keep

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saying, that they do not have 
the time for it. 

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You're always in service mode, 
you're always reacting. 

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You're never really designing 
for a system. 

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You're never really 
intentionally making a system 

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that will work, but you're just 
reacting to a system that 

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doesn't exist, to a system that 
has come up and was very 

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personal to the person who has 
been in that position before 

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you, who's possibly managing 
your job. 

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It's based upon them. 
Second, I would say the second 

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factor in this is culture. 
This is belief that this is just

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how kitchens are. 
The struggle is a part of the 

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identity that if it's chaotic, 
it means real. 

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And actually, if it only means 
real, if it's chaotic, it only 

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means if you work in a kitchen, 
if it is chaotic, it's like 

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together in a very, I don't 
know, very respected way for 

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some reason for no, for no, for 
no real reason to it. 

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And I think that's dangerous. 
And I would say the third piece 

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over here is lack of exposure. 
Most chefs have never seen a 

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different way of working, so 
they assume this is normal. 

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They keep switching between 
kitchens, which are all chaotic,

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so it feels like it's normal. 
And if something feels normal, 

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you don't really question it. 
Right now. 

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This is the part I wish someone 
had told me earlier. 

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If you're in a kitchen and 
thinking I'm not fast enough, I 

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am not organized enough, I'm not
cut out for this sometimes. 

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Believe me, it's not you. 
It could be you. 

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I mean, this is a podcast which 
a lot of people listen. 

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It's about you. 
How to take interpret this 

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because this is me speaking my 
mind out loud and everything I 

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say is my truth. 
It's not your truth, but there 

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are pieces that could match your
puzzle. 

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So when I when I say that when 
you feel you're not fast enough 

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or organized enough or knock it 
out for this, it could be that 

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it's not you. 
There is a high chance that it's

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just that you're inside a very 
badly designed system. 

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And no matter how skilled you 
are, a bad system will always 

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slow you down. 
And that changes drastically how

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you see your career. 
Because now it's not just about 

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becoming better, it's about 
understanding the environment 

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you're in and what can you do 
within that environment without 

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questioning it and challenging 
it. 

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If you're not in that position, 
if you're in position, of course

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it's upon you to challenge it. 
But if you're not in that 

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position, judge yourself very 
relative to the environment 

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you're in Now. 
Obviously you can't redesign 

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your whole kitchen tomorrow, but
you can start noticing things 

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differently. 
Start asking yourself, making 

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notes, journaling, especially if
you're interning, especially if 

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you're starting out, because you
have the room to do that for 

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yourself. 
Where do mistakes keep 

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happening? 
What do we repeat every single 

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day? 
Where do people get confused? 

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Those are system problems and 
even small changes help writing 

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clear prep list, organizing 
recipes, documenting what works 

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in these scenarios. 
Not because it's corporate, not 

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because suddenly we can all work
in offices and take notes and 

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sit down in desks, but it's 
because it creates breathing 

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room. 
And honestly, that's what most 

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kitchens are are missing. 
I feel they're, they're missing 

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this because in the rush of 
things, they're just repeating 

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very consciously what they know 
doesn't work. 

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But it's just going to get them 
to the end of that service. 

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So if you're thinking about 
these things more seriously, 

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that's exactly why I have built 
Fugitive Chef Circle. 

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We meet once a month. 
It's a small group where chefs 

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are figuring out all of this 
together. 

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The link is in the description. 
And maybe the take away from 

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this episode is simple. 
Kitchens are not just hard. 

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They're not just hard places to 
work at. 

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They're often badly engineered. 
And once you see that, you stop 

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blaming yourself for everything.
If this resonated, share it with

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someone who might need to hear 
it. 

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I will see you in the next 
episode.