1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,280 Hello chefs, This is Chefs PSA Podcast. 2 00:00:02,280 --> 00:00:04,680 I'm your host Andrea Natera. On today's episode, we're gonna 3 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,160 talk about social currency in the kitchen. 4 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:21,160 Stay tuned. This episode of Chef's PSA is 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,280 sponsored by J&R Grills and Smokers. 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,520 Many of you have heard of J&R smokers and grills that 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,360 typically last for decades. I've had the pleasure of using 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,080 them for over 5 years at one of the top restaurants in Austin. 9 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,200 They're beautiful. They gave me the control over 10 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,640 technique and the smoke infused flavors I wanted. 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:37,560 I'm thrilled to have J&R as a sponsor. 12 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,240 Their commitment over the past 50 years speaks for itself. 13 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,760 They understand your passion because it fuels them too. 14 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,800 BBQ or upscale cuisine they always help you deliver. 15 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,440 They build everything in Texas and ship to all 50 states in 16 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,960 over 50 countries. J&R, they'll stand with you. 17 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,080 They've always stood with me. Go to jrmanufacturing.com to 18 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,080 learn more. So before we get started, just a 19 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,280 quick update, Last week I did the Q&A that I do on my 20 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,000 Instagram every Sunday, cigar Sunday Q&A, shout out to Escobar 21 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,160 cigars. And this week, well, this past 22 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,320 week I should say I had to type the answers because I couldn't 23 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:11,440 smoke my cigar because it was very cold outside. 24 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,800 So I I'm starting to have to rethink this a little bit as we 25 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,320 go into winter and it starts to get cold, but there's going to 26 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:20,320 be a lot of weather anomalies that don't make it ideal cigar 27 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,640 weather. So sometimes when it's too cold, 28 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,840 it might be just Q&A Sunday with no cigar. 29 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,480 Anyway, you know, early on I used to do the Q&A directly to 30 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,440 the podcast. There's, I want to say there's 31 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,840 four total episodes. Like I answer your most pondered 32 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,680 questions, part one and two, and then I think there was a fall 33 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:40,680 episode where I answer your questions as well. 34 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:42,320 Anyway, you can go back and listen to those. 35 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,320 The good thing about those Q&A S when I do them on the podcast is 36 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,880 I can answer them in a longer format where when I do them on 37 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,440 Instagram, it's very short. I think Instagram gives you like 38 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,240 30 seconds to a minute to answer them and sometimes they're deep 39 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:55,960 questions. I could some of them I could do 40 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,960 a whole podcast on, but the clock is ticking and I got to 41 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,760 get my most witty answer out while smoking a cigar, looking 42 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,040 at the clock and drinking that old fashioned. 43 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:09,000 So sometimes my answers are a bit brief and also some of the 44 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,760 questions are a bit vague. Anyway, if you want me to go 45 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,480 back to doing a long format Q&A session on the podcast, let me 46 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,720 know. I do get a lot of questions 47 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:22,200 regarding having guests on the podcast and honestly right now 48 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,280 that's not something that I intend on doing. 49 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:29,160 You listen to this podcast since episode one to now episode 71. 50 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,200 You'll note that I've had exactly 0 guests on the podcast 51 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,720 and if I ever do venture out to a guest centric podcast, I'd 52 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,920 love to do chef smoking cigars talking crap podcast. 53 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,040 But I need a cigar lounge for that. 54 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:48,040 So if someone wants to invest in getting me a cigar lounge, we 55 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:49,880 could do chef smoking cigars podcast. 56 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,040 Anyway, if you want to support the show, go to chefspsa.com, go 57 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,840 get the books Culinary Leadership Fundamentals, which 58 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,120 honestly is probably the most important book for all chefs. 59 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,400 Then Kitchen Art of War is, you know, advanced strategy for 60 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,000 chefs. Bad sue good chef is for the new 61 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,040 sous chefs. And you know, maybe sometimes 62 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:08,560 when you have all these questions that are going through 63 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,200 your mind and you don't know who to ask, that's the book that you 64 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,640 want. I based that off a lot of the 65 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:17,080 Q&A questions that I get and also questions that I would have 66 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,920 when I was a sous chef or that my sous chefs used to ask me. 67 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,920 Line cook survival manual, which I think is the book that line 68 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:26,520 cooks and new cooks need, as well as how not to be the 69 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,600 biggest idiot in the kitchen, which not everyone needs that 70 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,280 It's more of a joke book. There's some practical advice in 71 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:33,600 there too, but it's a lot of jokes. 72 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,240 Now the topic at hand, Social currency in the kitchen. 1st, we 73 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,520 should probably explain what social currency is. 74 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,440 Social currency is like money. Money is currency. 75 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,440 Social currency is your value that you bring to social 76 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:50,400 settings, The kitchen being the social setting that we're 77 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,760 discussing right now. Someone asked me the other day 78 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,720 if I could explain what it's like for new cooks to navigate 79 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,120 in the kitchen now. There's a lot that they don't 80 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,440 tell you on culinary school, and there's a lot that you figure 81 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:00,920 out once you get into the kitchen. 82 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,200 And I think the transition for some people can be shocking, 83 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:06,680 especially if you're coming right out of high school and 84 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,640 going into culinary school, or if you're skipping culinary 85 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,080 school and going straight from high school into a restaurant 86 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,880 job. And what you quickly find out is 87 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,959 no matter what your social status was in high school or if 88 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:22,840 you're a career changer in the previous job, it is completely 89 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:24,840 null and void when you step into a kitchen. 90 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:26,840 Now, I don't want people to misconstrue what I'm saying. 91 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:29,920 I think there should be a baseline of respect in all 92 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:31,280 kitchens. Everyone should be treated with 93 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:33,640 dignity and respect. I think kindness goes a long 94 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,280 way. I think chefs need to do a 95 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:39,880 better job at respecting people up and down the hierarchy and 96 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:41,720 not not. And when I say chefs, I'm, you 97 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,240 know, I'm, I'm painting a picture that all chefs don't do 98 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,160 that, but a lot of chefs do. I'm just saying in general, the 99 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,160 stigma that the industry has is that chefs are egotistical and 100 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:52,880 tyrannical. That's not the case with 101 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:54,880 everything. As I've said before, there's 102 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:56,880 good people and there's bad people, and some of those good 103 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,120 people and bad people happen to become chefs. 104 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,720 It doesn't mean that chefs attract bad people. 105 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,880 It's just there's just kind of a mix of people out there in the 106 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:06,560 world. So I want to establish that 107 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,200 first and foremost there should be a a baseline of respect 108 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,400 throughout all kitchens. But when we're talking about 109 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,120 social currency and you're new to the industry, you might 110 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,880 quickly discover that the social currency that you had in your 111 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,520 previous industry, school, college, whatever the case may 112 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,680 be, is null and void when you step into the kitchen. 113 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:24,520 And why is that? Because the only thing that 114 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,080 really matters when you're in the kitchen is can you cook and 115 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,160 how do you work the line? And are you responsible and do 116 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,640 you show up when I need you? Do you help out the team? 117 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,720 Do you clean? Do you work efficiently? 118 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,960 Do you cause me problems? Social currency in the kitchen 119 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,200 is how you work with others. The better you are in the 120 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,080 kitchen, the more social currency you have. 121 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,080 This is what gets people promoted. 122 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,640 When you're building a team, Someone that has a high social 123 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,680 currency meaning their high culinary ability, their ability 124 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,400 to work, that's someone that you call when you're a chef and 125 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,320 you're looking for someone if you know them, if you work with 126 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,200 them in the past. But a lot of new cooks sometimes 127 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,360 have a hard time adjusting to that, because in high school or 128 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,960 college or whatever the case may be, maybe you're coming from a 129 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,400 different industry. The social currency might be the 130 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,360 kind of car you drive, what neighborhood you came from, what 131 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,600 city you're from, how much money your parents have, who your 132 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:19,520 boyfriend is, who your girlfriend is, who your 133 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,560 significant other is, who your circle of friends are. 134 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,360 None of that matters in the kitchen because none of that can 135 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,280 help you when the line is busy. When the line is busy, it 136 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,840 doesn't matter what kind of car you drive and the person who's 137 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,280 in need of your help and needs you to perform could care less 138 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:38,160 what kind of car you drive. When the shit hits the fan, you 139 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,880 have to think about that like you're weeded, 1000 tickets, the 140 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,080 person next to you is going down and then you're like, boy, I 141 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,680 wish you had a better car and maybe we wouldn't be weeded. 142 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,960 No one, no one says that social currency is ability. 143 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:55,120 Now I'm recording this on Halloween 2023 and I have a 144 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,520 slang word that I use and I call it a Halloween ninja. 145 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,200 These are things that I throw around in the kitchen. 146 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:01,640 It's in the culinary dictionary by the way. 147 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,680 You can get at chefs psa.com. It is free, but the term 148 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,480 Halloween ninja means this. A Halloween ninja is someone in 149 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,800 the kitchen who looks the part but is just plain dress up much 150 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,400 like a little kid on Halloween. They dress up like a ninja. 151 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,640 They got the uniform. They got the plastic sword. 152 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:21,720 They got the fake throwing stars. 153 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:23,800 But they're a little kid. They're not real ninjas. 154 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,200 And it's a plastic sword and there's no threat. 155 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,040 Well, the same thing happens in kitchens. 156 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,560 We have Halloween ninjas, the type that look the part. 157 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,240 They get the most expensive apron, most expensive knives 158 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,280 that they don't know how to use. They could talk the talk, but 159 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,760 they cannot walk the walk. And the walk is much more 160 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,880 important than the talk in the kitchen. 161 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,360 Doesn't matter how many culinary terms you know. 162 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,680 Get the culinary dictionary. What matters more is can you 163 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,920 execute on those terms? I could care less if you have a 164 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,360 large vocabulary. If you can't make any of it, I'd 165 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,000 prefer the person that has zero culinary vocabulary but can 166 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:57,640 execute everything in the dictionary. 167 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,520 So it matters not what you look like what you're wearing, it 168 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,960 matters how you perform. Now, I'll be the first one to 169 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,400 say I'm a sucker for a nice apron. 170 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,360 I like the bragard blue aprons. I like fancy, expensive Japanese 171 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,360 knives. But I wouldn't advise someone 172 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,120 who's new in the industry to come in to a new kitchen and 173 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,720 think that just because you have expensive knives and fancy 174 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,080 aprons that that is going to give you social currency. 175 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,360 It's not what's going to give you that social credit is your 176 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,240 ability to perform on the line. How fast you work, how precise 177 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,160 are your knife cuts? Do you know how to braise 178 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,200 properly? Can you make stocks and sauces? 179 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,760 Do you show up on time? That's your social currency. 180 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,760 And in a lot of kitchens, there's always that one person 181 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,440 that is higher level than everyone else. 182 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:42,679 You know, they're they're just, they're just more swan. 183 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:43,840 Yeah. They have more finesse on what 184 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:45,840 they're doing. And everyone always looks up to 185 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:47,320 that person. And they want to be like them. 186 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:48,760 Like, I call that kitchen karate. 187 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,600 You know, the way that they move in the kitchen with precision 188 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,200 and they turn around and they have a pallet knife that just 189 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,880 puts the foie grat or shot on the plate, or they base the 190 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:59,040 scallops just perfectly. They don't tremble. 191 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,200 Their movements all seem calculated. 192 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,800 They're going to put a pan down and it goes directly on the 193 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,840 trivet without having to think. They don't even, they don't even 194 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,600 have to look. They just know where it goes. 195 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,240 I call that kitchen karate. Some people call it the dance, 196 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:14,040 but it's like you want your black belt in kitchen, karate. 197 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,360 To be precise, having a black belt in kitchen karate is high 198 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,280 level social currency. So now let's talk if you have 199 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,560 zero skills, let's say you are new to the kitchen, you're just 200 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:27,000 out of culinary school or it's your first job and everyone in 201 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,800 the kitchen is good and there are levels above you. 202 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,800 As I like to say, they speak three languages and you barely 203 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,440 speak one. What can you do to build that 204 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,280 social currency in the kitchen? Well, if you're lacking in the 205 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,880 culinary skills, there's other things that you could do that 206 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,480 would help you stand out in a positive way. 207 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,680 The first thing is to be respectful in the kitchen. 208 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:46,960 Be respectful to everybody. Let's start there. 209 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,040 Then I would say work at the same pace as everyone else in 210 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:51,520 the kitchen. There's a certain cadence that 211 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:53,120 every kitchen has. If everyone's hustling, you 212 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:54,720 hustle. If everyone's moving to a 213 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,000 certain beat, you move to that same beat. 214 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,000 It doesn't mean that you have to know the recipes, but you just 215 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,720 got to pay attention, use your eyes, and see how quickly people 216 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,840 are moving. You might not know the recipes, 217 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,240 but you can have sense of urgency in your movements. 218 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,080 The next thing I will say is work. 219 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,040 Clean cleanliness is appreciated in every single kitchen that I 220 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:13,680 know. There's not a chef out there 221 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:15,720 that I know that doesn't like clean cooks. 222 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,840 Everyone likes clean cook. No one ever is going to tell 223 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:19,120 you, hey, you need to work dirtier. 224 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,080 It's the exact opposite. Then it's being responsible. 225 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,280 That means showing up on time, being where you're supposed to 226 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:26,640 be when you're supposed to be there. 227 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,360 Responsible also means having a notebook and taking good notes 228 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,360 when you're given directions. If they're giving you a recipe, 229 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,080 write it down. The worst pen is better than the 230 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,120 best. Memory is the expression, and 231 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,160 it's just an expression. I don't want someone freaking 232 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,040 out and saying the worst pen doesn't work. 233 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,240 It's broken, OK, it's it's an expression. 234 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,760 Anyway, we digress. For the person that was going to 235 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:48,880 call me out on that expression, there you go. 236 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,760 You're right. But the lesson is write it down. 237 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:55,200 No chef likes to give you directions and then you come 238 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,600 back every 5 minutes and say what's next? 239 00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,360 Chef, I forgot. Write it down. 240 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:01,680 It's one of the most important tools that you could have is a 241 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:04,000 pen and a notebook. The other thing is ask 242 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:05,840 questions, but know when to be quiet. 243 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,880 And this is a balancing act. You don't want to be the cook 244 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,960 that has 1000 questions at the wrong time, meaning there's a 245 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,320 rail of tickets. Everyone's head down, go, go go. 246 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:15,960 And you're trying to find out what's the recipe for this. 247 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:18,280 Can you tell me how to do that? And you want to have a 248 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,360 conversation with these cooks. It's like social awareness. 249 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,040 You see everyone's head down, quiet. 250 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,680 You also be quiet, put your head down and start working. 251 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,200 But when the time is right, ask questions and write down the 252 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,400 answers and try to avoid asking the same questions twice unless 253 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,000 you need someone to expand on it. 254 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:34,440 And the reason I bring that up is because when you ask the same 255 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,120 question over and over again, people will get tired of telling 256 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:38,640 you because they think you're not paying attention. 257 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:40,880 The next is don't be afraid of the hard work. 258 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,640 The hard work is going to come in every kitchen that you go to. 259 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,720 There, there's hard work in terms of you're on your feet all 260 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,240 day, it's stressful. Or there's also hard work in 261 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,360 terms of someone has to clean the cooler or the freezer or 262 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:53,920 someone has to work the grill station. 263 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:56,400 If you're new in the kitchen, you might not be prepared to 264 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,560 work the harder stations, but you are prepared to organize a 265 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:01,640 cooler. And again, if you're trying to 266 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,760 get social currency and social credit in the kitchen, the 267 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,120 person who cleans the cooler is beloved in everyone's eyes. 268 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,720 And then the last thing I'll say is, and only if you're working 269 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,800 in the type of place that serves a family meal, be the person 270 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,600 that brings the cooks and the team water that goes a long way. 271 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,960 I think that's very underrated. Everyone's hot, they just got 272 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:24,960 slammed. They're thirsty, they're on 273 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,520 their feet all day. It's a kitchen and here you come 274 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,720 with waters for all the cooks. That goes a long way. 275 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,520 Social credit, right? Some people call it the 276 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,360 emotional bank account. You're depositing money in, the 277 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,000 emotional bank account with others, and then of course, 278 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,640 family meal cook for people. I think what's interesting about 279 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,360 family meal in a lot of places is it doesn't necessarily have 280 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,280 to be like super high end food. A lot of times, family meal is 281 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:47,600 they just want something comforting. 282 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,040 And depending on where you're from, you might want to make 283 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,360 something from your home, something that you grew up 284 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:55,640 eating, something from your town, a regional dish. 285 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:57,680 This goes a long way 'cause you know what it is, It's 286 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:00,400 nourishing, it's comforting, and people could taste when food is 287 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,560 cooked with love, as they say. So if you don't have the 288 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,080 culinary skills, those are some things that you could do to 289 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,240 start to get the social credit in your kitchen. 290 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,680 But with all that being said, the fastest way to get social 291 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:13,520 credit in the kitchen is to be good. 292 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,840 Be fucking good on the line, be good with a knife. 293 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,280 The person who knows how to cook walks on water a lot of times, 294 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,880 assuming that they're not a big jerk now in the chef community. 295 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,320 This is something else that I think people think about it. 296 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:27,240 I've touched on this. A lot of people talk about the 297 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,520 operation, and in the operation, the social credit might not be 298 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,320 where you're at the way that you cook because maybe you work in a 299 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,080 place that's very management driven, maybe where you're at. 300 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,640 It's all about the paperwork and making sure the food cost is in 301 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,080 line and turning an inventory and answering emails and showing 302 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:45,680 up to meetings. And so where you're at, the 303 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:49,320 social currency with other departments and other people 304 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,480 that work with you is managerial and administrative. 305 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:54,360 It's important that you recognize that. 306 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:57,760 But it's also important to recognize that in the culinary 307 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,320 community, you can't be standing around a group of chefs and 308 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,720 think that you're going to be invited to the food and the 309 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,480 winemaker dinners and the private Chef Illuminati meetings 310 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,080 because you run a good food cost and you answer your emails. 311 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,600 That's where your social currency comes in as you need to 312 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,840 be a good cook because outside of your four walls, they might 313 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:18,680 not give a shit what your food cost is. 314 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,640 As I often say, no one remembers the person who answered all 315 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,000 their emails and ran a great food cost. 316 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,360 Reputation is made with the food that you create, the people that 317 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:33,000 you help mentor, how you impact how people eat, and how you 318 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,200 impact food systems in your community. 319 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,760 That's where the legacy is. So anyway, start developing your 320 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,920 social currency in your own kitchen and you'll see how many 321 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,440 more doors open for you. For the person that's 322 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,400 questioning why they haven't been promoted or why you keep 323 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,120 getting passed over. Ask yourself that question. 324 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,840 Are you doing those things that we talked about and still 325 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:53,720 getting passed over? Now? 326 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,760 If you are, then you probably need to leave, but chances are 327 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,520 you're not doing everything that you can do to get promoted. 328 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,400 So anyway, if you want to support the show, you know what 329 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,360 to do. Go to chefspsa.com. 330 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,480 You can get all the books Culinary Leadership, 331 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,120 Fundamentals, Bad Sue, Good Chef Kitchen, Art of War, Line Cook 332 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,520 Survival Manual, How Not To Be The Biggest Idiot in the 333 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,800 Kitchen, as well as The Free Ebooks, Food Cost Mastery, 334 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,800 Critical Path to Opening Up A Restaurant, Culinary Terms 335 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,960 Dictionary, 100 Basic Recipes You Got Merch, Happy Cook Hat, 336 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,720 Sucker Free Kitchens, Hoodie. We'll see you next week. 337 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:26,000 Hit the Porno Music.