1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,200 Hello Chefs, This is Chefs PSA Podcast. 2 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,760 I'm your host, Andre Natera. On today's episode we're going 3 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,880 to talk about red flags for chefs and for cooks. 4 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:22,000 Stay tuned. This episode of Chefs PSA is 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,120 sponsored by J&R Grills and Smokers. 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,560 I use J&R Smokers and Grills for over 5 years as a chef and I can 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,760 tell you there is a huge difference. 8 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,360 Cooking over live fire or smoking with wood then using 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,320 gas. There's only one way to get that 10 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,360 real wood flavor and now they've just released the J&R Vault 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,240 holding cabinet. It'll probably be the last 12 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,240 holding cabinet you'll ever buy. 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Before we get started, I'm going 24 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,880 to give you all a brief update. I have some new merch just came 25 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:16,120 out. Chef's PSA. 26 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,040 Merch established 2022 because that's when I started Chef's 27 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,420 PSA. So there's a hoodie, there's a 28 00:01:22,420 --> 00:01:26,800 T-shirt. It has a stoic face, straight 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,960 faced chef on it. Go get it. 30 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,440 Wear it with pride. Show some support for your 31 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,320 favorite chefs podcast. I appreciate it. 32 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,040 It's Christmas season, so go to chefspsa.com where you could get 33 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:42,400 the merge including those new hoodies and T-shirts, the books 34 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,600 Culinary Leadership Fundamentals Line Cook Survival Manual. 35 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,760 Which by the way, if you didn't know, both of those are Amazon 36 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,400 Bestsellers Best selling author two Times Now, How Not to Be the 37 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:56,160 Biggest Idiot in the Kitchen Kitchen, Art of War and Bad Sue, 38 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,800 Good Chef. Speaking of Bad Sue, Good Chef, 39 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:00,920 I'm in the process of writing the next book. 40 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,720 I'm tentatively calling it Bad Cooks Everywhere, and it will be 41 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,240 in that same series of The Bad Sue Good Chef. 42 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,919 So make sure you go read that book first before you read this 43 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,120 one to provide context. But I'm already working on that 44 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:14,680 and let's see how long set your watch. 45 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,360 Let's see how long it takes me to get this done. 46 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,120 I redesigned the cover and I put it up on my Instagram today 47 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,680 because the first cover that was like animated style didn't get 48 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,160 enough feedback on it that it was the one. 49 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,360 So I redesigned it, changed the name. 50 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,600 So originally it was bad cooks, bad chefs. 51 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,560 Now it's just bad cooks everywhere. 52 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,320 This is the new book cover. If you're listening on Spotify, 53 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,560 you can't see it. But anyway, here's video on 54 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:38,720 Spotify. You can figure it out. 55 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:41,080 If you're watching on YouTube, obviously you can see it. 56 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,280 Make sure you hit the subscribe button, The thumbs up. 57 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,800 If you're listening on Spotify, make sure you leave five stars. 58 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,360 It's five star podcast, nothing less than five stars, because 59 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,720 that would make you a liar. And we don't like liars. 60 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,880 Anyway, today's subject is red flags and I put up on my 61 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,040 Instagram stories today to encourage people to share their 62 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,960 red flag stories, and there's some good ones in there. 63 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,040 But I'm going to talk to you about red flags today and some 64 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,960 things that I look for that I consider red flags when I'm 65 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,360 hiring cooks and chefs. Everything from the job 66 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,200 interview to their first impressions at work when they 67 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,200 start and things that I'm looking for when I'm out looking 68 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,120 for a job as a chef and things that I would encourage people to 69 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,200 look out for when you're interviewing. 70 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,800 Because remember, an interview is always a two way St. you're 71 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:27,880 interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. 72 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,720 So keep that in mind. Here's a a little story. 73 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,000 When I was a young chef, I took a chef job and during the 74 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,840 interview process I could tell that the person interviewing me 75 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,240 who was going to be my boss, did not like me and cut the 76 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,600 interview short. Basically talked about 77 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,960 themselves the entire time, answering questions that I 78 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,000 didn't ask, didn't want to know anything about me, and then 79 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,200 called me up a week later and told me I didn't get the job but 80 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,920 I really wanted this job. This was like the dream job for 81 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,800 me. Well, this person's boss was 82 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,600 good friends with a good friend of mine, so they got a phone 83 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,360 call saying you need to hire Andre. 84 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,600 And so after they rejected me, they called me back a couple of 85 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,080 weeks later to find out if I was still interested in the job. 86 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,440 Now that should have been a red flag because I would have been 87 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,160 working for someone that was forced to hire me, but I was 88 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,360 young and stupid and really wanted the job, so I took the 89 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,800 job anyway. Now this person, my boss, also 90 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,880 wanted to dictate how I ran the kitchen, how I cooked, what I 91 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,840 put on the menu, and was very upfront about that early on in 92 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:27,680 the interview process. But in my opinion I was like, 93 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,400 well, once they see my food, they'll quickly change their 94 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:31,920 mind. Boy, was I wrong. 95 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,240 And I ended up being basically a puppet on some strings. 96 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,320 Running the kitchen the way someone else wanted me to run 97 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,520 it, cooking someone else's food and really having, you know, my 98 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,560 wings clipped, basically as an exact chef. 99 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,400 And there was all sorts of red flags, and I knew them early on, 100 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,880 before I even took the job, but I wanted the job so bad that I 101 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,640 did it anyway. That's a lesson for me. 102 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,360 Sometimes the red flags are staring you right in the face 103 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,720 and you refuse to notice them because you're blinded by, you 104 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,480 know, the shiny new object or whatever the case may be. 105 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,160 But we digress. It's important that you identify 106 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,400 red flags early on, before you're taking a job. 107 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,880 It's important that you identify red flags when you're 108 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,280 interviewing someone. And early on when someone starts 109 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:16,120 working for you, you will save yourself so many headaches as 110 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,200 the chef taking on a new job or a cook taking on a new job. 111 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,400 If you're going into a kitchen that you don't want to be in and 112 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,240 you notice it early on because trust me, the signs are there. 113 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:25,920 The signs are there. When you're interviewing 114 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,240 someone, if there can be a problem later on, they're not 115 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,960 always there, but the majority of the time when you really self 116 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,880 analyze it afterwards, you could usually say yeah, the red flags 117 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,600 were there and I just chose not to see them. 118 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,680 When someone starts, red flags are all over. 119 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,840 It's important that you address them early on because it starts 120 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,480 to build up and then it becomes a bigger problem later on. 121 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,320 So let's talk about the hiring process. 122 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:50,760 Having a consistent resume is important. 123 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:52,600 So you know, that's that's the first introduction. 124 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:54,520 Where are the red flags going to be in the resume? 125 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,720 Well, for me the red flag is how long have they been in positions 126 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,960 and what are their patterns? You know, something I talk about 127 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,320 often is that don't be blindsided by people. 128 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,040 Because when you think about it, if you expect them to be 129 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,400 themselves, you'll never be disappointed. 130 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,880 Meaning if they have a history of doing something, don't be 131 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,080 shocked when they do it again because you could see it coming 132 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,920 a mile away. If they have a history of 133 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,160 changing jobs every three months, why would you think that 134 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,560 you're going to be any different and then you're shocked when 135 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,360 they do? If they have a history of doing 136 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,760 something, a good predictor of future performance is past 137 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,640 behavior, Like that's one O 1. So if you want to know what 138 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,880 someone's going to do when they work for you, figure out what 139 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,880 they did in the past good ways. Just ask open-ended questions. 140 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,040 Get them to tell you stories, Probe a little bit, see how they 141 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,440 think, see how they work. Now, of course, there's always 142 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,440 exceptions to the rule. A lot of people had to go 143 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,560 through a lot of jobs during the COVID era, but that should that 144 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,000 should be obvious to you. It's an exception to the rule 145 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,080 because maybe you had to deal with that as well. 146 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:54,360 But if you look at previously, if everywhere that they work, 147 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,880 they're they're one month, two months, three months. 148 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,720 They have nothing but bad things to say about their former 149 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,680 employer. It's always someone else's 150 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,000 fault. It's never their fault. 151 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:05,280 They avoid personal responsibility. 152 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,720 Those are all red flags to me, especially speaking badly about 153 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:10,520 a former employer. If they're going to speak badly 154 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,880 about a former employer to you who they just met, they will 155 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,920 surely speak badly about you. It's not a good sign. 156 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,360 There's a tactful and professional way to just say it 157 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,640 just wasn't a good fit versus all sorts of bad things and 158 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:25,400 personal things that you could say about them. 159 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,960 And yeah, just just don't remain professional. 160 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,480 A lot of times if someone's jumped around a job four or five 161 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,320 times and everywhere else is toxic and they're great, you 162 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,120 start to wonder if maybe they're the toxic one. 163 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,720 Another red flag is when people say that they were looking to 164 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,800 cut cost and their position got eliminated. 165 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,160 Now that does happen. Restaurants do cut costs and 166 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,480 positions do get eliminated, but if their position has been 167 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,240 eliminated multiple times, read between the lines. 168 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,840 If they're always getting their position eliminated, it's 169 00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:00,640 usually because they've been deemed the person who is not 170 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:02,600 necessary for the operation to function. 171 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,120 And trust me, these conversations happen behind the 172 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,240 scenes where you're saying whose job is going to get eliminated. 173 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,000 And if that person's job always gets eliminated, why were they 174 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,240 always first choice? You have to ask yourself those 175 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,560 questions, make sure you check the references. 176 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:20,000 I know, I know, it's common sense, like you got to be a real 177 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,240 dummy to put a reference on there. 178 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,440 That's not going to say something good about you, but 179 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,880 I've had situations where I've called people's references and 180 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:29,800 say, what do you think about this person? 181 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,200 And there was, there was one situation where someone said 182 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:34,120 what? They put me down as a reference. 183 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:34,840 Really. Me. 184 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,520 I can't believe that they would put me down as a reference 185 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,520 considering how they left. It's like, Oh yeah, all the all 186 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:42,840 the alarm bells were going off in the red flags. 187 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:44,920 But I was stupid. I ended up hiring that person 188 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,440 and yeah, I should have listened to the reference. 189 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,240 Sometimes I got blinded by really nice resumes and 190 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,640 experience and then I didn't trust my gut or the feedback or 191 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:57,440 the I didn't notice the red flags. 192 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,160 And then I'd hire people and they they just we're not a good 193 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,600 fit. When I hire chefs, executive 194 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,120 chefs, sous chefs or anything like that, sometimes even cooks, 195 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,320 I normally put them through some sort of cooking trial, you know, 196 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:11,480 with the cook it might be just something simple like dice and 197 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,360 onion or there's a stash of some sort paid stash, you know, for 198 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,160 clarity. Or I put a chef through a 199 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,640 cooking mystery basket or tell them to cook food like the style 200 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,520 of restaurant. Now, my go to cooking test, the 201 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:25,560 one that I've been using the most often, and I've talked 202 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:28,760 about this on another podcast, Mastering the Cooking interview, 203 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:33,080 is normally an artichoke, a live lobster, a whole fish, a whole 204 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,960 chicken, and then make something impressive. 205 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,320 And the reason I give some of those things is because a lot of 206 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,680 people may have advanced their culinary career without ever 207 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,200 breaking down an artichoke or a lobster. 208 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,040 You know, they buy lobster tails only. 209 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,000 So they haven't started from live, or they've bought chicken 210 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,040 parts and they've never butchered a whole chicken. 211 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,520 Or they've never even cleaned an artichoke because they've always 212 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,200 bought them cleaned. Or in cans or in oil or 213 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:57,120 something like that. And you'd be surprised how many 214 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,520 people don't show up once they find out that they got to do a 215 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,640 cooking interview. It's always the same excuse, 216 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,520 like, oh, you know, something came up, they took another job. 217 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,920 But just having a cooking interview sometimes eliminates a 218 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:09,920 lot of the riff raff that would be by advice. 219 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,400 Like if you're hiring people, have them go through some form 220 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,360 of cooking interview, Make it a little bit difficult. 221 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:15,800 You don't want to make it too easy. 222 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,240 But when they find out that they have a cooking interview and 223 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,640 they don't show up, well, you may have just dodged a bullet. 224 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:23,080 Then when it comes to the cooking interview, it's all the 225 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:24,840 other red flags. Like how clean do they work? 226 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,440 Do they work messy? Like that's usually the first 227 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,280 big red flag to me. Do they prep their own museum 228 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,920 Plas or do they have the audacity to steal the museum 229 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:35,600 Plas of the kitchen that they're working in? 230 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,800 And and then say they made it, Which I have seen that happen 231 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,640 before. I've seen people just grab 232 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,160 random things out of the cooler that they don't know what it is, 233 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:45,640 and then just put it on their dish. 234 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,720 And then I look at it and like, I'm pretty sure that we made 235 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,640 that only to find out, yeah, you know, afterwards you talk to the 236 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,520 chefs and like, Oh yeah, it was you rated our me's, stole all 237 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,760 our product. It's like, OK, yeah, red flag 238 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:58,400 showing up late for the interview. 239 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,840 Red flag. Poor hygiene, not looking the 240 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:01,720 part. When they show up for an 241 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,000 interview, like, dress for the part that you want. 242 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,600 If you're going to work in a very fine establishment, you 243 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,720 want to look professional. If it's a very casual place, 244 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,440 might not be as important. But look the part. 245 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,600 In other words, you don't want to show up in a baseball cap, 246 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,200 T-shirt, and jeans to the five star hotel or the three Michelin 247 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,040 star restaurant, because that might not be the look that 248 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:21,920 they're going for. They might want something more 249 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,280 professional. However, you wouldn't want to 250 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,960 show up in a business suit or a tuxedo. 251 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,160 You wouldn't wear a tuxedo to the park to play volleyball. 252 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:30,600 Same. Same thing applies. 253 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:32,200 Dress appropriate for the occasion. 254 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,800 Situational awareness. Have some common sense, right? 255 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,280 self-awareness goes a very long way. 256 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,560 The other thing is when you're interviewing people is just 257 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:42,880 their inability to answer basic cooking questions. 258 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,520 You know, they have this culinary school diploma or 259 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,000 degree and then you ask them, you know, what's the five mother 260 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,120 sauces? And it's like, you know, they 261 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:51,400 fumble around. They don't know them. 262 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:54,400 How do you make a Roux? What's a basic vinaigrette 263 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:56,000 recipe? You know, the basics. 264 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,360 I'm not even talking about things that are very complex or 265 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,600 like fringe skill sets. I'm talking about the basics. 266 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,400 When they can't answer basic cooking questions, red flag, a 267 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,880 personal red flag for me and it it's not a huge red flag. 268 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,240 But when they start telling me that they want to get their food 269 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:13,840 on their menu and they're applying for a cook position and 270 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:15,720 they have no experience or they're right out of culinary 271 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,160 school. Now I get why they want to do 272 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:18,040 that. They want to express their 273 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,480 creativity, they want to do good, they want to learn. 274 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,640 But that's not something for me that I look for on an interview. 275 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:27,280 I want to know that you could do the food that we're doing in the 276 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,880 particular restaurant. And a lot of times it's again, 277 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:31,440 it comes down to that self-awareness. 278 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,800 You're just out of culinary school and you're going into, 279 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,560 you know, a restaurant on the world's fifty best and you can't 280 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,360 wait to tell the chef how to make their food. 281 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,520 Like come on, make sure your brain isn't so smooth. 282 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:45,760 Now, when people start a new job, first day on the job, are 283 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:47,680 they on time? Do they show up awake and ready? 284 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:51,240 As I'd like to say, proper uniform, knives in hand, maybe a 285 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,760 little bit early, but showing up late on your first day. 286 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,000 Red flag calling to change the schedule. 287 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,960 First day Red Flag Requesting massive amounts of time off 288 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:01,800 immediately after taking the job. 289 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,440 Red Flag asking for a raise on your first date. 290 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,680 Red Flag talking to other cooks in the kitchen about how much 291 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:11,000 they make? Red Flag Those are just things 292 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,320 you don't do on the first day. Get to know people. 293 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,520 I did another podcast on fitting into new kitchens and there's a 294 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,200 certain cadence that you're looking for. 295 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:19,800 If everyone's hustling, you hustle. 296 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,040 If everyone's working clean, you work clean. 297 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,520 Doing the exact opposite is a red flag. 298 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,040 Now I'm not saying that these are red flag deal Breakers and 299 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,160 you can't hire them, but what I am saying is it's a red flag. 300 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,320 Pay attention, correct them, put it in check because if not, it 301 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,040 will be a problem later. Another thing is immediate lack 302 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,920 of respect coming in and not being respectful to the dish 303 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,480 team, to other cooks on the line, to the chef, to the 304 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,800 service team talking back. Especially like on your first 305 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:46,600 day and your first week. Big red flags. 306 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,040 Don't like seeing that people that come in and want to change 307 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,800 everything to the place how they did it at the last job. 308 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,280 Also a big red flag no one ever wants to hear. 309 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,240 Oh, this how we did it at my last job. 310 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,400 Unless you're asked which you may have a better and more 311 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,760 efficient way to do things. And there's nothing wrong with 312 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:03,240 that. But there's a time and place. 313 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:04,800 It's important that you learn the new system. 314 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,880 I've gone into kitchens many times where I think I know 315 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:12,840 better but I keep my mouth shut. And then later on time will show 316 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,280 me that I didn't know better because I didn't understand. 317 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:17,360 I wanted to speak before I understood. 318 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:22,120 Always seek to understand first before you start making judgment 319 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,160 calls and assessments. Another red flag for me is 320 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,480 someone that immediately starts changing recipes, plating things 321 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,200 differently, wanting to do things their own way. 322 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:36,440 Red flag, not asking questions, talking during service when it's 323 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,040 obviously busy and it's focus time. 324 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,960 Red flag calling off too much within the first couple of weeks 325 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:44,760 of starting a new job. Red flag. 326 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,520 Now again, things happen. I understand that. 327 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,560 But if someone calls off week 1, and then they call off week two, 328 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,560 and then they call off week 3, if you're a betting man, are you 329 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,040 going to bet that they're going to call off on week 4? 330 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,200 Absolutely you are. And if and if not, like, what's 331 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,480 wrong with you? As I said earlier, expect people 332 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:05,960 to be themselves, notice their patterns and expect them to 333 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:07,560 repeat them. You know how hard it is for 334 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:09,800 someone to break a pattern? Like, think about that. 335 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,440 Like, how hard is it for you personally to break your 336 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,200 patterns? Like, let's just say your 337 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,240 pattern is, you know, you should work out and you don't. 338 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,040 Like how hard is it for you to break that pattern or something 339 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,480 that you always eat or something that you always say, Like, you 340 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:25,560 know how hard it is for you to break that pattern? 341 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,840 Well, people have patterns, and if they're always doing 342 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:30,880 something, expect them to repeat that. 343 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:32,840 It's obvious it's right in front of you. 344 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,720 Red flag. Another red flag to me early on 345 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,680 is them complaining too much about how hard the work is or 346 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,760 saying that they're not going to do something because they don't 347 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,560 get paid to do it early on. Like, I'm not going to clean. 348 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,840 That's not my job. Those are all red flags. 349 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,920 Early on in a kitchen I always run it as we should be willing 350 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,000 to do every job in the kitchen. We have a win together, fail 351 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,600 together mentality. So that means sometimes you 352 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,720 might be washing dishes or putting away boxes in the 353 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,000 cooler. Actually, sorry, rephrase that 354 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,680 taking boxes out of the cooler, because no boxes should go in 355 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:06,520 the cooler. Chef's PSA, right? 356 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,960 That's where gross things are stored in boxes on floors and 357 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:11,800 warehouses. Anyway, we digress. 358 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,400 Now, if you're a chef or a cook, when you're applying somewhere, 359 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,360 what are some red flags that you look out for? 360 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,040 One, if a restaurant owner has a reputation of closing 361 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,080 restaurants and not paying their staff, huge red flag. 362 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:25,960 Especially not paying their staff. 363 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,200 Some people just have that reputation. 364 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:30,560 They open a restaurant, they close a restaurant, they don't 365 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,400 pay people and they they burn their bridge around town. 366 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,680 They say they've changed someone that's trying to lowball you and 367 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,280 pay you more later. To me, as a red flag, that 368 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,160 doesn't mean I'm not going to take the job but it's usually a 369 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,120 sign that they're not going to pay you more later. 370 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,360 Like the whole you know, we'll we'll re evaluate it based on 371 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,280 performance. If it's not in writing, don't 372 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,240 expect it to get done. Everything needs to be in 373 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:52,680 writing. Everything needs to be upfront. 374 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,120 Your time to negotiate is before you take the job, not after you 375 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,600 take it. So promises of this and that and 376 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,520 the other later to me, a red flag if they could pay you more 377 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,240 later, they could pay you more. Now looking at the turnover of 378 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,560 the kitchen that you're working and they have a high turnover 379 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:08,280 rate. Why? 380 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,240 Why have they gone through 5 chefs in the last five months? 381 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,640 Ask yourself that. We're all 5 chefs. 382 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,240 Really bad. Remember we were talking about 383 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,240 patterns. If they've gone through 5 chefs 384 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,760 in five months and it's month 6:00 and you're and you're the 385 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,880 6th chef, Guess what? Figure it out. 386 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:27,680 It's a it's an IQ test. Dirty kitchens are a red flag 387 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,560 for me. Unsanitary conditions, broken 388 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:32,120 equipment. If you go in the kitchen and 389 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,240 everywhere you looked, the kitchen equipment is broken. 390 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:35,760 And this doesn't work. And that doesn't work. 391 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,720 That means they have no intention of fixing it. 392 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,360 Light bulbs off here and there, Red flags for me. 393 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,840 I've been in many kitchens where people have wanted me to go and 394 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,120 be the chef, but the kitchens are dirty. 395 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:46,240 I just. I just don't go. 396 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,480 I I refuse to work in dirty kitchens. 397 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:50,880 As a chef. I just can't do it. 398 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:52,360 It's gross to me. I don't like it. 399 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,040 And if there's no ability to turn it around and make it a 400 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,440 clean kitchen, because sometimes the kitchen's dirty, but you 401 00:17:57,440 --> 00:17:58,640 could fix it. But if it's one of those 402 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,440 situations where it's dirty and there is no fixing it, I'm out. 403 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:07,160 I will not take a job like that. An owner or a former chef who's 404 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,400 going to be your boss and is going to dictate their menu. 405 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,120 I shared that story early on where I worked. 406 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:14,440 For someone like that, Not a good situation. 407 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,680 You need to be upfront. What are your job expectations 408 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,520 before you go in? Do you have carte blanche on the 409 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,040 menu? Are they dictating the menu 410 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:23,880 items? All of this is important before 411 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:25,360 you take the job. And by the way, I should go back 412 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,720 and say that the person that I worked for that originally 413 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:29,480 didn't want to hire me. The story at the beginning of 414 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,280 this podcast actually, we became really good friends and 415 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,200 eventually I turned that situation around. 416 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:35,840 But the first few months were hell. 417 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,240 Another thing that you're going to look for is looking at the 418 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:39,880 staff. Do they seem unhappy? 419 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,880 Do the other cooks on the line seem disengaged? 420 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,640 Is it chaotic? All of these are the red flags 421 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,840 that you need to look for before you take a chef job or a cook 422 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,560 job in a kitchen. And lastly, I'll say red flags 423 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,520 aren't always a deal breaker, but a combination of red flags 424 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,000 could be the deal breaker that you're looking for when hiring, 425 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,120 when taking a job, or when someone starts early on in your 426 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:05,320 kitchen. The key points for me is look at 427 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,640 the history, look at past behavior. 428 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,160 It's a good indicator of what to expect in the future. 429 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:12,680 And if there's a red flag and you need to turn down a job, do 430 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:14,200 so with grace. Just say you know what, it's 431 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:16,240 just not going to be the right fit for me. 432 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,680 Or explain to the person they're just not going to be a right fit 433 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:20,760 for the kitchen that you're in now. 434 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:25,080 Stop that bad behavior early on before it gets out of control. 435 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,800 Trust your instincts. Do your due diligence. 436 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,960 Talk to people. Use your network of chefs and 437 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:31,960 cooks out there. Talked to friends that have been 438 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,800 in those positions before you that you trust or that may know 439 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,280 some of those people. I'm going to share some of the 440 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,760 Instagram comments that were pretty good. 441 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:42,640 There was a lot of them, but I'm going to share some of my 442 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,680 favorite ones. Thank you all who commented on 443 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,400 the Instagram poll with your red flags. 444 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,240 I appreciate it very much. There's some good ones in there, 445 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,480 like don't be smelly. Get your ego in check, show up 446 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,080 on time, quit trying to change recipes. 447 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,240 Don't say how you did it at the last job. 448 00:19:57,640 --> 00:19:59,640 Making sure the tape is cut straight. 449 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,160 Pet peeve of mine. The tape says everything about 450 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,120 you as it was phrased. Make sure you drop some comments 451 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:06,880 on what some red flags are for you. 452 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,520 Let me know what you think of the show. 453 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:10,960 Make sure you hit the like and subscribe button. 454 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:13,880 If your list on Spotify, make sure you leave five stars. 455 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,840 Go get yourself some merch. Go get yourself a Christmas 456 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,520 present. Get one book for every single 457 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,800 person in your kitchen. Thank you all very much. 458 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,800 We'll see you next week. Hit the porno music.