PSA: That time I forgot to restock my station on a Saturday night service in Chicago

Honestly it was the worst. I was working the sauté station at this busy spot in River North last month, and I completely ran out of the prepped mushrooms halfway through a rush. I had to shout across the line to the pantry guy to hand me some while I was juggling three pans. The chef looked over and gave me the death stare because I was holding up a ticket. I ended up using a mix of shiitakes and creminis that I sweated down extra fast with some butter and thyme. It actually came out okay, but the whole kitchen felt the chaos. Has anyone else dealt with a prep shortage during a busy shift and had to make it work on the fly?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_ramirez7d ago

Totally agree with @margaret_williams5 on that... sometimes the panic fix turns out way better than planned.

margaret_williams57d ago

Ngl, my buddy went through something similar last month at a place in Philly. He was on the grill and they ran out of the prepped steaks for a private event. The manager had to run to the walk-in and slice a whole ribeye while he was trying to keep the line moving. He ended up just seasoning it super quickly with salt and pepper and searing it hot to get a good crust. The guests actually said it was better than the regular steaks, but he said the whole night was just chaos.