Vent: Food critic's plating advice sank my souffle station

A line cook told me to fold the egg whites slower to keep more air, so I tried that last Saturday during a 40-cover rush and all 12 souffles collapsed before they hit the pass. My head chef just stared at the mess and said, 'Speed matters more than finesse when it's 7pm.' Anyone else get burned by advice that works slow but dies fast under service pressure?

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samjohnson19d ago

Laugh at that line cook next time he offers a tip, then remind him his job is grating cheese, not writing a pastry textbook. I once had a sous chef tell me to "caress" the hollandaise whisk, so I did that during a brunch rush and ended up with scrambled egg butter that looked like a sad, yellow crime scene. The only thing slower souffle folding gets you is a ticket printer that sounds like it's mocking you and a head chef who suddenly becomes a mime, just staring in silence. Honestly, at 7pm, your egg whites could have been folded with a brick and nobody would've noticed as long as they hit the plate tall and hot. Fast and ugly beats slow and pretty when the clock's screaming.