I think part of the reason I started this whole blog was in response to the nonsense I see on Food Network. Anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows the worst place to be is in the back of the house--the kitchen. Yet television makes these grill monkeys into rock stars with spatulas.

What's next? Comic book dorks as football stars?

If you feel the need to be a part of the foodie "in crowd" and follow those James Beard Awards for "Best New Restaurant", then you might have bumped into Blummy waiting tables. This graduate of the Culinary Institute of America fled the kitchen to the front of the house where he waits tables, 'cause he's got brains and wants to make more money.

He's an interesting guy and we did the interview at the Coffee Shop in Union Square, just a few blocks shy of his restaurant in the Flat Iron district.

--------------------

To be honest, this is the best restaurant that I've ever worked at, in the front of the house. I've been in the business for some years. I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with a bachelor's in culinary arts, and most of my time during school it was hard as hell to find a position in the kitchen. So I moved to front of the house.

I then realized I could make a lot more money, in less time, and not have to bust hump like I did back down cooking and prepping and all that stuff. There's nothing wrong with the kitchen, but I found out that the better the restaurant, the less you get paid. Because a true cook doesn't really care about the money. He just to make his ends meet, 'cause he's a student of the trade. So he wants to work with the best and learn more.

I'm all about that, but to be honest, I work for money, so I made the switch. Plus I like sales, so I'm an opportunity seeker and I feel the kitchen lacks opportunity. Unless you're in it for the long hump. And I really didn't find myself being a cook for the rest of my life.

Believe me, mom and dad were really upset when I told them I was getting out of the kitchen. They always saw their son being a number one chef. I spent over $100,000 at the CIA, but I'm gonna tell you, I learned a lot. And I've got a leg up and I'm well equipped to handle many career avenues and opportunities that might fall in front of me in the next three years working.

So I do not take my degree for granted. I worked very hard for that.

Most of our cooks make about $500 a week gross, and they work 50-60 hours. The pastry department takes home and puts in the bank like $450, and they work 75-80 hours a week. Ya know? They really bust their hump.

Me? I work about 40 hours a week and I make $900-1200 gross. I don't do half as much difficult labor as a cook and I'm bringing all the bank.

New Years Eve, the kitchen made the same amount of money and I brought home over $300 in seven hours.

Some cooks bitch about this, but true professionals don't. Most cooks don't like dealing with the public. And in some ways the front and back of the house have a rivalry like skateboarders and rollerboarders. But me, I'm cool with both sides 'cause I'm come from the back.

So cooks don't resent the pay structure that much, but when I hear captains or highly paid waiters taking their income for granted... "Uh, I only made $190 tonight." Well, waaah.

I look them in the eye and start dissin' on 'em, 'cause frankly all they have to do is be friendly and know about the wine and they make a lot of money. We've got cooks downstairs breaking their backs all day for not even half as much as we earn in one night. And those cooks aren't bitching about it.
12:37:36 AM     comment []