You actually do too?! Chefs are an early morning breed huh!

Was reading about how Sushi restaurants in japan are often open until 2-3 AM. After opening hours the chefs go to the market to gather ingredients for the next day, and aren't done until around ~8 in the morning.

Not that there's any relation but: unconventional schedules.

I'm glad I don't work that late anymore. When I worked in a bar, I was often there til 2-3am. Sometimes I'd have to be back for brunch at 10am after a late night like that.

Ooh, tough schedule there.

How close were you to the bar at that time? Can't have managed much sleep even if it was just next-door.

Service industry staff are definitely underpaid for what we did. I remember we'd basically have two bars during patio season, and the same amount of bartenders, so I'd pull lots of doubles and clopenings.

Honestly though, I loved every minute of it.

Ordered a turkey dinner from a catering company. Didn't feel like cooking myself.

They sent me the wrong one, it was the roast beef dinner.

Still, it was fantastic. I enjoyed it a lot.

Roast beef cooked medium rare, potatoes au gratin, roasted veggies, Yorkshire pudding, au jus, horseradish. It also came with Caesar salad.

Same. I love waitressing, barbacking, the whole restaurant industry. 😍

Sounds like y'all were made for those jobs. Was it the customer contact though? Actual hustle and bustle and all? More so the very prospect/premise of being around good food all the time?

That does look delicious.

I think it was more expensive and it might have been a 6 person meal instead of the 4 that I ordered.

There was another guy picking up his order at the same time as me, so maybe he got the turkey dinner that I ordered.

Ah nice. I guess this is what you'd call redistribution of wealth hmm!

Hope he was happy with his downgraded alternation though, maybe got some compensation, maybe a win win after all...

A mix of everything. The atmosphere, co-workers, customers have a lot to do with it. The idea that the better I am at my job, the more money I make.

The first bar I worked at was like a frat party all the time. We played hard while we worked hard, usually getting a good buzz on, occasionally with customers we liked. Basically got paid to party.

The last bar I worked at was much tamer, more respectable, and relaxed. High paced at times, but easy to get through if you were working with the right people.

Think for me it was because I came from a job where I was witnessing abuse, trauma, and real issues every single day. When I became a waitress, the biggest issue was that someone’s fries were cold…and that’s a simple fix. And I was making more money waitressing than working a job that required a degree.

The pros were that (to me) the major issues were actually minor inconveniences, the money was great, I was great at the job, and the ego boosts were nice too (people leaving their phone numbers/Snapchat’s/etc). 😂

The cons are the long hours (I would work doubles) and constantly working weekends/holidays (but hey, that’s where the extra money is).

I really want this for my current profession. I'd love to do piecework instead of an hourly wage. I bust ass so it would be nice to have that extra incentive.

That does sound fun, though I don't think I'd enjoy something like that as much if it was full-time. Probably certain extrovert quality requirements in the biz hmm.

Nice. Curious now, which one of those two types do you reckon has the best profit margin? Bigger and more generous customer base with the wild party type vs potentially more refined but richer ditto with the latter?

Ah man what a shift. Good thing you had those jobs in that particular order, seems potentially all the more traumatic the other way around...

Nice. XD

Mmm, if you love a job then maybe it's not so much a job either. Sounds fun too.

Being an extrovert helps, but even an introvert such as myself can put on a good act. 90% of the main job is just making sure their drinks are full, dirty dishes are cleared, and keeping an eye out for cues that they want you at the table for something. For the other 10%, when it's slow, I have a barrage of general questions that usually keep them talking for 30 minutes.

Fine dining would be my guess. When you're eating out at $100 a person, a table of four should gross you $80ish for maybe 90 minutes. Then, servers have to give a percentage of the sale to the bartender, the kitchen, and sometimes other support staff. On top of that, some customers don't believe in tipping, and you'll still have to tip out on your sales, on the flip side, there are some very generous customers.

The late night, dive bar scene when I started was great. The city was booming economically, the bar was packed with good working people, I'd be busting my ass up and down the bar and be well rewarded. The faster I worked, the more money I made. Plus we'd always make, time to take some customers in the cooler for a quick drink with their favorite bartender.

When I quit, it was exactly the opposite, so I'm a little biased now.

tasted like it was missing something idk

Something green maybe? Coriander, some other fresh herbs? Something sweet or sour?

Visually just seems to be missing some color.

Mmm, good extrovert training there. ;) Good to know.

Tip out on your sales? You mean if you don't get a tip a part of the sales price goes towards whatever other parties might've shared that tip otherwise?

Hmm, very overall-economy-reliant business huh, I wonder how those establishments are doing now. Restaurants as a whole haven't been that great but bars, maybe they're still more of an essential aspect of life for certain groups, and especially when times are tougher...

Maybe a certain difference in pub culture and bar culture though.

If I was making it:

• white pepper
• pink Himalayan crystal salt
• (optional) bay leaf

Fresh herbs and a pickled vegetable like pickled red onion would have really kicked this up a notch. Fresh earthiness and sour vegetables really help cut through richness. This looks like it was probably quite rich.

Ahhh that sounds good mhm

COLOR

PEPPERS !

Now this looks amazing! It's got that

WOOO

Maybe garlic?

Here is what I had for Christmas Eve Dinner with plenty of leftover for Christmas Day:

For dessert:

Ooh that looks amazing.

I want to eat more meals at the dining table this year. First meal at the table of 2022.

What an awesome way to start the New Year...

Looking forward to more fine dining feast glimpses in this here thread throughout too then.

I vow to take at least a few more photos as well this year; try new things when I get a chance to.

1 mile jog, one hour of just dance 2022, daily stretches & a early dinner at the table today.

crock pot ranch pork chops, red baby potatoes w onion, side salad w Italian & a pickleeeee