TIL my mise en place obsession was slowing me down

Had a talk with this old line cook named Ray last week who said he never does full mise before service, just preps as he goes. I always thought that was sloppy but he runs a cleaner station than me and moves twice as fast. Anybody else try ditching the full prep ritual?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixgonzalez1mo ago

Ray's right though. Having everything prepped before service never really matched how the actual flow works in practice.

barbarahill1mo ago

Oh man, @phoenixgonzalez you nailed it. I remember one Tuesday night at The Gilded Fork when Ray insisted we prep all the garnishes three hours early. By the time service actually hit, half the microgreens were wilted and the pickled shallots had soaked through everything. It was a COMPLETE mess. Prepping that far out just doesn't account for how the line actually moves or how customers order. Ray means well but that theory falls apart the second real tickets start printing.