Chat with an old line cook made me rethink my mise en place

Ran into this guy Frank who worked the line at a French joint in Chicago for like 20 years. He told me I'm overcomplicating my prep station by having too many little bowls and tweezers out. Said the best cooks just keep 3 things within reach at all times and move fast. Has anyone else simplified their station setup and actually got faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

angela68723d ago

Frank's right, I cut down to a 6 pan of salt, a bowl of peeled garlic cloves, and a squeeze bottle of oil and my ticket times dropped way off.

johnson.faith22d ago

Frank at table 6 taught me that lesson the hard way when I saw him plate faster with a single towel and a spoon. I used to have a full sticker station with ten different oils and salts lined up like a chemistry set. Now I keep it to three things on the cutting board and my speed went up at least thirty percent.

mila_brown1022d ago

Cutting down my station was the best thing I ever did. @johnson.faith I used to have six squeeze bottles lined up and a whole tray of tweezers and little spoons. Now I keep one pan of salt, a squeeze bottle of oil, and a wet towel on my cutting board. My hand moves right to each thing without looking, and I plate way faster than when I had all those gadgets. Sometimes having less stuff just lets you actually cook.