Saw a line cook drop a whole $40 ribeye on the floor and the sous just rinsed it off

It was during dinner rush at a place I used to work in Denver. Has anyone else seen kitchens do sketchy stuff like that and just let it slide?

3 comments

3 Comments

milesj701mo agoMost Upvoted

Had a sous chef at my old spot tell me to just wipe off a chicken breast that hit the floor during a rush. What gets me is how often this stuff goes down because nobody wants to be the guy who slows the line down. Did you notice if the sous even checked the floor first to see if it was dry or if there was grease or something nasty?

thea_mitchell201mo ago

That line about 'doesn't want to be the guy who slows the line down' hits hard. I remember at a diner I worked at years ago, the head cook dropped a whole sheet tray of bacon on the floor and just scraped it back into the pan during a Sunday brunch rush. Everyone just pretended it didn't happen because we were in the weeds.

pat_schmidt601mo ago

Had a similar thing happen at my old place, I just pulled the cook aside and told the sous I'd cover his station for a minute while he grabbed a new steak. Made it clear I wasn't trying to slow anyone down, just wanted us to keep the standards up. It worked because nobody got yelled at and the customer got what they paid for.