Starting Over

How do you enter a new kitchen? Do you go in thinking you know how to do the job, that you have nothing left to learn or do you go in open minded, looking to learn everything you can, sidelining your ego and pretending (at least for a little time) that you need to relearn how to do everything? Do you think some tasks are beyond your skills or are you willing to do everything and anything just to learn and contribute? Coming into a new kitchen is a balance between using knowledge and experience and learning the thought process and procedures of the kitchen. Every kitchen has its own pace, its own standards and reasoning. The reasoning behind decisions is important to learn and asking questions is as important as keeping a sharp knife. Since starting in a new kitchen and returning to being a line cook I've had to try to navigate the personalities of the other cooks, the menu philosophy, the style, methods and reasons of my new home. I started in the best possible location, pantry. The cold station presents the best location to see how a kitchen operates and learn the expectations. I think that every cook starting in a new kitchen should start here. It is the station that all cooks first work, and the station that usually starts the meal. First impressions are made, expectations are set and the pace can all be influenced by the pantry cook. The acidity and seasoning level of cold items can also help to understand the tastes of the kitchen. Pantry also helps to teach plating philosophies. Portion size and plate layout are important things to learn. Not only can they help guide you as you move through the other stations, in keeping mental counts and in prep work but can also help in conceptualizing new dishes, and if you want to contribute to a kitchen all of this is important. The end question for me is what type of cook are you? Do you cook just to earn a pay check, doing just the bare minimum and enough to get by or are you part of the team, trying to learn as much as possible just so you can play your part, and play it well.