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Unpopular opinion: your mise en place is too pretty and it's slowing you down
I worked garde manger at a spot in Portland for two years and every single new hire would spend 20 minutes making their station look like a magazine photo, ramekins lined up at perfect angles, herbs fanned out like a deck of cards. Meanwhile tickets are coming in and they're still fussing with tweezers. Here's the thing I keep seeing people get wrong: mise en place is about muscle memory and reach, not looks. My setup was ugly. I kept my salt in a dented deli quart, my towels stacked in a messy pile, my tasting spoons jammed in a hotel pan. But I could grab everything without looking, and that saved me probably 4 or 5 minutes per service on a busy Friday. A sous I worked under once said 'if your station looks staged, you're cooking for Instagram, not for the pass.' I still hear that every time I see a perfectly symmetrical setup on a line. So what's the one thing on your station you refuse to organize, even if it looks bad? I want to know I'm not the only slob out here.
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claire_gibson21d ago
Know what's never organized? My towel pile.
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