Saturday, September 09, 2006

Job No. 7 - Head Chef

Today, I decided to explore a culinary direction and apply for the position of Head Chef at a new Spanish restaurant that's going to open in Soho called Barrafina. The restaurant is owned by the same people who run the highly successful Fino Restaurant in the West End...

I found the advert on Caterer.com and chose to ignore the third paragraph of the advertisement (which read - "The candidate should have worked as a Head Chef or Sous Chef in high quality restaurants previously.") and concentrate instead on the second paragraph, which stated that "The candidate would not have to have experience cooking Spanish food, but a passion for great raw ingredients, cooked simply is essential."

Assuming that bread counts as a raw ingredient, I have numerous skills in this department. In fact, just taking the three raw ingredients of baked beans, cheddar cheese and bread I am able to instantly conjure up six appetising dishes (beans on toast, cheese on toast, beans and cheese on toast, beans with cheese, cheese sandwich and cheese and beans sandwich). I think these are the type of talents that are needed in the modern restaurant world...

Also, I've watched all these cooking programs and it seems that the Head Chef never actually does any real work - he just wanders around the place, pausing occasionally to look over someone's shoulder and stop them from working, harrying the progress of his workforce by shouting at them to hurry up and then creatively swearing when it looks like it's all going to turn into a huge, unpalatable, disaster. Can someone out there please tell me how this is - in any way - different from being a Producer in the game industry???

2 comments:

General Disorder said...

Ah, but it also says should have worked, not must. Just tell them yes, you should have worked as one, but didn't.

Ron Southern said...

This is hilarious. I'll have to bookmark you and come back!