What I Teach in Restaurant Lab Class

In the fundamental restaurant management lab that I teach we have academic objectives to teach for sure.  We teach the kids the equipment.  We teach the kids different service styles.  We teach the kids basic cooking.  We teach them sanitation.  We teach them management basics.  They take quizzes and exams to motivate them to do the readings as well as retain what was learned from hands-on experience they get on a daily basis in the lab.

But the we teach them much more than that; we teach them about a professional kitchen.  For example, when I am expediting during lunch service, or my TA's stand in for me, there is no YELLING at servers or cooks or anyone else for that matter.  No matter how deep in the weeds we get from time to time.  We run a cool, calm, level-headed kitchen where orders come in, they are made, and served to guests as a team effort.  There is no yelling like on Hell's Kitchen or some of the kitchens I worked in when I had the energy for this business. 

There is no crazy, arrogant, egocentric, rude, bullying, loud, demeaning, self-indulging, hungover -- pick your adjective -- "chef" running around making everyone crazy, scared, crying or whatever.  Our chef works alongside the kids because she has a skill set that the kids need to tap into to work the line, make salads, plate desserts, etc., so we can serve our guests.  She is patient, she is caring, she is cool and does not roll her eyes when showing a kid to make a basil chiffonade to garnish our whole wheat pasta dish for the 10th time!  She is an educational professional.

There is NO sexual harassment of any kind albeit hostile work environment or quid pro quo that we all know is too common in the industry we know and love.  There are only "ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen" in my lab.  Nobody at any time for any reason makes any off color or sexual comment, nobody exhibits a behavior that is inappropriate either.  We show up, do service, have a robust debrief when the lab has been cleaned, and the students go their separate ways knowing a bit more about resturant management than the lab before.  That is what I was hired to do!

And this is what I want our kids to expect when they work as an intern or start their MIT program at an independent or chain restaurant.  That is what I teach.  I teach the professional kitchen.  Indeed, Bourdain would be hard-pressed to write anything sensational about the goings on in my lab!