It’s Spelled S-T-E-E-Z-E, Part I

As promised, I'm getting at you with a whole host of kitchen terminology and shorthand that will hopefully let you better understand me when I fire off my run-on sentenced, gerund-heavy rants.
I'm going to do my best, and because there are a great many things going on in my head at any given time I’m sure I’m forgetting some; which is why this post is merely part one…

Steeze: Your steeze can be anything. I think, originally derived from "steeze en place," it was like a cooks mise en place; the necessary food, equipment and set-up that was essential to making it through service as easily as possible. But again, your steeze can apply to anything: your state of mind, your flow, the place you're hanging out at, or the drink in your hand. “You're fucking up my steeze right now!” “We should leave, this steeze is seriously dead.” “This steeze is almost done, I gotta get live on another one.”

Get Live: To get live is to start a project, however; big or small. I have been known to get live on “some Mussel Death,” get live on a beer or get live on writing my prep list.

Prep List: Before you leave the restaurant for the night, and before you've had too many shift drinks to care, you write your prep list. Basically, it helps the morning/prep guy know what he needs to do when he gets to work, so he doesn’t have to spend his first 10 or 15 minutes rooting around your low-boy and the walk-in, trying to figure out what needs to be prepared for the day. Because, let’s face it, that would be a dick move. Sometimes, it’s a judgment call. Sometimes I’ll leave and say to myself, on a Wednesday night, “well, we’ve still got three quarts of Wild Rice left, that’ll probably get us through to Friday,” but more often than not, it’ll go on my prep list because I’d rather be safe than sorry. And no one wants to be making something during service because they didn’t plan ahead.

Dupes / Tickets: Back in the day, before the advent of machines, waitresses had pads they would take down orders on. These pads had a secondary, and sometimes tertiary, layer; so the waitress could keep one copy and the other (the “dupe”) could be passed to the kitchen. The tickets are usually broken up course, and are read off by someone in the kitchen; usually the Head Chef or Expediter. Courses help the kitchen break things up and ease the flow, but sometimes servers and diners work in concert and send Order-Fire tickets.

Order-Fire: Order-Fire tickets are the bane of some cooks, and I know some cooks who prefer to make dishes immediately and get them out. Basically, when a ticket comes out there is usually a first course and a second course. Sometimes, however; everything comes out together and this can be a problem when you’ve already got several tickets hanging and a party of five sits down and orders eight or nine dishes…that’s the kind of thing that can fuck up your steeze.

The Pass: The pass is where plates of food from the kitchen are brought, or in some cases literally passed, before they are wiped clean of fingerprint marks or stray dribbles of sauce and the finishing touches: a sprinkling of chives, a drizzle of lemon oil, some Micro Bulls Blood, a tiny mound of croutons, what-have-you, are added before the plates are given to servers or food-runners and end up in front of customers. As some have said, it is the last line of defense; a final checkpoint to make sure the food coming out is servable.

Donkey: A donkey is essentially a stupid person, or someone that engages in stupid or lazy behavior; although, a smart person can be called a donkey if their actions are those of a donkey. But donkey can also refer to: a ticket, a table or even a dish of food. For example, a ticket can be donkey if the items ordered have seemingly no rhyme or reason to how they were ordered; i.e. “Order-Fire: Caesar Salad, Mixed Nuts, Broccoli Soup, Roast Chicken & Side Wild Rice; On-Back: Ham Sandwich, Roast Chicken, Caesar Salad, Broccoli Soup & Fish Special.” This ticket is donkey because at first glance, it would appear that four people have sat down for a meal and one of those people has ordered a Roast Chicken (usually a main course) as an appetizer, and quite possibly has also decided to order the Caesar Salad as their main course.” Plainly speaking, it means stupid. Just last night (read 2:30 this morning), after I’d gotten home from work, and was sitting on the couch eating a sandwich and drinking a glass of wine while I watched the remake of “The Last House on the Left.” At some point, I said to myself, “okay, I’m done with this donkey movie,” turned off the TV and got in bed.


What’s On My Mind This Week?
I’ve started reading Stacy Perman’s book on In-N-Out Burger, which is really stupid of me; because I’m 2700 miles away from deliciousness!