(With caveats — sometimes what’s forbidden isn’t always forbidden.)
Expensive cheese—particularly Parmesan—unless in family bin. A handful, yes. A bowlful, left out for the staff to self-serve, and then toss without thinking: no.
Freshly squeezed juices unless expired, but then you have to do some thing to the juice—make a smoothie, etc. A warm ½ gallon of past-date grapefruit juice sitting in the g-spot all day is not a fun, appetizing part of family meal.
Expensive cuts of meat
Brunch pickles
Balsamic vinegar on salad is forbidden, always and forever.
Mise en place
Serve-yourself bowls of condiments and ingredients—I seriously frown upon this—prepare and dress the food the way you want to present it. I don’t want to end up with twelve little half-pints of dribs and drabs of “family Dijon” and “family ketchup” and “family sour cream” cluttering up the walk-in, only to be thrown in the trash. It’s wasteful and annoying.
Set up your meal thoughtfully, thoroughly, and timely and then announce it.
This is your opportunity to express your work ethic—a sloppily, carelessly presented family meal will not quickly get you promoted. Get the plates, the spoons, the glasses, the serving pieces that the meal requires; find a serving platter that is the appropriate size for the item. Put a towel down under hot soup pots. Don’t be a slouch. If you are in the weeds, kindly ask for some help. Everybody here knows how to pitch in and is eager to do so.
Clean it up.
Dinner front staff will put away and clean up family meal, but breakfast and lunch needs to be handled by us—make sure everyone in house has had a chance to eat—and then clean it up. Don’t let the meal sit out rotting and congealing all afternoon, please. Moving it from the g-spot to the back prep kitchen and letting it rot there all day instead does not count as cleaning it up.
Finally, enjoy yourself. If this isn’t one of the highlights of your day, you are in the wrong industry. To feed ourselves and each other is the name of the game and should bring you great, thundering pleasure.
