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Walked into a diner in Asheville and the cook let me watch him work the flat top for 20 minutes
I was on a quick trip near Asheville last month and stopped at this little 24 hour diner off the main road just to grab eggs. The guy working the flat top had been there 11 years and he was doing this thing where he kept his scraper in his back pocket and never once looked down while flipping. I asked if I could stand at the end of the counter and watch, and he just nodded and kept going, no big deal. The way he timed his hash browns against the eggs against the toast was smoother than anything I pull off on a busy Friday. I am only 2 years into line work so maybe this is normal, but do any of you still stop and watch old diner cooks when you get the chance?
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susan6491mo ago
I used to walk right past those guys because I figured speed was the whole game and I could learn it from videos. Then I stood behind a 63 year old cook named Ray at a Waffle House outside Knoxville for maybe 15 minutes and it flipped my whole view. He never rushed once yet he was dropping plates faster than anyone on my line, and every ticket came out right. What got me was how he read the rail and the window at the same time without ever turning his head. That is not something you pick up watching clips on your phone, that is 30 years of feel in his hands. Now when I see an older cook working a flat top I stop and watch, because those small habits are worth more than any menu I have ever read.
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