64 GOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU
washing basket when it needs it, don’t stash trays or
other equipment in your fridge, not letting others use
it because you will need it in five hours at service time,
don’t use a tap or sink without wiping it dry when you
are finished, don’t constantly use the sink in someone
else’s section and always wet their mise en place, don’t
rummage around in someone else’s fridge or section
looking for something – ask them if you need something
they have, do ask politely, do give things to others if they
need them, do give someone a piece of equipment they
may need even if you were planning on using it later
after you finish what you are currently doing, do scrub
your board down before dumping it in the wash-up, don’t
put burnt pots in the wash-up – wash them yourself,
don’t put hot things in stupid places, do let everyone
know when something is hot in a stupid place, do stack
things from largest to smallest in the wash-up, do not
leave containers in the wash-up still labelled – you know
you’re getting 10 push-ups for that! Do place trays
gently to keep the noise down, do keep the noise down
including voices, don’t smash stainless-steel objects into
each other, do put things through the dishwasher to
help out, do put things back on the shelves for the
kitchen hands when they need them, do remember the
dinnerware is handmade, do treat items and the work
space with respect, do try not to break things, let me or
the sous-chef know when you do break things, do close
the walk-in door both on the way in and way out, do
put things in the right places in the walk-in, don’t eat
food in the walk-in, don’t break holes in film so you can
eat something in the walk-in, don’t spill something in
the walk-in and not wipe it up, don’t put something
in the walk-in that is not covered and labelled, label
containers and bags correctly in writing everyone can
read and on tape that has been cut not torn, and don’t
label in some code that no one else knows, do not put
open vac bags in the walk-in, do not put hot stocks into
the walk-in, do cool everything down quickly via theblast chiller, don’t open a fridge drawer in your section
and leave it open while you look at something on your
bench, do not open an oven door and walk away leaving
it open, do try to listen to the commands from the pass
in service, do show you’re paying attention and answer
yes even when the command is not for you, do inform
the chef de partie who controls the next dish on the
menu when you have sent the dish before, do try to
read the service and stay ahead of what may happen
next, do try and have things ready when they are called
away, not starting them when they are called away, do
help out others who are going down in the service, do
bring things up to the pass in an order that facilitates
the smooth flow of the service, do clean up relentlessly
in service, do keep your section in a manner that would
suggest you are fucking crushing it, not going down, do
give clear instructions to commis and stagiaires and
anyone plating about what’s coming up to the pass and
in what order, do speak in a controlled manner to each
other in service, do speak in a formal manner in service
so that nothing is left to chance or misinterpreted, do
enjoy yourself in service and let it show – yes, chef, do
push on chef, do clean down like a machine and leave
your fridge looking like the best version of an upmarket
deli or stall, do greet our guests when they enter the
kitchen with a smile and a friendly hello – please also
say goodbye and goodnight to the guests when they
leave the kitchen, do keep working completely focused,
even when a table of super-VIPs enter the kitchen and
start asking you questions or watching you plate up a
dish, do keep doing service but work around customers
who are in the kitchen so they feel at home and not in
the way, do cook really beautiful food, do have and
continually develop skills, do improve, do try and be
better all the time, do enjoy repetition, do enjoy detailed,
difficult work, do try to understand the work that goes
into the garden and don’t trash it while you are picking
in the morning, looking for that VIP portion, do take
time on a closed day to walk around the property with
a different perspective and become familiar with where
everything is in the different gardens, do eat food on your
day off, do cook food on your day off for friends and really
enjoy the act of cooking for another who’s important
to you, do get drunk, do get high occasionally and let
loose, do listen to music, do go to galleries or other
creative spaces and enjoy other creative work, do go
to other restaurants, don’t go to restaurants just to
criticise, do try to not always critique other chefs but
just enjoy the differences out there. #BOOK
+Brae: Recipes
and Stories from
the Restaurantby
Dan Hunter (Phaidon,
$75, hbk) is published
this month.PLATE CLASS
Above: sheep’s curd and
spring-harvest honey
grilled with squash
blossom over juniper.
PHOTOGRAPHY RODNEY MACUJA