u/danger_welch

Marcy's Playground. Sex and Candy is the worst song on the album, by far.

Mario 3

Drunkely

Zwilling's Pro Chef line is my favorite German style knife by far, it's always available and often on sale. If your co-worker isn't a pretty advanced cook I'd avoid anything with a Rockwell hardness over 60 or 61, and I'd avoid anything that isn't stainless.

Try to get in with a catering operation, it'll better serve the lifestyle you're used to and it can bridge into side gigs doing personal chef work easier. As most people have already said, transitioning into restaurant gigs when you're not young enough to shrug off long shitty sweaty shifts is going to kill your soul lol.

TBH sounds like a position given to someone who they love to much to risk losing, but don't have a promotion available and they don't want to give a raise to. Last time that happened to me they couldn't convince corporate to promote a sous without a culinary degree and couldn't afford to give me more money, so they called me a chef tournant and gave me a red coat lol. Yes, I know that is an actual position in suuuuper brigade places, but I've been tournant twice now and both times they were token titles.

This is the correct answer. If you're young then try to stay where you're growing the most but ALWAYS self advocate. Get used to and comfortable with asking for what your worth. Make sure you're worth it, then make sure you're paid what you're worth.

I worked as a KM/Chef in the area and got a chance to interview plenty of cooks who worked there and BRO. Dirty as fuck, bugs everywhere. They all said it. No joke like maybe 8 people over 5ish years and they all said exactly the same thing. I used to like the place, had some friends in the improv comedy and theater scenes and Traffic Jam was a regular hang for opening and closing nights before the party started. Lots of great memories. The vibes there were great and if it wasn't a disgusting shithole behind the scenes I'd be sad it burned down.

OH and shout out to John Brannon who worked there in some capacity for a long time and is the best goddamn singer Detroit ever produced. He'd probably read this and kick my ass but he'd by lying if he said I was lying lol.

Came here to rec New Saigon but also see if anything topped it, will def. be checking out Kim Nhung!

It's the fucking worst

IMO it's even more fun by yourself, you might be solo this year but as you get settled in you'll discover that bumping into locals you've gotten to know is the best part!

IMO you gain exactly 2 things with a Culinary degree

1. Some places, usually corporate-ey joints like chains and big ass companies like Aramark and Compass, gatekeep some salary positions behind a degree. In that case usually a degree in hospitality/management or even accounting will serve the purpose and give you better usable skill, at least ones you won't learn "on the street"

2. You'll learn a common language with other culinary grad chef's. There is something to be said for uniformity when it comes to method and execution and if you are planning on being in a position where you will be working in a larger scale environment, such as an operation with multiple kitchens or high volume catering, having a closer focus with your team is actually valuable. This one is actually affecting me currently, I'm a "learn on the line" chef in my late 40's. I've been cooking my whole life and have been running kitchens for almost 2 decades. I'm now in a huge operation that has 9 kitchens, each with their own chef/menu/etc and I'm doing well but have for the first time felt out of sync on occasion with coworkers. You can see more of a "click" when a whole team is full of culinary grads. IMO it's still not worth it, like I said I'm doing fine and am well respected, just wanted to share my personal experience.

Do you have instant ramen? Do you have or are you super close to a place that has rotisserie chicken?

If yes and also yes, Put chicken in ramen. Add any of the following if you have:

Green Onion. Peanut Butter or Tahini (just a bit). Chili Oil. Kale or Spinach. A couple eggs. Chili Crisp. Edamame.

ABSOLUTELY

Learning how to telegraph with your actions that you aren't above (and therefore no one is above) any task without also telegraphing that you are willing to pick up the slack of lazy staff. Personally, I lean towards doing as much as I can as often as I can and my default position is always (to a fault) to get my hands dirty and lead by example, and it's overall a hill I'll die on but a downside can be doing it to the point that slackers keep slacking.

I think it means "Buy it for Life" but "buy 1 for life" works just a well lol. As far as high heat goes w stainless it's probably better not to have it cranked, it won't hurt the pan but it's not as easy to cook evenly. I'd recommend med-high, like a 7 or 8 max, and just give it a minute. The water will scatter when you sprinkle it in (leidenfrost effect). Add a little fat and wait for a sec again. Don't have to go crazy, and you can probably blast it at first to get it up there then reduce. Point is, pan is fully and evenly hot (it's "pores" are swollen shut) and the fat has heated to the temperature of the pan. This is where a good pan is worth it's money: it is able to retain some of that heat energy and spread it evenly. Over the course of a sear a good pan at medium heat acts "hotter" than a shitty pan on high, because as soon as you drop food in there it's going to suck up a ton of energy. The "stick and release" is when the food initially shocks the temperature of the pan, opening it's pores and on the microscopic level those food, fat, and metal molecules are more interactive. As it heats back up and the food sears it forms a more impenetrable barrier, the pan reheats (pores close again) and the fat is able to sneak back in there, causing it the food to release.

I don't believe you

Most people are going to tell you that non-sticks are never BIFL, and I tend to agree. At work I'll have enough for eggs and we just get whatever, no matter how much you yell and scream some idiot is going to use a metal utensil in there during the rush and after a while they get dinged up enough to start sticking and I'll grumble and maybe write someone up but then just shrug and get more. I'm pretty sure that's normal, just depends how long you can go before the inevitable. I guarantee every brunch spot on Earth has got at least one cook, the "egg guy" who works every Sunday and will literally stab anyone who touches his pans and once a year, at least, someone in my position has to calm him down after a dishwasher or fry cook or whatever makes himself something to eat and fucks it up.

At home, if you're careful, most will last fine. I'm sure you're already watching what utensils you use and how you wash it but one thing lots of people forget is that you should never use it with high heat. Don't store them with other pans, I've got mine on a nail by the sink. I personally almost never use it, but it's lasted maybe 3 years now and it's seriously just some random POS pan my girl got. She's got great taste but doesn't really know/give a shit about pan quality and I think got it at a Value Village because she liked how the handle looked. It wasn't scratched when she got it, which kinda blew my mind, but after that I've just shrugged and let her do her. TBH I think half the reason it's lasted so long is because I told her it was nice looking but wouldn't last so she's on a mission lol.

Another thing a lot of people will tell you, and I tend to agree, is that you'll get very similar results with a good stainless steel pan if you get into the habit of preheating properly and allowing the food to release. Just YouTube "how to make stainless steel nonstick" and you'll see a lot of videos repeating the same basics. If you go that route then I'm a fan of All-Clad and Made-in. Specifically for non-stick purposes it's all about heat distribution with those: don't get something huge (and therefore way bigger than you're biggest eye on the stove) and go for quality. A good stainless pan is absolutely BIFL so get whatever you can budget, the price/value ratio on those is gigantic. I named my faves but again just diving into YouTube for a sec will probably set you straight.

Cast iron and carbon steel are also nonstick with seasoning but then you're entering into a world of try-hards that will tell you exactly how to treat your seasoned pan as if it's the holy grail (pro tip, that's all garbage, seasoning a pan takes one hour in the oven so if you go that route just don't worry about bros being precious, everyone needs a hobby and going suuuuper lumberjack over seasoning is theirs). If you go that way I like carbon steel over cast iron, they're lighter and the smaller ones are almost as nimble in the hand as a regular non-stick. Only downside is it transfers heat quickly so you have to watch your flame but that's what you're dealing with with a non-stick anyway sooooooo

That all said, my girl is super into her nonstick skillet but wanted a smaller one so I hopped on the hype train and got a titanium skillet (Viking) and so far it's at least as good as a new non-stick and people who's opinion I trust are swearing up and down it'll last longer and can be used with any utensil or heat.

TL/DR treat them like underwear, buy what feels nice and does the job but don't expect them to last.

I'd love to see more variety in vehicles, specifically mount allotment.

Another vehicle idea would be something light and fast with little or no weapons BUT the pilot can leave if they need to, so you could have a zippy way to accomplish "Recover" and "Investigate" objectives. One way to do it and not end up with a very niche vehicle would be having a motorcycle as a module that would use up both the module slot and the troop capacity, kind of like the heavy cannon does.

A troop accessory that let's it breach a building or cross impassible terrain.

Items that use current AP to give buffs the following round would be good as well, I'm often ending rounds with one or two troops in strategic holding positions with AP left.

A jump jet that has an option to burn all it's uses but holds the squad in the air for multiple rounds, granting visibility and acc buff like the towers but a concealment debuff at the same time. This could also be on a set of armor instead of an item obv.

Items that synergize with O.C.I.. O.C.I. is kinda weak now and will probably get built out but as it is, I'm thinking modules that make offmap timers go faster for sure, or counters whatever b.s. detection ability the enemy has that makes them always avoid strike zones.

More variety in Armor: I'd like to see buffs to movement, visibility, discipline, accuracy, decrease in deployment cost, etc. There could also be armor that awards benefits with specific enemy types, like pheremones to confuse bugs or a "toxic emp aura" that debuffs menace troops. Accessories could do that as well, like a stolen egg that makes bugs not want to fight you or they'll hurt the egg or something.

Another accessory idea would be a permanent upgrade item: You use it once and it gives a large debuff, like stuns you for multiple rounds or halves your AP for the rest of the battle or instantly gives you a negative condition but it permanently upgrades an item or awards attribute points to the SL.

A serrated "bread" knife is for anything that is soft on the inside and hard on the outside. Bread is most common sure but I've seen people use it for crispy pork belly too. Yes, a sharp chef knife can do it but I've got a cheap offset bread knife and it's just easier, and there's less worry about smushing up the bread if it gives you trouble.

Blue Curaco

Denelectro Fabtone + an EQ pedal for any anything but complex chords. Best heavy sound you can get IMO but zero note definition so best for power chords/triads at most. I personally don't have much use for "all the way up" distortion that needs clarity but if I want extra heavy with full chords I'll usually boost into my gain channel.

SMB 3 = instant upvote in any context. Best classic style platformer ever imo. Shovel knight comes close, but misses the inherent joy of old school Nintendo.