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Heard a line cook call a dish 'dead' when it sat under the heat lamp for 90 seconds.
It was just a comment during a busy lunch rush, but it made me rethink my whole plating timing. Now I time my final garnish to hit the pass exactly when the runner is ready. How do you guys handle that last-minute timing crunch?
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mason_stone92mo ago
That "two-ticket" system Rowan mentioned is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to figure out. We tried a simpler version where the expediter just yells "hands" when the server is ten steps away. It works, but only if everyone is listening. The worst is when you plate a beautiful piece of fish and then just watch it sweat under the lamp for a minute. You can see the life go out of it. Getting that final move timed right is the real trick.
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rowanf642mo ago
Read a thing once about some high-end kitchens using a "two-ticket" system. They'd fire the main components on the first ticket, then a second ticket for the final sear or garnish would print only when the runner was literally at the pass. Seems like a good way to avoid the dead zone, but it must need crazy sync between front and back.
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