Had a Sunday shift that was so quiet I actually prepped two weeks worth of veg

I work at a place near a business park in Denver, and last Sunday was dead. Like maybe 20 covers total from open to close. Normally I hate slow days because you just stand around, but I knocked out all my prep for Monday through Thursday in about three hours. Then I started on the line cook's prep list too. By the end of the night I had diced 40 pounds of onions, peeled 30 pounds of carrots, and portioned out all the proteins for the next two weeks. The owner came in Monday morning and thought I had hired someone extra. It got me thinking - are slow days actually worth more to a kitchen than busy ones? Like yeah the money isn't coming in, but the prep time savings add up. Has anyone else felt like a ghost town shift turned out to be the most productive one?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardk261d ago

Bet the veg stayed fresher too since you got to use them right away instead of letting them sit around for days. A quiet shift like that is basically a free labor hack.

piper_thompson311d ago

Hold up, the veg freshness thing actually works backwards. If you're prepping two weeks worth of stuff, the carrots you diced on Sunday won't get used until maybe next Friday or Saturday. They're sitting in a cambro for way longer than if you prepped them day-of. I've seen carrots go gray on the edges after a week in the walk-in. Onions are a little better but they still lose crunch. The real win is having those slow hours to dial in your mise so the busy weekend nights run smooth. But the veg is definitely not fresher after sitting for 10 days.