Mise en place used to mean 45 minutes of prep, now I do it as I go

Honestly, I had a mentor in Phoenix who'd lose it if you didn't have everything diced before service, but after 10 years on the line I find myself prepping ingredients per ticket and it's way less waste. Does anyone else break the old rules or am I just getting lazy?

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lewis.drew5d ago

The "way less waste" part is where I'd push back a bit. In my experience the waste from batch prep is mostly on paper, not in the bin. If you dice an onion for one ticket and it sits in a pan for three minutes while you're working the next one, you saved an onion but you lost the two minutes, and on a busy night that adds up fast. I worked a spot where we prepped everything per ticket and our ticket times were all over the place, some nights great, some nights we'd get buried and the whole rail would stall. Batch prep means when the rush hits, you're just grabbing and firing, not chopping while the salmon overcooks. Your mileage may vary depending on your menu and how busy you get, but I don't think it's lazy either way. It's just a different tradeoff.

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