Marcel Riemer's Blog, page 7

Hungry for some Kitchen Wisdom? Let’s dig right into it!
On today’s menu:

If You Don’t Have Time, Then You Don’t Have Priorities!

I like this statement from Tim Ferris. It hits the nail on its head. Some call it time management, other people call it priority setting. Some folks even claim that time management was yesterday.

I think time needs to be appreciated first and foremost. It is the most precious thing we have. Money comes, money goes. You can lose money and you can make money back. Not so with time. Anyway, you need time to make money. If you don’t have time, how can you make money then?
Setting priorities is a skill everybody can learn and needs to learn. We are so distracted these days, as it’s all about eyeballs. Everything needs to be instant, a quick fix. Delay of gratification became an alien concept. Discipline and focus go hand in hand with being able to set priorities.

Prioritizing means budgeting your time, allocating it. Since time can only be spent, ideally invested — not gained — it is important that you improve your priority setting skills. You might think that you are spending your time on something, but be very careful, as you might be just wasting it.

Figure out what activities are moving you forward and growing you. Ask yourself, what activities develop you further in order to achieve your goals. Time allocation is crucial here. It is one of the biggest secrets. For these activities you want to allocate the proper time.

Setting priorities is important in the kitchen environment. Time is valuable. You have a certain amount of time available to prepare all your items, your mise en place. The restaurant opens at lunch time and people want to eat. You have to be ready!

I remember when I worked in a fine dining restaurant in San Diego, California. The shift started at 2 pm. I had exactly two and a half hours to prepare my section. Then I went to take my thirty-minute break. When I came back, additional prep needed to be done until the service started at around 5:30 pm. I can tell you that I had to organize myself very well. Literally every minute counted and sometimes I was struggling. If I fell behind by just five or ten minutes, I could feel the consequences.

Nothing is worse when the service starts and your section is not ready. You can literally find yourself in very hot water, as every task is timed to the minute. You have no other choice. Either you learn that, or you are simply not made for this kind of job. Not everyone is suitable.

I give you an example: When you have a stock to prepare and some carrots to peel, what task would you start first? What should be your priority? You start with the preparation of the stock, because the stock will later simmer and reduce by itself. And while the stock is reducing you can dedicate your time to peeling the carrots. You will learn all this. It comes with practice. There are many things which need to be done in the kitchen kind of simultaneously.

That does not mean that I am a worshipper of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is nonsense.

Learn how to set priorities!

Hungry for more kitchen wisdom? Check out my new book “Slamming It Out! How I got shit done in 5* kitchens” at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc

Now available as eBook and paperback version!

Thanks for reading!

Marcel

Hungry
for some Kitchen Wisdom? Let’s dig right into it!

On
today’s menu:

If You Don’t Have Time, Then You Don’t Have Priorities!

I like this statement from Tim Ferris. It hits the nail on its head. Some call it time management, other people call it priority setting. Some folks even claim that time management was yesterday.

I think time needs to be appreciated first and foremost. It is the most precious thing we have. Money comes, money goes. You can lose money and you can make money back. Not so with time. Anyway, you need time to make money. If you don’t have time, how can you make money then?
Setting priorities is a skill everybody can learn and needs to learn. We are so distracted these days, as it’s all about eyeballs. Everything needs to be instant, a quick fix. Delay of gratification became an alien concept. Discipline and focus go hand in hand with being able to set priorities.

Prioritizing means budgeting your time, allocating it. Since time can only be spent, ideally invested — not gained — it is important that you improve your priority setting skills. You might think that you are spending your time on something, but be very careful, as you might be just wasting it.

Figure out what activities are moving you forward and growing you. Ask yourself, what activities develop you further in order to achieve your goals. Time allocation is crucial here. It is one of the biggest secrets. For these activities you want to allocate the proper time.

Setting priorities is important in the kitchen environment. Time is valuable. You have a certain amount of time available to prepare all your items, your mise en place. The restaurant opens at lunch time and people want to eat. You have to be ready!

I remember when I worked in a fine dining restaurant in San Diego, California. The shift started at 2 pm. I had exactly two and a half hours to prepare my section. Then I went to take my thirty-minute break. When I came back, additional prep needed to be done until the service started at around 5:30 pm. I can tell you that I had to organize myself very well. Literally every minute counted and sometimes I was struggling. If I fell behind by just five or ten minutes, I could feel the consequences.

Nothing is worse when the service starts and your section is not ready. You can literally find yourself in very hot water, as every task is timed to the minute. You have no other choice. Either you learn that, or you are simply not made for this kind of job. Not everyone is suitable.

I give you an example: When you have a stock to prepare and some carrots to peel, what task would you start first? What should be your priority? You start with the preparation of the stock, because the stock will later simmer and reduce by itself. And while the stock is reducing you can dedicate your time to peeling the carrots. You will learn all this. It comes with practice. There are many things which need to be done in the kitchen kind of simultaneously.

That does not mean that I am a worshipper of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is nonsense.

Learn how to set priorities!

Hungry for more kitchen wisdom? Check out my new book “Slamming It Out! How I got shit done in 5* kitchens” at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc

Now available as eBook and paperback version!

Thanks for reading!

Marcel

The post Multi-Tasking is Nonsense! appeared first on MARCEL RIEMER.

“I will
never, ever work in Asia!! What a bollocks!”
I was upset!

It was 2am in the morning when I arrived in KL
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) from Berlin. Even my final destination was
Auckland in New Zealand, I chose to stopover in KL because the total
flight time to New Zealand was 24 hours! I just had signed a new
contract at a 5-star hotel there. So, I decided to take it easy and
planned to spend the next 3 days in KL.

I grabbed a cab and went to my hotel. I was
tired and just wanted to sleep. When I entered my hotel room, I
noticed that the room had no windows. The bathroom looked strange as
well. Shower and toilet were located right next to each other.
Obviously, it was a budget hotel.

I slept until around lunch time the next day. I
was excited because I wanted to explore
the city. I went down to the hotel lobby and stepped outside.

I was shocked! What happened? What are all
these people doing here? The road was packed with vendors. The whole
place was crowded. This cute little calm street had transformed to a
busy marketplace overnight.

Some dudes approached me and tried to sell me
fake watches. I was not interested.

I was starving. I was looking for something to
eat, roaming around the city center of KL. I was in China Town
and it was 34 degrees Celsius and humid. There
were all these street food vendors selling food. I did not like that
food since I never tried it before in my life. The smell was strange.
When I saw how they were washing the dirty dishes I felt disgusted.
An old woman was squatting on the floor and was washing the dishes in
filthy brown water. Not hygienic at all. I had never seen something
like that before.

There was a mosque in the middle of a beautiful
park. I saw people hanging out there. I thought this would be a nice
place to go. When I wanted to enter, I noticed a sign at the
entrance: “No T-shirts and short pants allowed!” Damn it, I
thought! I really started to not like this city at all.

Finally, I found a McDonalds. I was happy
because finally I found some food, I was familiar with. I ended up
eating McDonalds for the next 3 days. I did not trust the street food
vendors and I did not know where I could find good restaurants.

After I finished my lunch, I continued my tour
through the city of KL. Whilst walking, I said to myself: “I will
never, ever work in Asia!! That’s for sure Marcel!”

7 months later I travelled to Beijing. I moved
to Asia, on purpose and happy. I had started to fall in love with
Asia.

The rest is history…….

If
you want to know the rest of my story, then check out my newly
released book “Slamming
It Out! How I got shit done in 5* kitchens”at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc

Now
available as eBook and paperback version!

Thanks
for reading!

Marcel

The post Culture shock! appeared first on MARCEL RIEMER.

“Shut up and get this bloody dish out now!” I yelled angrily at one of the waitresses many
years ago when I was working in California.

A little while later the phone rang. I picked it
up and on the line was my boss, Executive Chef Garry. He asked me to see him
later at the garden terrace of our coffee shop. I was curious. What does he
want and why does he want to see me at the garden terrace? When I arrived, Chef
Garry was already sitting there, waiting for me. I sat down and he asked me how
I am doing. Then the chef started talking.

Chef Garry said “Marcel, I know what happened
earlier at the Deli Kitchen and that you had snapped at Lindsay, the waitress”.
I was shocked for a moment. How did he find out? This stupid girl probably
called him up and cried her heart out, I thought.

Chef Garry went straight ahead to teach me a
lesson on leadership. He said:  “Marcel,
if you want to become a successful leader you have to be able to control your
emotions. And today I will share my thoughts with you about an issue we all
have to deal with: Anger”.

Chef Garry went on to explain that things are
handled differently in the United States than in Europe. He basically offered
me mentorship. Chef Garry wanted to assist me to learn a few new things,
especially about leadership and human relationships. To be frank, my
communication skills sucked at the time. So I was grateful to my Chef for such
an offering.

I just sat there and listened carefully.

Chef Garry explained: “Anger is necessary fuel for driving a human being to action. I think
of it as emotional gasoline, if not properly stored, distributed and ignited,
it can be quite volatile and will burn indiscriminately. If controlled, and
focused and directed, and used with care and purpose, it is a powerful source
of energy and provides push behind purpose.

To avoid abusing anger, understand what
triggers it in YOU. Learn to feel, see, and understand the triggers. Then
develop a strategy for redirecting your frustration, dissatisfaction, sense of
being personally offended, or of being dismissed or diminished, or whatever the
triggers are.

Meditate regularly and keep your
perspective. Breathe more slowly in emotionally charged situations. Slow your
thoughts. Sleep well, speak calmly with those you disagree with or don’t
understand, especially BEFORE you become angry. Ask for help rather than demand
assistance. Guide, don ’t direct.

All of these lessons, I have learned the
very hard way, as I am hard headed,opinionated, passionate and driven.
Those qualities ignite our emotions. I sense that in that we are also much
alike.”

Chef Garry had finished. I was in awe. No
other Chef had ever talked to me that way and no one after.

Many more mentorship lessons would follow
from that point onwards. I learned a great deal from Chef Garry. These were
lessons for life.

Are you are curious to know more about my time
with Chef Garry and the mentorship he provided me? Check out my newly
released book “Slamming
It Out! How I got shit done in 5* kitchens” at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc

Now available as eBook and paperback version!

Thanks for reading!

Marcel

And Action! Something’s cookin’! 

I put on my chef jacket again. Here at the lowest point on earth, more than 400 meters below sea level. 

My 11 th country on my road of culinary travel around the world is Jordan.

It is my second time in the Middle East. I spent some time in Saudi Arabia a few years ago. Therefore I am familiar with the environment and the weather. 

It is extremely hot right now here at the Dead Sea. I am at a beautiful hotel resort and Israel is right across on the other side.

On clear days you can see Jerusalem, wow! If you’d take a chopper from my hotel to Jerusalem you would not need more than 20 minutes. That’s my guess.

 

The Dead Sea is not only the lowest point on earth it is probably also one of the hottest spots on earth. At least it feels like that. Temperatures here easily reach 46 degree Celsius in June, July and August. The hotel property is huge and I have to do a lot of walking to reach all food and beverage outlets. I am getting grilled every day because of the sun. After 30 minutes of touring I am soaked in sweat. Can’t wait to get back to the kitchen where it is way cooler!

Jordan is a relatively unspectacular destination. It has a few world class heritage sites, yes. But this is not everyone’s taste. Amman, the capital city is just an ordinary place in my view. I used to live in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, so I am kind of biased towards these kind of cities.

Nevertheless, I look at every new thing as a new experience I can learn something from. Working together with Arab folks can also be quiet challenging because of the difference in culture and mentality.

I have been working and traveling for decades now. Jordan is another challenge and another opportunity. That’s the way I look at it. I keep my mind, eyes and ears open. I am traveling flying, always keeping a bird’s eye perspective on everything.

If you are curious to know more about my cook & travel adventures around the globe then check out my newly released book here at: https://amzn.to/2MB8NZc

Now available as eBook and paperback version!

Please also check out my video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/giRlTJsNkZw

Thanks for reading!

 

Marcel