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march 7, 2026
Wow. What the hell do I even want to talk about for the first post? I should have planned this.
Writing a blog and putting myself out there on the internet is a huge change for me. This is going to be pretty easy to get used to, considering it's more of a stream of consciousness concept than anything formal, but it's still slightly unsettling that I'm not sure how many people will be reading this on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis.
I'd like to start the blog off by talking about one of my most favourite parts of working in kitchens for so long: MUSIC!!!
Day in and day out – night shift, early morning, or mid-day service slammed with brunch tickets, it didn't matter when – I was tuning my ears in (well, ear, considering one of them doesn't work that great) to the best of the best in the music queue. It was always music the line cooks chose, or took requests for if they were feeling kind, and they always blasted it through their portable speakers in a little 1/6 hotel pan to make sure it reached a volume they'd 100% be yelled at for.
Music is the greatest motivator in a kitchen hands down, aside from the perfect flow that can happen behind the line when service is running smoothly and everyone's stations are clean and fully stocked for the night. It's the heart of service most days, especially at night, when everyone is starting to come down from their Redbull-induced highs and the frustration of plates being sent back takes over.
Music makes the energy good, which makes the food good. If you don't believe me, check for yourself and reminisce for a moment. When was the last time you went to a restaurant and didn't hear loud music being blasted in every corner? Now, follow up question: if your restaurant lacked music at an unreasonable hour, was the food even any good? Truly??
My first food service job was working in a dine-in movie theatre. I started out as a runner/busser, like everyone at the bottom of the totem pole there, then shoved my way up as far as I could until COVID-19 shut the place down for bankruptcy. It was there that I was introduced to reggaeton, and then EDM. I've been a firm classic rock, jazz, and classical music enjoyer for a majority of my life, but I've always had a pretty wide variety in music taste – or so I thought.
Bad Bunny was a frequent flier in that kitchen, to everyone's delight. The GM (that's general manager, for those of you that don't know) often had to come through the swinging door and tell the cooks to turn the volume down. The smooth, sensual Latin pop was often too much for the matinee moviegoers, and not appreciated by those showing up for date night who wanted a formal, elevated movie experience. (Though, if you ask me, there is nothing elevated or formal about getting sloshed on Long Island Iced Teas and the smell of mashed potatoes.)
The lobby played the same looped elevator jazz (so, really, not even the fun kind of jazz) and it drove the entirety of BOH crazy. When I got bumped up to FOH and became a server, I swear I was hearing that jazz loop in my sleep. It was a sweet, sweet relief when I was finally able to choose my own music as a prep cook, far enough in the back of the kitchen that management really didn't care what I did, so long as I got my tasks done. I opted for classic rock a lot, but god forbid a fellow cook walked by and made a comment about wanting to fall asleep.
The only kitchen golden rule you need to follow is this: the time of day does affect the genre of music you should be listening to.
If I'm baking at 10a on a Sunday morning, classic jazz vocals are an absolute must for me. I'm not going to be playing Metallica on full blast to wake up the neighbourhood.
On the other hand, if I'm cooking dinner, I'm likely going to be playing some bossa nova type jazz. It's upbeat, it's fun, and it makes me sort of feel like I'm back in a restaurant without all of the actual stress and back pain.
Though, don't get me wrong – the back pain is damn near forever.
That's all I have for now. If you read this, I hope it was kind of entertaining to see into my head. I hope you come back to read more. I promise the others will be more interesting! I also hope any of this made sense. Life isn't perfect, and neither is writing, anyway. Whatever.
To close out this first post, here are some of my current fave songs to listen to when cooking or baking, but the vibe will vary:
All the best,August
Writing a blog and putting myself out there on the internet is a huge change for me. This is going to be pretty easy to get used to, considering it's more of a stream of consciousness concept than anything formal, but it's still slightly unsettling that I'm not sure how many people will be reading this on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis.
I'd like to start the blog off by talking about one of my most favourite parts of working in kitchens for so long: MUSIC!!!
Day in and day out – night shift, early morning, or mid-day service slammed with brunch tickets, it didn't matter when – I was tuning my ears in (well, ear, considering one of them doesn't work that great) to the best of the best in the music queue. It was always music the line cooks chose, or took requests for if they were feeling kind, and they always blasted it through their portable speakers in a little 1/6 hotel pan to make sure it reached a volume they'd 100% be yelled at for.
Music is the greatest motivator in a kitchen hands down, aside from the perfect flow that can happen behind the line when service is running smoothly and everyone's stations are clean and fully stocked for the night. It's the heart of service most days, especially at night, when everyone is starting to come down from their Redbull-induced highs and the frustration of plates being sent back takes over.
Music makes the energy good, which makes the food good. If you don't believe me, check for yourself and reminisce for a moment. When was the last time you went to a restaurant and didn't hear loud music being blasted in every corner? Now, follow up question: if your restaurant lacked music at an unreasonable hour, was the food even any good? Truly??
My first food service job was working in a dine-in movie theatre. I started out as a runner/busser, like everyone at the bottom of the totem pole there, then shoved my way up as far as I could until COVID-19 shut the place down for bankruptcy. It was there that I was introduced to reggaeton, and then EDM. I've been a firm classic rock, jazz, and classical music enjoyer for a majority of my life, but I've always had a pretty wide variety in music taste – or so I thought.
Bad Bunny was a frequent flier in that kitchen, to everyone's delight. The GM (that's general manager, for those of you that don't know) often had to come through the swinging door and tell the cooks to turn the volume down. The smooth, sensual Latin pop was often too much for the matinee moviegoers, and not appreciated by those showing up for date night who wanted a formal, elevated movie experience. (Though, if you ask me, there is nothing elevated or formal about getting sloshed on Long Island Iced Teas and the smell of mashed potatoes.)
The lobby played the same looped elevator jazz (so, really, not even the fun kind of jazz) and it drove the entirety of BOH crazy. When I got bumped up to FOH and became a server, I swear I was hearing that jazz loop in my sleep. It was a sweet, sweet relief when I was finally able to choose my own music as a prep cook, far enough in the back of the kitchen that management really didn't care what I did, so long as I got my tasks done. I opted for classic rock a lot, but god forbid a fellow cook walked by and made a comment about wanting to fall asleep.
The only kitchen golden rule you need to follow is this: the time of day does affect the genre of music you should be listening to.
If I'm baking at 10a on a Sunday morning, classic jazz vocals are an absolute must for me. I'm not going to be playing Metallica on full blast to wake up the neighbourhood.
On the other hand, if I'm cooking dinner, I'm likely going to be playing some bossa nova type jazz. It's upbeat, it's fun, and it makes me sort of feel like I'm back in a restaurant without all of the actual stress and back pain.
Though, don't get me wrong – the back pain is damn near forever.
That's all I have for now. If you read this, I hope it was kind of entertaining to see into my head. I hope you come back to read more. I promise the others will be more interesting! I also hope any of this made sense. Life isn't perfect, and neither is writing, anyway. Whatever.
To close out this first post, here are some of my current fave songs to listen to when cooking or baking, but the vibe will vary:
- blooming in the morning - SPOOL
- Coffee - Hinds
- Charmed - Stella, Redinho
- Oyster Jam - dublon, Levi Hayes
All the best,August
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