The original post: /r/amitheasshole by /u/Competitive-Region84 on 2024-10-12 05:00:53.

So, I’m (29M) a head chef at a pretty busy restaurant, and I’ve been working in kitchens for over a decade. I love my job, but it can be a high-stress environment, especially during the dinner rush. Recently, we’ve had some issues between the kitchen staff (my crew) and the front-of-house servers.

For context, servers at our place are notorious for being pretty demanding. They always want their tables’ orders out fast, which I get—that’s their job. But lately, a few of them have started getting way too comfortable walking into the kitchen and trying to tell us how to do our jobs.

For example, last week one of the servers (let’s call her Sarah, 24F) came back and re-plated one of the dishes because she “didn’t like the presentation.” She told me it looked “too messy” for her table of VIP guests. Keep in mind, this is a dish I’ve made the exact same way for months, and I’ve never had a single complaint about it. I told her the kitchen isn’t her space to control, and if she wants something changed, she needs to tell me first instead of messing with my food.

Then another server, Jake (22M), started coming into the kitchen and saying stuff like, “Hey, can you prioritize Table 3’s order? They’re in a rush,” as if we don’t already have a system in place for timing everything out. I get it, sometimes customers are impatient, but the servers don’t understand the flow of the kitchen, and them stepping in just throws everything off.

It all came to a head last night when we were slammed, and Sarah decided to tell one of my line cooks to remake a dish because “it looked overdone.” That was the last straw for me. I gathered all the servers after the shift and basically told them that they need to stop interfering with the kitchen’s workflow and stay out unless they’re delivering orders or asking about allergies/substitutions. I wasn’t rude, just firm.

Now, the servers are pissed, saying I’m being controlling and that it’s their job to make sure the customers get the best experience. They’ve been gossiping that I’m a “kitchen tyrant” and even complained to the owner, who’s staying neutral but said I should “try to keep things harmonious.”

A few of my kitchen staff think I was totally right to set boundaries, but now I feel like I’m stuck in this battle between keeping the kitchen efficient and not alienating the front-of-house team.

So, AITA for telling the servers to stop meddling in the kitchen?