Chef's Placebo High

I came to work into the undisclosed restaurant I work for, returning from my hour-long break. Most times, it feels good to just get out of the place you work, even if all you want to do is sit down an relax. Because of this, a couple of things happened without my immediate knowledge.

The sous-chef's penchant for caffeine had gotten him hyper, using his somewhat legitimate high to inform half of the working force of the restaurant that he had pounded an exorbitant amount of espresso-based caffeine.

Most people typically have a single or double shot to get going, but this guy? He was claiming he had seven or eight. I laughed to myself, thinking it was going to be an interesting shift with a maniac at the helm of the kitchen.

Then I realized something; I had been in charge of refilling the empty espresso bean grinder at the end of my morning shift. It occurred to me (after confirming the contents of the trash) that I had instead accidentally filled the grinder full of DECAFFEINATED BEANS.

I glanced back at the chef, who was bouncing around the kitchen with a proactive sense of control and delegation, apparently unaware that his high was a complete placebo. It made me laugh quite heartily at his expense.

Later on in the evening, I had a guest who was a self-proclaimed "difficult one," the kind of person who makes lots of demands (but acknowledges his or her faults, somehow making it slightly more acceptable). She wanted her vegetable dish without any kind of sauce, fearing it would be too spicy. I communicated to the decaffeinated chef that she wanted her dish sans-sauce, to which he replied "OK, but it'll be quite dry."

After returning with the news, she asked me to make a sauce for her which was "maybe kinda sweet and maybe tangy."

I returned to the kitchen to ask if this was possible, but the chef instead told me to "make the dish regular and tell her it's special."

He insisted she wouldn't know the difference, and I agreed.

After all, he certainly knew all about the power of suggestion firsthand.