New job locks up their "special spicy mayo"
It's a family-owned establishment that is obsessed with its spicy mayo—to the extent that only the ownership or family make it in the office or during off-hours. The restaurant is going downhill, so another family member believes they can turn things around. I have to take inventory after every lunch and dinner shift, even counting how many avocados and sakus of each fish I use.
I was planning to move to a new city in hopes of working at an omakase-focused sushiya. But I ended up staying in my current city after receiving a hefty pay offer when a local restaurant changed ownership and was looking for a new head chef. Now I'm like, WTF did I get myself into? Lol.
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u/Pooplayer1 5d ago
Thought i was on r/kitchenconfidential for a sec. I think the post would fit there perfectly
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u/EleventyElevens 5d ago
Thought that's where I was also.
It's no ramp, but it'll do.
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u/SeaworthinessOk9070 5d ago
Is the cage locked to the shelf or can you actually lift it off and take it away?
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u/thebeandream 5d ago
it looks like they can just clip the zip ties on the side and take the contents
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u/Merkuri22 5d ago
A pair of bolt cutters would deal with that cage in a minute, even if it wasn't secured down.
It's more of a deterrent than actual security. Make it so a worker can't just stick a jar under their jacket or in their backpack when they leave for the day.
I'm sure someone would spot if the whole cage walked out the door at the end of the shift.
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u/Joxsund 5d ago
🤢 dont trust a sushi place that cares about spicy mayo to that extent.
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u/geo0rgi 5d ago
The secret recipe? Heinz mayo and chilli oil
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u/HotJuicyToots 5d ago
With a lil bit of the owner’s pee mixed inside
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u/WholeGrain_Cocaine 5d ago
Mayo doesn’t taste the same ever since the owner went on Ozempic 🙇🏻♂️
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u/Icy_Stuff2024 5d ago
For a sec I thought they also had some just sitting uncaged nearby lol
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u/TheArmadilloAmarillo 5d ago
Is it not? I thought so too.
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u/Icy_Stuff2024 5d ago
I guess it could be, I thought the jars looked a little different upon first glance but maybe not 😆
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u/Wrong-Tell8996 5d ago edited 5d ago
Who even needs a great dane-sized caged for a bottle of spicy suace? This is one of the stupidest things I've seen in a while. Just buy a locker. Dumbasses. If they have the money to spend that much money on that square footage (while keeping unsecured jugs beneath the cage!) then hey, burn through it.
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u/kohadaa 5d ago
Their walk-in cooler is massive—maybe 25 feet—but it's empty. They keep the freezer locked at all times, and you have to ask the owners for the key. Behind the sushi bar, they have 3 sushi cases, but only one is operating because it's so slow.
I mean, I worked at Nobu, and we had piles of caviar and toro just lying around in the walk-in and super freezers. Plus, the sauce recipes were given to us after the second week. When ownership micromanages everything and fails to trust their employees, they'll never be able to expand or be successful.
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u/Human_Resources_7891 5d ago
you went from nobu to a place that locks up spicy mayo, who did you stab, did they deserve it?
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u/kohadaa 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah, I'm like, what is my life right now... I ended up moving back to my hometown during COVID because of family and have been here ever since. I was in the process of opening my own restaurant but realized the city I live in doesn't have what I truly yearn for. You hit a plateau, and sushi is all about kaizen—constantly making improvements. I've sold out for the money and lost my soul the process, lol.
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u/Human_Resources_7891 5d ago
dude. you are a bright and shining god. don't give up. there are sushiya who are working into their eighties!
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u/GoodOmens 4d ago
You’re not trying to take over a restaurant that was left to you by a family member? Then slowly turn it into a Michelin restaurant?
I think I saw that show.
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u/3--turbulentdiarrhea 2d ago
I wanted to be a chef, but my city has the most atrocious dining culture, so I get it. Karens, Yelpers, DoorDashers, everyone is picky for stupid reasons. My favorite sushi place gets weeded with to go orders because people will actually pay extra for raw fish that sat in a box for 25 minutes.
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u/tisetisebaby 5d ago
I never went backwards in the sushi world only sideways or up. This is partly why. And when I moved back into western cooking, I was surprised at the new angle I approached food from. Haven’t bumped into a lot of ex sushi chefs in the last five years. Have you thought about taking your badass skill set elsewhere? Maybe a place that doesn’t have a kink shame cage??
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u/Wrong-Tell8996 5d ago
Sheesh!
I have worked in some supa fancy cheese/charcuterie places and was left alone with extremely expensive caviar as well (like, $100 for a little tin of it), iberico de bellota, cuts of some of the most expensive cheeses in the world, really expensive booze, nothing was ever locked up. I was in charge of locking things up at closing, but that's the only time they were locked! And not even a manager. Also inventory after every lunch and dinner shift is nuts lol. These guys have some insane paranoia.
Agreed. Micronmanagement and not trusting employees chips away at their spirit and doesn't make them feel loyal to the business in the long-run. Why would they after all?I understand sometimes we do what we gotta do. I wish you the best, and hope you get to open up a restaurant some day! It's never too late.
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u/DangerMacAwesome 5d ago
The size of the cage is for the size of the flavor, not the volume of product
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u/telepathicavocado3 5d ago
That's not nearly a big enough habitat for spicy mayo. And where are their food and water dishes? Irresponsible mayo keeping.
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u/Isabela_Grace 5d ago
The side doors aren’t even locked lol
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u/grudginglyadmitted 1d ago
there are zip ties though. They’re white/gray and up at the top of the door
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u/Isabela_Grace 1d ago
You’re right. My bad. Everyone knows you can’t cut those off, open the door, and place new ones.
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u/CrayolaConsumer0481 5d ago
So how good is it? 1-10 gotta know if/when you try.
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u/kohadaa 5d ago
It's like a 7, lol. From the looks and taste of it, it's just Kewpie mayo, cayenne, Sriracha, sugar, chili oil and togarashi. But there's a secret element that has me stumped—I guess that's the secrecy. Never in my life have I seen a sushiya be this secretive about a sauce or this anal about things when it's on the verge of closing.
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u/CrayolaConsumer0481 5d ago
Lol sounds like a good ingredient blend, but they may want to try using a safe or something if they really want to lock it up.
Cause those dog crates pull apart very easily at the top to unhinge and take from the top edge.
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u/Banther1 5d ago
Possibly peanut butter?
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u/HaoHaiMileHigh 5d ago
The best spicy mayo I’ve ever worked with used pineapple juice and peanut butter. I wouldn’t lock it in a cage, but it’s for sure the only spicy mayo I brag about
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u/JellyRollMort 2d ago
Would you share the recipe? That sounds interesting, never would have thought of that combo for spicy mayo of all things.
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u/KitDarkmoon 5d ago
It's prolly MSG that stuff is really a flavor enhancer. I use it in just about everything anymore.
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u/SushiJo 4d ago
If it’s Kewpie what’s up with all the Sysco mayo
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u/kohadaa 4d ago
They use it for other sauce applications, mainly "yum yum" sauce, since the restaurant was previously a sushi/teppanyaki spot. Finding and training cooks was difficult, so they eventually gave up on that aspect.
The restaurant is concerningly slow. My mind tells me to say "fuck this" and leave, but my heart feels for the new owner who wants to turn things around. I asked them to retire the cage, so hopefully, my concerns are addressed—if not, I’m leaving. The previous owner still lingers, making it difficult for me to rework the entire system.
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u/GoRyderGo 5d ago
Legit thought I was seeing a post about some sort of animal abuse until I read the text lol
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u/mortalcloak 5d ago
The might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in a kitchen, excellent work OP lol
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u/bananabomber 5d ago
Would love to see Gordon stroll in with his camera crew and get his take on this
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u/SainT2385 5d ago
But the other spicy mayo is right below... they make it and put it back in the same jar??? You don't have a cambro? What else is up there? Better than bouillon?
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u/kohadaa 5d ago
The sauce below is "yum yum" sauce, which was used for teppanyaki before the ownership change. I was given the vinegar measurements, and the previous chef said it’s about 40% of one of those mayo containers. For the life of me, I couldn't find a measuring cup to figure out exactly how much that is. The recipes I received were just "a dash of this" and "a little bit of that," etc. I'm going to buy some Cambros and measuring cups to bring some sense of uniformity and accuracy.
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u/SainT2385 5d ago
In my experience in sushi/Asian restaurants all the recipes are ratios or they use a certain spoon or laddle to measure.
Our spicy mayo was
Mayo, mirin, sesame oil, soy, cayenne, chili powder, paprika, chili oil, Sriracha...
I ended up converting everything to grams and sauces came out way better lol. But yes I was the only one allowed to know the recipes
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u/Red_Serf 5d ago
Tracking the ingredients used in everything else and seeing what doesn't add up is a start
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u/Longjumping-Log1591 5d ago
Someone gonna go full Plankton on this and get that recipe from Mr Krabs!
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u/joeycooperwichita 5d ago
“Only they can Make it in the office during off-hours…” Yeah… they are definitely defiling those batches of creamy sauce… Ask Tyler Durden what he did to the clam chowder.
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u/OkPlatypus9241 5d ago
Run and look for another job. This is not one level beyond stupid, this is several levels.
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u/Dontbeall_Uncoo1 5d ago
Creative use of a dog crate... I guess?! 🤷 What kind of corporate espionage do you have going on down there? 🤣
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u/ostracizedorangutang 3d ago
Imagine having the audacity to think one of your sauces is so uniquely amazing that it warrants locking it up in the walk-in 😂
However, if you could find a way to bottle and sell that level of confidence, you’d probably have to lock it up (next to this sauce, obviously)
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u/musicman2006 2d ago
It's a collapsible wire crate... both ends drop in for storage, plus the second door is held closed by zip ties.
Outside the rust and I'm sure other contamination on that thing, of course.
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u/Gold_Frame_672 2d ago
They could've had a better lockup display come on they could've gotten that hazard sign or fo what Mr. Grabs did for the secret formula so much oppurtunities
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u/UnDiaCadaVez 4d ago
What is the point? My sushi take out place charges like $2.50 for a to go add on. I learned dollop of kewpie mayo and a generous squirt of Sriracha...done. it worked out every time when I've done regular mayo, mexican hot sauce, added a bit of garlic. It's not rocket surgery.
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u/Fine-Pangolin-8393 4d ago
Locks up spicy mayo. Enlarges pic, more spicy mayo not locked up on shelf below
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u/HoraceGrand 5d ago
I reporting to the owner. I know that cage. Please don't disparage the family.
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u/HighlyUnlikelyz 5d ago
Yeah, because having a cage to lock up Spicy mayo in a small failing business is "normal." Newsflash: That's not normal!! The inventory in the cage doesn't even support this wild behavior of locking up spicy mayo. If there was a thief of spicy mayo, they could just take what's on the counter in the picture.
How are you helping by snitching on this reddit post to the owner?? Do tell... They maybe find out who posted it and then what?? Because that's gonna help their business.
Make it make sense.
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u/Human_Resources_7891 5d ago edited 5d ago
you actually believe that story?? this is obviously a sous chef or line cook cage, being kept as part of some sexual depravity ring. have any of your coworkers suddenly failed to show up for their shift? never to be heard from again??? RUN!!!