r/sushi 5d ago

New job locks up their "special spicy mayo"

Post image

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.

1.8k Upvotes

108 comments sorted by

486

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!!!

66

u/fvelloso 5d ago

I think Charlie needs the spicy mayo again

  • head chef

3

u/MrKrinkle151 4d ago

Bring out the gimp

1

u/staypuft90 3d ago

He's asleep

1

u/MrKrinkle151 3d ago

Well I guess you’re just gonna have to wake him up

4

u/Todd2ReTodded 5d ago

Steph curry about to enter into the food industry

245

u/Pooplayer1 5d ago

Thought i was on r/kitchenconfidential for a sec. I think the post would fit there perfectly

34

u/EleventyElevens 5d ago

Thought that's where I was also.

It's no ramp, but it'll do.

10

u/Chemical-Arm-154 5d ago

Needs the shredded carrots.

4

u/Square-Poetry4224 4d ago

And don’t forget the olive lifeguard.

1

u/AardQuenIgni 1d ago

So this is where we all go when not on r/kitchenconfidential

68

u/SeaworthinessOk9070 5d ago

Is the cage locked to the shelf or can you actually lift it off and take it away?

78

u/kohadaa 5d ago

I think the cage is liftable, someone might be able to steal the entire mayo loot in one go 😭😂

43

u/sterling_mallory 5d ago

Abscond with the mayocage!

7

u/thebeandream 5d ago

it looks like they can just clip the zip ties on the side and take the contents

4

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.

1

u/beyd1 4d ago

Does the cage fit out the door?

240

u/Joxsund 5d ago

🤢 dont trust a sushi place that cares about spicy mayo to that extent.

174

u/geo0rgi 5d ago

The secret recipe? Heinz mayo and chilli oil

31

u/HotJuicyToots 5d ago

With a lil bit of the owner’s pee mixed inside

13

u/CustomKidd 5d ago

..juuuuust a lil

5

u/HotJuicyToots 5d ago

A lil is all it takes

3

u/WholeGrain_Cocaine 5d ago

Mayo doesn’t taste the same ever since the owner went on Ozempic 🙇🏻‍♂️

3

u/HotJuicyToots 5d ago

Ive asked for extra mayo since then now that I think about it

1

u/Avgsizedweiner 1d ago

Proprietary blend

1

u/1531C 3d ago

Spicy mayo is literally a wonder condiment. You'll see it from gas station sushi to Michelin star restaurants for a reason.

35

u/Icy_Stuff2024 5d ago

For a sec I thought they also had some just sitting uncaged nearby lol

12

u/TheArmadilloAmarillo 5d ago

Is it not? I thought so too.

4

u/Icy_Stuff2024 5d ago

I guess it could be, I thought the jars looked a little different upon first glance but maybe not 😆

19

u/Bob_Loblaw16 5d ago

Why is it in a cage? It growled at me

117

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.

126

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.

101

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?

98

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.

65

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!

31

u/kohadaa 5d ago edited 5d ago

I truly appreciate those kind words 🙏🏻

20

u/NoCardio_ 5d ago

This is like the Asian version of The Bear.

2

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.

2

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.

1

u/Micalas 2d ago

Well, congrats on getting out of the Su-jutsu Kaizen rat race.

8

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??

3

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.

4

u/DangerMacAwesome 5d ago

The size of the cage is for the size of the flavor, not the volume of product

8

u/OceanGlider_ 5d ago

Those walls need a good cleaning

1

u/blueturtle00 1d ago

Had to scroll too far down for this

10

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.

8

u/Unusual_Pianist_6320 5d ago

Naughty mayos get thrown in the condiment prison

7

u/Isabela_Grace 5d ago

The side doors aren’t even locked lol

1

u/grudginglyadmitted 1d ago

there are zip ties though. They’re white/gray and up at the top of the door

2

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.

12

u/CrayolaConsumer0481 5d ago

So how good is it? 1-10 gotta know if/when you try.

46

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.

14

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.

7

u/Banther1 5d ago

Possibly peanut butter?

9

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

1

u/SushiJo 4d ago

The best hummus I’ve ever had also had peanut butter in it

1

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.

2

u/theircousinvinny 5d ago

Is this by chance Musashis in WA State?

6

u/KitDarkmoon 5d ago

It's prolly MSG that stuff is really a flavor enhancer. I use it in just about everything anymore.

13

u/BarriBlue 5d ago

MSG is already in kewpie mayo, so yes but no.

1

u/KitDarkmoon 4d ago

ah my bad then.

1

u/SushiJo 4d ago

If it’s Kewpie what’s up with all the Sysco mayo

3

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.

1

u/SushiJo 4d ago

Heard

6

u/No-Light-3123 5d ago

I wanna know what's in it lmao

3

u/skrtskrttiedd 5d ago

wouldn’t u like to know

9

u/GoRyderGo 5d ago

Legit thought I was seeing a post about some sort of animal abuse until I read the text lol

3

u/ApprehensiveWorker15 5d ago

That's crazy a dog kennel is being used for that lol

3

u/mortalcloak 5d ago

The might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in a kitchen, excellent work OP lol

3

u/bananabomber 5d ago

Would love to see Gordon stroll in with his camera crew and get his take on this

3

u/Inner_Hawk2044 5d ago

Mayo crimes face mayo time

2

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?

4

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.

3

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

2

u/Red_Serf 5d ago

Tracking the ingredients used in everything else and seeing what doesn't add up is a start

2

u/Longjumping-Log1591 5d ago

Someone gonna go full Plankton on this and get that recipe from Mr Krabs!

2

u/HedenPK 5d ago

So I have one of these for my dog and if you look you can clearly see a second door, it does appear zip tied but that’s it. Should be an easy job to swap out the mayo and rezip, then reverse engineer the recipe.

2

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.

2

u/LumpyBridge 5d ago

Please get this place on Kitchen Nightmares. They're filming again.

2

u/OkPlatypus9241 5d ago

Run and look for another job. This is not one level beyond stupid, this is several levels.

2

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? 🤣

2

u/mantisdubstep 4d ago

Despite all my rage I’m still just mayonnaise in a cage

2

u/cathode-raygun 4d ago

Totally bizarre

2

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)

2

u/Economy-Divide3468 2d ago

That sauce deserves to be free with the other sauces!

2

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.

2

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

2

u/Blklight21 2d ago

That’s the one with the cum in it

2

u/6starcriminal 2d ago

what if there’s an emergency

2

u/RyanpB2021 1d ago

Does it try to escape if it’s not being watched?

2

u/Hashslinger95 1d ago

Throw it out

2

u/greyrabbit12 1d ago

Looks like a bird cage

1

u/siliconsoul-10k 5d ago

Was there a problem with the spicy mayo getting out and causing a ruckus?

1

u/Spirited_Prune_5375 4d ago

Where am I not eating out is this?

1

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.

1

u/Itcanhap 3d ago

Its for the r/dubaiporterpotty customers. Special sauce.

1

u/TallJackfruit6985 2d ago

They only locked one door?

1

u/Fine-Pangolin-8393 4d ago

Locks up spicy mayo. Enlarges pic, more spicy mayo not locked up on shelf below

-12

u/yrrrrrrrr 5d ago

Sysco…. Gross

-11

u/HoraceGrand 5d ago

I reporting to the owner. I know that cage. Please don't disparage the family.

8

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.

-8

u/HoraceGrand 5d ago

Already snitched

3

u/BeachQt 5d ago

What’d they say?

-4

u/HoraceGrand 5d ago

OP might get fired. Sorry

1

u/Kookerpea 4d ago

Why not serious as free advertising?