TikTok shows remote steakhouse cooking multiple steaks at once
An Outback Steakhouse chef went viral on Tuesday for grilling multiple steaks simultaneously on a clean grill, sparking a debate about the restaurant’s kitchen and dirty labor.
TikToker is a chef at the casual dining chain. His TikTok behind-the-scenes photo of him in the kitchen grilling about 20 steaks at once posted yesterday received more than 53,200 views and 466 likes before it was removed this morning.
Captioned, “Begin the bustle on Monday,” the 14-second video slowly zooms in on a piece of barbecued meat being pressed on a filthy-looking griddle filled with oil. Everything from the top of the grill to the press used to grill the tops of the steak has a layer of charred fat.
Backcountry steakhouse is an Australian franchise that specializes in affordable steaks in a casual environment. With locations in more than 23 countries, customers can sit back and enjoy a sirloin steak for as little as $13.29.
While the chef appeared to be just trying to share his daily grind, many commenters immediately pointed out how dirty the grill is.
“I’ve heard if you see what the kitchen looks like in restaurants you wouldn’t eat. 😳😳,” said @ doingthisMOMthing365.
“Some things you don’t show,” added @Jeffpowell385.
Another comment read, “This makes me never want to eat out.”
Others have defended him, noting that mess is inevitable when cooking that amount of food at high speed. Especially in light of nationwide labor shortages due to low wages, inflation, supply chain woes, and COVID concerns, according to Houston Public Media. Based on Food & Wine magazine, three out of four restaurant employees say recruiting and retaining staff is the biggest challenge in their operations.
“You know what they say a dirty kitchen means good food. Not as dirty as cockroaches but serving over 200 people within a few hours, it’s going to be a mess,” @presley55915 said.
@Katlynpatton5 says: “A lot of people have never been in a commercial kitchen and it shows.
The Daily Dot has reached out to TikToker and Outback Steakhouse for comment.
