286449 Wed Jul 19 07:43:53 -0700 2000 8 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1535956 I did a quick search for info before embarrassing myself by asking these questions about "Kitchen Confidential". Either I'm not a good search artist or this info is such common knowledge that it never hit the boards. Anyway, about the book - What is a "dupe"? Is it a written food order? What is a "commis"? I gather it's a cooking position with less status than that of line cook but I'm not sure. Lastly, who is (was?) "Bigfoot"? BTW, I'm really loving the book. cz Wed Jul 19 07:43:53 -0700 2000 0 christina z 1 1535957 There's a chapter about 3/4 of the way through the book that explains most of these terms. Wed Jul 19 10:03:18 -0700 2000 1535956 0 Sharon A 2 1535994 I read that chapter, but I didn't see an explanation of "dupes." I was wondering what that meant, too! Thu Jul 20 10:31:59 -0700 2000 1535957 0 Cathy 3 1535995 I thought dupes (duplicates?) might refer to tickets given to the cooks reflecting pending orders - tho it was long ago, I seem to remember something called that hanging in front of the line cooks at restaurants where I waitressed. Haven't looked at the book, but does that make sense in context? Thu Jul 20 10:49:59 -0700 2000 1535994 0 jen kalb 4 1536001 I think the "dupes" where the old guys who used to eat at the Rainbow Room for lunch. Thu Jul 20 15:32:31 -0700 2000 1535995 0 Andy 5 1536020 Answers as follows: "Dupe" is short for "duplicate", the carbon copy of the check that your waiter is doodling on while he walks around your table, taking your order. In the old days the Chef had the additional task of translating waiter-scrawl into English (or Spanish). Nowadays, waiters punch orders into computer terminals and they spew out of a filthy, greasy, hated printer and into the Chef's station. A commis is the lowest form of aprentice in the classic French training system. His hellish life is mostly devoted to mopping the brow and doing the dirty work for whichever cook he has been attached to. As far as the identity of BigFoot, you'll never know. Any of us who ever worked for him always had a respect/fear relationship with him. Its my guess that author Bourdain was exercising a wise degree of discretion by not naming names in this case. Fri Jul 21 07:37:05 -0700 2000 1536001 0 FishManSam 3 1535996 Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. From my waitressing past, I seem to recall that orders were taken on a pad that had a carbon copy. The carbon copy (or dupe, as in duplicate) was what we gave the line chef, the original is what we gave the customer. pat Thu Jul 20 10:54:21 -0700 2000 1535994 0 pat hammond 4 1535997 That's what I've always thought of as a dupe, though I've never actually seen a definition of the word. Thu Jul 20 11:44:44 -0700 2000 1535996 0 Vanessa 1 1535975 You're not alone in not knowing what "dupe" means.....I'm almost 3/4 the way through this book....can't wait to get to that chapter....maybe Bourdain should have had some definitions up front for us non-industry types. Wed Jul 19 15:18:15 -0700 2000 1535956 0 bill