What are some rules of restaurant kitchen etiquette that most people don't know about?
14 Answers
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Don't screw with my mise.
Ninety percent of a kitchen's efficiency and quality of food can be attributed to the hours before the doors open, when everything is readied for the actual cooking hours. That's called "mise en place," everything in its place, and is part religion and part true art and craft. Most any bozo can heat a bunch of things and arrange them on a plate. Touching, taking, rearranging, my mise is a beating and firing offense in my place, worse in many others.
Mouth shut, eyes open.
Kitchens are loud and dangerous places. People get cut, burned, crushed, and worse. Most days have hectic phases where a keen eye on the food and your surroundings will make the difference between success and failure or injury.
My tools are mine, my knife is MINE.
Almost worse than touching my mise is touching my knife. It's mine, it's what separates me from savages, foodies, and the diners outside. It's a precision tool, it's my precision tool, and it defines me as a cook or chef. Don't touch it. Ever.
We work when we work, we party when we party
A good differentiator between bad and good kitchens is when the party starts. While we all hold somewhat romantic notions of the early 90s and late 80s when lines of coke and bottles of whiskey were consumed directly from the prep table during rush, that's not really how it happened in most places and definitely not how it happens today. Sober cooks make good food, healthy cooks keep making it. Drinks and drugs (and sex, much sex) happens after the kitchen goes cold, all else is dangerous, problematic, and unhygienic.
Chef is Chef
It doesn't matter that you know it better, it doesn't matter that you know more. Kitchens are military style organizations (and that's a good thing, not everyone wants to work in granola munching kale and cubicle land) and what chef says is the law. If you're a cook, what Sous or your Chef de Partie says, is the law too. And if you're 45 and came from a high flying investment broker job, that 19 year old girl is still your freaking boss and if she tells you to cut one way, you cut one way.
Ninety percent of a kitchen's efficiency and quality of food can be attributed to the hours before the doors open, when everything is readied for the actual cooking hours. That's called "mise en place," everything in its place, and is part religion and part true art and craft. Most any bozo can heat a bunch of things and arrange them on a plate. Touching, taking, rearranging, my mise is a beating and firing offense in my place, worse in many others.
Mouth shut, eyes open.
Kitchens are loud and dangerous places. People get cut, burned, crushed, and worse. Most days have hectic phases where a keen eye on the food and your surroundings will make the difference between success and failure or injury.
My tools are mine, my knife is MINE.
Almost worse than touching my mise is touching my knife. It's mine, it's what separates me from savages, foodies, and the diners outside. It's a precision tool, it's my precision tool, and it defines me as a cook or chef. Don't touch it. Ever.
We work when we work, we party when we party
A good differentiator between bad and good kitchens is when the party starts. While we all hold somewhat romantic notions of the early 90s and late 80s when lines of coke and bottles of whiskey were consumed directly from the prep table during rush, that's not really how it happened in most places and definitely not how it happens today. Sober cooks make good food, healthy cooks keep making it. Drinks and drugs (and sex, much sex) happens after the kitchen goes cold, all else is dangerous, problematic, and unhygienic.
Chef is Chef
It doesn't matter that you know it better, it doesn't matter that you know more. Kitchens are military style organizations (and that's a good thing, not everyone wants to work in granola munching kale and cubicle land) and what chef says is the law. If you're a cook, what Sous or your Chef de Partie says, is the law too. And if you're 45 and came from a high flying investment broker job, that 19 year old girl is still your freaking boss and if she tells you to cut one way, you cut one way.
6.3k Views • Upvoted by Tilman Ahr, trained chef with a borderline obsessive interest in food history and science
One thing is, don't talk with your knife. Swinging a knife around while you are talking excitedly about the movie you saw the previous evening is a big no-no.
Walking through the kitchen with your knife held out. Always move through kitchen with your knife held to your side and pointing down. One more thing , when handing someone a knife do not hold the point towards the borrower or towards yourself. To properly pass a knife to someone else hold it point down holding the handle firmly or better yet put it on the table top and let the other person pick it up. One would think these are obvious with regard to kitchen etiquette, but I've worked in enough kitchens to know that it isn't to many cooks.
Walking through the kitchen with your knife held out. Always move through kitchen with your knife held to your side and pointing down. One more thing , when handing someone a knife do not hold the point towards the borrower or towards yourself. To properly pass a knife to someone else hold it point down holding the handle firmly or better yet put it on the table top and let the other person pick it up. One would think these are obvious with regard to kitchen etiquette, but I've worked in enough kitchens to know that it isn't to many cooks.
(1) Clean as you go - the restaurant kitchen has many shared spaces, please do not leave a mess behind for the other person to clean up - that's unethical.
(2) Go with the flow - there is a prearranged way of how things should flow through the kitchen, don't mess it up by going against the traffic
(3) Ask if you don't know - don't pretend or try to be a smart alec. Uncertainty can cause greater disaster later e.g. spoiling a whole batch of soup, messing up the preparation and affecting downstream processes etc. The most you get is a solid scolding from the Chef but you will get educated.
(4) Everything in its place - the kitchen is an organized space, it cannot afford to have things misplaced. Please return the shared utensils back (cleaned) to its designated place.
(5) Everyone's got a job -don't think you are the only busy person in the kitchen, everyone's been assigned something to take care of - don't ever think cool that guy can help you out while his sauce his cooking down - that would be the last thing he'd be doing in the kitchen if he decided to help you out and botch his sauce. Don't think that you can afford to help others out too, you are not doing the person a service, he is supposed to be able to manage that's why the chef gave him the job. If you think you have lots of free-time, think again - chances are you might have missed some critical steps. You only help out when the Chef orders/instructs you to do so.
(2) Go with the flow - there is a prearranged way of how things should flow through the kitchen, don't mess it up by going against the traffic
(3) Ask if you don't know - don't pretend or try to be a smart alec. Uncertainty can cause greater disaster later e.g. spoiling a whole batch of soup, messing up the preparation and affecting downstream processes etc. The most you get is a solid scolding from the Chef but you will get educated.
(4) Everything in its place - the kitchen is an organized space, it cannot afford to have things misplaced. Please return the shared utensils back (cleaned) to its designated place.
(5) Everyone's got a job -don't think you are the only busy person in the kitchen, everyone's been assigned something to take care of - don't ever think cool that guy can help you out while his sauce his cooking down - that would be the last thing he'd be doing in the kitchen if he decided to help you out and botch his sauce. Don't think that you can afford to help others out too, you are not doing the person a service, he is supposed to be able to manage that's why the chef gave him the job. If you think you have lots of free-time, think again - chances are you might have missed some critical steps. You only help out when the Chef orders/instructs you to do so.
Some good rules already. Just going to add a few more.
If something is hot, let people know.
"Hot pot!" or equivalent must be shouted if placing hot equipment away from the stove and where it can be handled by others. Failure to do this can lead to nasty contact burns in the potwash or by other chefs or severs. It's a very important rule usually learnt the hard way. I have heard of chefs marking hot pots and handles with flour but that doesn't sound good enough. And when I say "hot pot" I need to hear "yes chef."
You burnt it. You clean it.
Maybe not universal, but I came across it as a junior apprentice and was impressed to see the head chef and scary sous scrubbing badly burnt pots when they messed up. But then they very rarely burnt anything. Promotes team cohesion and the sense that everyone is as important as everyone else in a kitchen. They are, everyone needs to be doing their job. No one needs to be scrubbing your mistakes. Either do it yourself or make less mistakes.
Do not touch the food.
If you want to taste something and this is permissible as part of your job or you are invited to taste something, use a clean spoon or fork. Always. This applies to chefs, auxiliary staff, waiting staff, kitchen managers, restaurant owners and anyone else hanging about in a kitchen. I don't care if you just washed your hands. In my kitchen you go get a spoon.
Knives do not go in sinks.
If your knife needs cleaning and you are not going to be doing it yourself for any reason do not drop that fifteen inches of sharpened steel into that sink of hot soapy water. Someones hands will be going in there and like the hot pot scenario people can get badly hurt. This applies to any sharpened edge from tiny paring knives to scissors and blades from machines. Either wash dangerous items yourself or make sure who ever is washing them is aware of them by making sure they can see them. You might want to get a "yes chef" there as well.
If something is hot, let people know.
"Hot pot!" or equivalent must be shouted if placing hot equipment away from the stove and where it can be handled by others. Failure to do this can lead to nasty contact burns in the potwash or by other chefs or severs. It's a very important rule usually learnt the hard way. I have heard of chefs marking hot pots and handles with flour but that doesn't sound good enough. And when I say "hot pot" I need to hear "yes chef."
You burnt it. You clean it.
Maybe not universal, but I came across it as a junior apprentice and was impressed to see the head chef and scary sous scrubbing badly burnt pots when they messed up. But then they very rarely burnt anything. Promotes team cohesion and the sense that everyone is as important as everyone else in a kitchen. They are, everyone needs to be doing their job. No one needs to be scrubbing your mistakes. Either do it yourself or make less mistakes.
Do not touch the food.
If you want to taste something and this is permissible as part of your job or you are invited to taste something, use a clean spoon or fork. Always. This applies to chefs, auxiliary staff, waiting staff, kitchen managers, restaurant owners and anyone else hanging about in a kitchen. I don't care if you just washed your hands. In my kitchen you go get a spoon.
Knives do not go in sinks.
If your knife needs cleaning and you are not going to be doing it yourself for any reason do not drop that fifteen inches of sharpened steel into that sink of hot soapy water. Someones hands will be going in there and like the hot pot scenario people can get badly hurt. This applies to any sharpened edge from tiny paring knives to scissors and blades from machines. Either wash dangerous items yourself or make sure who ever is washing them is aware of them by making sure they can see them. You might want to get a "yes chef" there as well.
