Teamwork. It’s become a bit of a buzzword in the business world with hundreds of overpaid executives in suits going off for the day to plant trees in the name of “team-building”, but what does teamwork mean in a professional kitchen?
Putting the Professional in Professional Chef
If you’ve ever worked in a busy commercial kitchen, you’ll know that working as a team is the only way to get through dinner service and produce food that is not only edible but delicious too. If you’re just a keen home cook, it’s always good to have an idea of what goes on in the professional kitchen to stay abreast of trends in the industry.
Here are 5 things that professional chefs do that can help you out when you’re thinking about how to promote good teamwork in your own kitchen.
Chefs work together briskly, efficiently and without fuss or drama
Most kitchens run like clockwork and it’s an orderly, quick-paced environment where people look forward to coming back every day.
Every dish is expertly prepared so they can set up their orders before starting on any other bowls or trays. There are no errors made because everyone works together without delay or hesitation.
Chefs use a clear system of communication, no one is left in the dark
The importance of a well-established kitchen lingo cannot be over emphasized, every station would have a separate vocabulary that is understood by their peers and initiates newcomers to the industry smoothly into service.
It may seem excessive to outsiders, but this is an essential tool for everyone to communicate efficiently.
Chefs remove any ambiguity from their orders
Good chefs do not hesitate to voice out when they’re not sure about something. When there’s a question about how an order should be executed or what ingredients are needed at what times, it gets quickly clarified so that there is no room for mistake or error in executing an order in a busy kitchen.
Chefs dress according to their role
It may seem like something ridiculous to contemplate but chefs do not go about the kitchen wearing the same thing as everyone else.
For example, when choosing your chef uniform you need to take pride in your appearance so that you can set a good example for your team and show the customers that you care about your work.
Chefs pay attention to detail
When it comes to producing dishes, large groups of people will be involved; all with unique roles, responsibilities and expectations of one another that need to be understood and understood minutely if problems arise later on down the line.
Your Role As A Chef
It is important to understand those expectations from the start and to make it a point to be extra attentive if anything needs to be clarified.
It’s also important that everyone on your team realizes that at the end of the day, your goal as a restaurant or as a chef is not to become a culinary superstar but rather you aim to produce consistently good food. Therefore, you will need your team more than ever – they’re the ones who will have to share your vision of how high-quality food should look and taste.