Restaurant Kitchens Have Should Go By These 12 Strict Rules

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.

“If you have a small restaurant kitchen plan things can get mixed up. 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.

Drinks and drugs (and sex, much sex) happen after the restaurant kitchens go cold, all else is dangerous, problematic, and unhygienic.”

Chef is Chef

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.” Ian Paytas

Label and date – everything!
“This is to ensure that the oldest products and ingredients are used first, but also increases efficiency, when you’re rifling through the walk-in looking for prepped mushrooms it’s a lot easier to read “mushrooms 6–9” than to peer through the quart container to see what’s inside.”

F.I.F.O. – First in first out

“This goes back to labeling, the oldest products must be used first. Also, it is important to organize products in the walk-in or dry storage so that the newest product is behind the oldest.

If there is an open bag of panko in dry storage it should be prominently displayed so that someone doesn’t come in looking for panko and opens another bag, now you have two open bags of panko that will eventually attract moths.”

Stay hydrated!

“It gets hot on the line – – really hot, so cooks sweat a lot, it’s hard to be at your peak performance if you’re dehydrated. When I was a runner back in the day would bring the line quart containers of water every hour or so without them asking, I was normally compensated with a burger at the end of the shift.

That brings me to another point, NO GLASS ON THE LINE. If you’re drinking from a glass on the line and you break it all of the Mise en place on the pass must be discarded.

This is especially problematic if it happens on grade manager, you’re throwing out all of your cheese, greens, nuts etc.”

Christopher Seaton

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 pot wash or by other chefs or [servers.]

It’s a very important rule usually learned 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 restaurant kitchens. They are, everyone needs to be doing their job. No one needs to be scrubbing your mistakes. Either do it yourself or make fewer 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,

This applies to chefs, auxiliary staff, waiting staff, kitchen managers, restaurant owners and anyone else hanging about in a restaurant kitchen plan. I don’t care if you just washed your hands. In my kitchen, you go get a spoon.”

Jason Dang

Let someone know when you’re behind them
“One of the most important rules in restaurant kitchens is that anyone who walks in (whether it’s FOH or BOH employees) must say ‘behind’ or ‘back’ whenever you are walking, standing, or just around the back of someone. During service, no one wastes time to look behind and walk; they just turn around and walk. Imagine turning with a hot pan to plate, only to be stopped, tripped, or stumbled into someone else.

During service, no one wastes time to look behind and walk; they just turn around and walk. Imagine turning with a hot pan to plate, only to be stopped, tripped, or stumbled into someone else.