I recently dined in a restaurant where the daily menus had the name of the Head Chef, Sous Chef, and some other chef. (Note: these may not be the exact titles, I don’t remember them) The kitchen was open to the restaurant, and I could see a number of people running around doing different things back there. Some people were at the stove, some were grilling steaks & seafood, and at least one guy was grabbing the plates and putting sauces & garnishes on them to make them look pretty.
My question: what are the various titles in the restaurant kitchen, and what do these people do? Also, does the “Executive Chef” (y’know, the one all the magazines write about) tend to be there cooking most days, or does that person mainly come up with the menu and the recipes and hand it off to others to do the actual cooking?
Find a copy of Nicolas Freeling’s KITCHEN BOOK. Utterly fascinating memoir of his years working in the kitchens of French hotels in the 1940s and 1950s.
The roast cook doesn’t talk to the grill cook. The vegetable cooks get no respect. EVERYONE dumps on the soup cook. The pastry cooks think everyone else is dogshit.
Fine, Ike, recommend books that are out of print. Remember, I’m in the flyover. Not many nifty used book stores out here where I can find a copy.
I’ve read books similar to that one, and I have a vague idea of what the roles are. Do the classic french roles still apply to modern restaurants? Dammit, where’s Troy when you need him?
For an interesting behind the scenes look at commercial kitchens, read Kitchen Confidential: adventures in the culinary underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. I just took it out of the library and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not only a fun read but that he writes quite well.
David R. Godine had a nice omnibus edition that paired KITCHEN BOOK with COOK BOOK. It came out in 1991 in softcover; if you can get that edition it’ll be cheaper, and you’ll get COOK BOOK too.