Senior Chefs
Manage and oversee the operation of kitchens in dining and other food service establishments.
Function day in a hotel kitchen
You are the executive chef of a large hotel kitchen on the day of a conference dinner for three hundred guests, with a restaurant service as well. It is 7am. The kitchen is already loud and the first delivery is waiting at the back door. You have a large team, a long list of prep and a quiet word to say to someone before the day gets away from you.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
The client has just asked for a gluten-free option for twelve guests, a vegan option for six and they want the dessert changed. They said it is not a big deal. Can you make it work? They are important to us.
Say it can be done if the list of names and requirements arrives by noon, and agree on a simple menu change with Tess
Tess gets the details, the kitchen has the time to prepare properly and the client is happy. A yes with clear conditions is better than an easy yes.
Say no because the menu was signed off weeks ago
Tess has to go back to a difficult client with no solution, and the relationship between kitchen and function team strains. A flat no may be defensible, though it is rarely helpful.
Say yes and tell the team to improvise on the night
On the night the dietary meals are rushed and one is wrong. You were trusted to check, and the shortcut put guests at risk. Special diets need planning, not improvising.
Chef, I have to talk to you about Jin. He keeps leaving his station messy and I end up cleaning up after him. I am not going to put up with it any more. Either he changes or I am gone.
Tell Marco to sort it out with Jin himself, because you have enough to deal with
Marco confronts Jin in the middle of prep and it turns into an argument. The two cooks do not speak for the rest of the day. A leader steps in before a disagreement reaches the pass.
Take both aside after the lunch rush and agree clear station standards
Jin did not know it was affecting Marco, and Marco had not spoken sooner. You write a simple station checklist that both agree to. Calm and fair conversations fix more than ultimatums.
Tell Jin off in front of the team so everyone understands the standard
The station is cleaner for a day, but Jin is humiliated and the team is quieter and warier. Respect at work is built privately and kept publicly.
I can give you the fish for tonight, but it is a different batch from usual and a little earlier in its life than you like. I can discount it, or I can find you something else tomorrow. It is your call.
Refuse the delivery and change the menu without checking it first
You protect the quality, but you change the menu in a hurry and the function team has to be told at the last minute. A quick look first would have kept more options open.
Take it, because the dinner is tonight and the discount helps the margins
The fish is acceptable but not at its best, and you realise you have compromised on a dish you are famous for. Saving on the supply cost is not a saving if the plate suffers.
Inspect and taste the fish yourself, with a backup dish ready
The fish is fine after you check it, and you keep a backup ready anyway. Your decision was made with your own eyes, not someone else's promise.
How it went
The last plate leaves the pass at ten, and the kitchen is spotless by midnight. A senior chef mostly cooks through other people: planning, teaching, setting standards and making hard calls under pressure. Does leading a kitchen appeal to you more than cooking in one?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The inspector and the rushed Friday
A fictional case set in the banquet and restaurant kitchens of a fictional city hotel, led by an executive chef.
The situation
Giulia Romano was the executive chef at the Grand Meridian Hotel. On a Friday morning, an environmental health officer arrived for an unannounced inspection. The kitchen was preparing for a large wedding that evening, and the staff were stretched. Giulia noticed that the cool room's temperature log had been left unfilled for two days. The officer was already reading the previous week's records.
What they did
Giulia did not try to hide the gap. She told the officer she had seen the log was incomplete, checked the thermometer reading with her in front of her, and showed that the food was at a safe temperature. She then gathered the team before the wedding prep and explained what had gone wrong: the task had no clear owner. She assigned the job to a named person each shift and added a check by the sous chef before service.
How it turned out
The officer noted the record gap but accepted the explanation and the fix. The wedding went ahead. Giulia said the real lesson was that a routine task with no owner is the one that gets missed on the busy day.
What would you do?
- Why did Giulia tell the officer about the gap herself?
- How would you give a team a new job without making them feel blamed?
- What jobs in a kitchen might be boring but important?