How Do Restaurants Establish Prep and Cooking Systems?

Restaurants thrive the most when they are able to establish prep and cooking systems to maximize the efficiency at which the kitchen staff is able to get their cooked dishes out to the servers. Prep cooks are always the start of such a system, as they are most effective when working in concert with the chefs.

Establishing a prep and cooking system should start with the prep cooks. These cooks prepare the items that will be used during food service by the line cooks and the chef. The head chef needs to give his prep cooks a list of what they need to prepare for the line cooks at the beginning of each day. Prep cooks need a system whereby they can check the quantity as well as quality of the food that is on hand. Prep cooks will then be in charge of either discarding suspect foodstuff as well as working with the food buyer to make sure that the freshest ingredients are being used.

Another aspect of an effective cooking system is that there is someone to inspect and make sure that all supplies and equipment are in good working condition, and that the chef's work area is safe and conforms to established safety standards. For example, a patterned rubber mat not only provides cushion for the kitchen staff, but it will also prevent many slips and falls.

The most important task for the head chef and line cooks is to get as many plates out as possible while maintaining optimum quality control. This means that the cooks have to be well versed in multitasking, and any system which aims to help them be better cooks will assist them in juggling multiple orders at once. Cooks should work with the servers to find a system that makes sense for both of them.