It’s a place of simmering sauces, sizzling hot plates and very sharp knives, full of delectable aromas, and often laced with passionate personalities. Welcome to the professional kitchen.
Putting together dishes “to die for” is a very much a team effort in most restaurants, and behind every great chef there’s usually a great kitchen team. (Indeed, did you know that there is usually more than one chef behind the divine dishes routinely served up in top-notch restaurants?) Let’s take a behind-the-scenes look at who’s who in a professional kitchen. Our case study today: award-winning Gianni’s restaurant.
Executive chef
Think big enchilada, head honcho, top dog, maestro. At Gianni’s, this position is held by co-owner Javier Codina, who hails from Spain. The executive chef is in charge of everything related to the kitchen, which makes him a very busy person. While the position requires extensive cooking experience and often involves actively cooking, it also involves a high level of management and business skill. Javier’s duties include supervising the team, menu planning, costings and organising events. With all that on the go, it’s a good thing he’s assisted by a…
Head chef
Step forward Robert MacIntosh from the U.K. In a busy restaurant like Gianni’s, it’s not so much a case of “too many cooks spoil the broth” as “many hands make light work”. The head chef reports to the executive chef and like him, requires extensive cooking experience as well as management and business skills. Robert’s role involves daily managing of staff as well as quality control.
Given that the word "chef" has come to be applied to any cook, kitchen helper or fast food operator, qualifying terms like “executive”, “head” and “sous” really help define who’s who in the kitchen. Which brings us to the…
Sous chef
In many kitchens, the sous (pronounced “sue”) chef, sans the “junior” tag, is often the executive chef’s direct assistant and the second in command. They may be responsible for scheduling and filling in for the executive chef – or chef de partie (see below) – when they’re Behind every great chef is a great kitchen team.off-duty. Smaller operations may not have a sous chef, while larger operations may have multiple. At Gianni’s the position of junior sous chef is held by German-born Soenke Franz, who’s in charge of the sauce section and pan cooking the meat and fish for main courses.
Chef de partie
A chef de partie, also known as a "station chef" or "line cook", is in charge of a particular area of production, for example, the sauce chef (saucier), the fish cook (poissonier) and the vegetable cook (entremetier). Chuxiang Ou, from China, is the entremetier at Gianni’s and his job is to produce the garnishes, vegetables, rice and pasta dishes.
Apprentice chef
It takes years of dedicated work to become a fully fledged chef, but those in training – apprentice chefs – have culinary skills that still leave the rest of us unsung home cooks (great or otherwise) in the shade. In the ranks of up-and-coming apprentice chefs at Gianni’s are Aussies David Jolly (fourth year apprentice), who’s responsible for the party section – desserts, ice creams, tart cases and petit fours – and Megan Torrens (third year apprentice), who’s in charge of entrée salads, cold dishes and dressings such as vinaigrettes.
Kitchen hand
In 15th century France, the dishwasher went by the title “escuelerie”. Pity the poor person back then who did the whole lot by hand. Technology has lightened the dishwashing load considerably, but a professional kitchen like Gianni’s, which serves up an average of 210 dishes a sitting, still creates an impressive pile of dirty pots, pans and plates (420, give or take!). It takes an energetic soul like Kevin, who holds the position of kitchen hand at Gianni’s, to keep the kitchen spick and span while the chefs conjure their culinary delights.
Gianni’s: smells like team spirit, tastes like heaven. Now that’s a foodie’s nirvana.
