Running Restaurant Kitchens Around the World

[JonD]

First of all, let me introduce myself.

I'm a chef in Sweden, I'm doing sort of a freelance thing, working a bunch of places at once, doing seasonal gigs and so on.

A question that surfaces quite often is how it is to run a kitchen/restaurang in other countries. Is it really like the movies in the restaurants in the US? Are they really that well staffed?

In Sweden we have among the highest employement taxes and fees in the world, just employing a dishwasher costs the employer about $0.4 USD a MINUTE, $24 USD an hour, with all taxes and fees included.

This being while the employee gets a salary, after taxes, thats about $10 USD an hour.

This is resulting in often understaffed restaurants, kitchens and bars.

For example, I did a summer gig last summer at a popular seasonal restaurant. Average 300 plates a day, 3 cooks working, no dishwasher, 3 servers. The servers also ran a small vending kiosk with icecream, candy and some souvenirs on top of that.

Looking forward to hearing about your kitchens!

[hathor]

Maybe you should write a book on Swedish efficiency! How did the dishes get done??

[Aman Adatia]

How did you do all that without a dishwasher?

I had a dream setup compared to you then! 3 cooks, 4 servers and 2 dishwashers (one of them also helped on the cold line) - avg. 375-400 covers.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Worse here in Ecuador. I worked in a Hosteria (4-star resort) kitchen where we turned out set-plate and a-la-carte meals for about 250 guests with a staff of 3 in the kitchen - head chef and two sous (one of whom was me), and 2 waiters. The dishes waited until the dinner rush was over, and then the sous and waitstaff became the dishwashers. This in a kitchen that was barely big enough for the chef and sous - stoves on the outer edges, chopping and plating on an island in the middle!

[JonD]

Maybe you should write a book on Swedish efficiency! How did the dishes get done??

Haha, yea well, when we ran out of plates, we kinda didnt have a choice but to take a min or two to get more of em.

How did you do all that without a dishwasher?

I had a dream setup compared to you then! 3 cooks, 4 servers and 2 dishwashers (one of them also helped on the cold line) - avg. 375-400 covers.

Same as above, plates will run out sooner or later. And quite the efficient kitchen when it comes to working in it, kinda based the menu on the kitchen since one step too much in a dish could kill us a busy day.

It's really something special though, it's something i love about the job, the stress factor. I like nothing more than being so deep in the weeds im only hanging on to them by the roots.

Wish i could travel a bit though, try working in different countries, learning their way and so on.

[Kent Wang]

I want to see how those gigantic 1000 seat, 100 menu item Chinese kitchens are run.

[JonD]

I want to see how those gigantic 1000 seat, 100 menu item Chinese kitchens are run.

Yea, saw this documentary once about what was supposed to be the largest restaurant in the world, located in Bangkok.

It had like 300 cooks. Looked crazy.

Edited May 8, 2011 by JonD (log)

[Edward J]

British Columbia, Canada

There are two thoughts on staffing here. The first is that employees are an asset, and many fine dining places have sufficient staff. Minimum wage here is currently $8.25/hr with planned increments going up to $10/hr by next summer.

The second thought is that employees are a liability. In B.C. the employer is always assumed guily of any claims brought before him in regards to the Labour Board and the Worker's comp. board. (Technical wording for this is "The onus is on the employer") The owner must defend himself at his cost, and if cleared of any wrong doing, has no right to compensation for time or money spent, nor does he have a right to acknowledgement from the employee or the Gov't body that the claim brought against him were false. In the hospitality industry many employees lay claims of around $500 knowing full well that the gov't agenies will rule in their favour without investigating, and the employer is better off just to pay rather than to fight the claims. And many do. This abuse (fraud,really) happens very frequently and is factored into the cost of labour.

Because of this, many smaller places are staffed Mom & Pop or family style, or hiring employees as contract workers. The bigger plaes have H.R. dept's who have the time and patience to fight fraudulent claims and deal with the Gov't agencies.

In Europe you hae several luxuries that we don't have here in N. America: You have qualifications. Is it a two year apprenticeship for waiters? A three year for cooks, bakers, confectioners and butchers? Special courses, tests and licenses for food seervice owners/operators?

[Doodad]

Most movies I see have the staff correct, but way too much space. The only one I saw with tons of space was at a country club I worked at briefly. At the very busy place I last worked we had more cooks than space which resulted in prep being done in the most precarious of places. The line had typically six guys working with a chef at the pass, two sous on the side and several preps/washers in the back. This all in maybe 1000 square feet taken up mostly by equipment and churning out 300 covers a service.

[_john]

Japan:

4 cooks, and 2 servers. 10 counter seats, 14 seats in the tatami room. the lowest cook also does the dishes. prep from 10am to usually around 3:30pm, nap, open at 5pm. last order 10:30. clean and leave around 11pm. usually two turns.

[Kent Wang]

I'm curious about the nap. Do you have cots in the restaurant for them to sleep on, or do they go home?

[_john]

we sleep on the tatami mats in the tatami room. taking a nap in the 14 hour day is very common at traditional japanese restaurants.

[Karri]

That sounds really cool, but I think I would prefer to skip the nap and just start later?

[Aman Adatia]

That sounds really cool, but I think I would prefer to skip the nap and just start later?

+1