Cooks & Chefs: A Tribute

Giles has learnt the patience and tact, and the ability to conceal his feelings that comes with several years in the hospitality industry. However, there are some things that really annoy him, and which he can be (quite surprisingly) vocal about.

In hospitality, there are various different groups of people and workers. In the food and beverage side of things, there is front of house (waiters, managers, hosts, etc) and the kitchen (cooks, chefs, kitchen porters, etc). Since restaurants began, there has been a great divide between the two areas of food and beverage workers, with misconceptions as to the nature of the demands that both sides both face and put upon each other, and the different challenges each side faces. Often, the same situation will be perceived totally differently by kitchen and front of house.

Over time, such misconceptions and resentment between the two areas of the average restaurant have come to stay. Giles gets annoyed about this. ‘I have worked at all levels front of house. I have run in and out of too many kitchens too many times not to notice a few things about the kitchen. Essentially, that fat, bearded, tattooed, sweating man (or woman) behind the kitchen yelling at you is a cook or chef.’

‘That means that he or she is a professional, just as much as the smooth, suited lawyers, accountants, administrators, HR workers, and similar sitting in the restaurant. That cook has been to culinary school, and has learned and acquired a skill and trade. Working in a kitchen is brutal, and tough. It is not for the faint hearted. To want to enter that kitchen, you must have a set of cojones, talent, skill, creativity and above all passion. A keen eagerness to want to be a cook drives you through every day’s endless service. It is such passion and driver that makes them want to go out and spend thousands on a decent set of (jealously guarded) knives and similar equipment, and to treat those knives like they were Smeagol/ Gollum’s ring. To call someone a cook is to recognise their sacrifice, their dedication, their hard work and their desire and drive to want to enter, compete, and succeed in the industry.’

'As such, of course they are going to short tempered. Of course they are going to be annoyed with the front of house divas and prima donnas. Annoyed with crazy guest requests. They are professionals- and don’t like having to alter their creations. However, that fact that they can, and (albeit grudgingly) do, and above all are able to rapidly think of a way to alter a dish to accommodate even the strangest of guest requests (all the while cursing to make a sailor blush) only shows their talent and ability.’

Giles could go on about this for ages (indeed he does). However, I have to cut him short; this is a blog, not a book. To finish, Giles summarises that ‘I have been in the industry for a good few years. I like to consider myself a food a beverage professional. However, I am front of house, and always will be.’

‘I take one look at the mayhem and tension in the kitchen, and think that I am lucky to be this side of the line. I could never, ever do what those cooks and chefs do. However, from observing things in too many kitchens, I have come to appreciate and respect so much the incredible work and effort of the cooks and chefs.  They are true, hard working professionals- and often real characters outside the kitchen as well!’