# AM vs PM sous chef



## freshbaked (Jun 20, 2016)

Are there different qualifications or responsibilities for an AM or PM sous chef? 

Does one usually carry more challenges than the other? 

What would you assume the typical daily schedule (arrival time and going home) be for a restaurant that is open 11-10pm? 

Im currently the only sous chef for the new concept i am working at, but they plan to hire another and run AM/PM schedules for the two. I would MUCH rather have AM but before i hint or try to ask the Chef for "dibs" i wanted to know the differences.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

You should be able to answer this question better than anyone else. Much depends on what is happening at _your_ restaurant and how it operates. Since you are already doing the job, what happens at night that doesn't happen in the day and vice versa?

How would you divide up what needs to happen each day? Do you arrive early enough each day to get things started? What time is that?

How much time is needed after service at the end of the day to properly close down the kitchen? What time is that?

Those are your starting and ending times. So AM Sous works from that opening for at least eight hours. Closing sous comes in at least eight hours prior to your closing time.

As the only Sous right now, how do your daily activities differ from AM to PM? Those activities would be the ones divided up between the two positions.

And of course, a lot depends on how many staff to be supervised, how many covers you do for lunch or dinner and how much prep is required each day.

Each sous will get a day or two off each week so will one Sous cover the others shift at those times?

It might be helpful to write some of these things down for yourself to help clarify the situation.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

I would hands down take days no matter what the work load consists of.
Your mentor will most likely be there during most of your shift and that means a greater amt of time to learn from him/her.

mimi


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

There is a lot involved in why things are done. One being how much prep has to be done on each shift. The morning Sous will take care of all the ordering and deliveries with set up and working through lunch. I would overlap my Sous's by an hour to iron out all the bugs from each shift's bitching about each other. Not knowing all the details I would say the morning Sous would start at 6:30AM to 3:30PM....PM Sous 2:30PM to 11:30PM. The hour overlap would also give the Chef time to meet with both Sous's......


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## freshbaked (Jun 20, 2016)

Believe me, I want AM! I just didn't want to seem like i was over stepping off one shift is usually for the more experienced, for example.


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## freshbaked (Jun 20, 2016)

chefwriter said:


> You should be able to answer this question better than anyone else.
> 
> 
> chefwriter said:
> ...


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## chefbillyb (Feb 8, 2009)

FB, your the Sous and your young. There is nothing wrong with asking these questions. It's good to get the perspective of seasoned chefs to find out what they do in their foodservice's. The only way to learn is to ask........


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

If the restaurant hasn't opened yet, sit down with your chef and talk about it. As flipflopgirl said, the Chef will be there during the day so you have a better opportunity to learn from him. Also, having evenings off is nice. So I'd ask for days. 

As ChefBIlly noted, Am means an opportunity to learn ordering, scheduling and other Chef management tasks. You oversee and help with prep and lunch service so cooking is involved in addition to learning management skills. 

        But you might consider asking to do the AM job for a three or six month stint, then switching to PM. So at the end of a year, you have experience with both management skill development as well a busy dinner service. Lunch will most likely  be slower customer wise so dinner is an opportunity to learn to handle the heavier dinner rush. 

You don't say what kind of menu you will work with but I would think the same items won't be sold on both menus. You don't want to miss the opportunity to gain experience cooking those dishes on the dinner menu. 

  Basically, be ready, willing and eager to work all of it.


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