I just started as a prep cook at casual dining restaurant inside a popular theme park.
First let me describe my setup at my job. In front of me is a hot line filled with hotel pans that have already cooked items the cooks have prepared. The cooks work directly behind me and at my eye level is a shelf filled with plates.
My main job is to plate food from the hot line as tickets come in. The menu only has 6 entrée items on it, all of which consist of a protein(steak, shrimp, chicken, child salmon, child steak, child chicken), a starch( potatoes, grits, and rice), a vegetable mix( seasonal ) , and a sauce(3 of them).
The starches, vegetables and sauces are all on the line in front of me, as well as the shrimp and chicken. The steaks and salmon have to be prepared to order by the cooks behind me.
It’s a busy restaurant, at no time is there ever an empty table so the tickets come out 5+ at a time and the tickets will usually have anywhere from 5-14 entrée orders on them. Now, all the orders for a table have to go out at the same time, and I have only 9 minutes to get the food out to the tables.
How I’m taking care of the tickets is like this. I do one ticket at a time. I layout all the plates for the ticket at once in front of me and fill them with the starches and vegetables first, then go back and add the proteins and sauces. Only once I’ve finished one ticket do I start on the next one.
I use this method only because I can easily remember which plates go with which ticket, but it’s a slow method.
Any advice on how I can be quicker and more organized?
First let me describe my setup at my job. In front of me is a hot line filled with hotel pans that have already cooked items the cooks have prepared. The cooks work directly behind me and at my eye level is a shelf filled with plates.
My main job is to plate food from the hot line as tickets come in. The menu only has 6 entrée items on it, all of which consist of a protein(steak, shrimp, chicken, child salmon, child steak, child chicken), a starch( potatoes, grits, and rice), a vegetable mix( seasonal ) , and a sauce(3 of them).
The starches, vegetables and sauces are all on the line in front of me, as well as the shrimp and chicken. The steaks and salmon have to be prepared to order by the cooks behind me.
It’s a busy restaurant, at no time is there ever an empty table so the tickets come out 5+ at a time and the tickets will usually have anywhere from 5-14 entrée orders on them. Now, all the orders for a table have to go out at the same time, and I have only 9 minutes to get the food out to the tables.
How I’m taking care of the tickets is like this. I do one ticket at a time. I layout all the plates for the ticket at once in front of me and fill them with the starches and vegetables first, then go back and add the proteins and sauces. Only once I’ve finished one ticket do I start on the next one.
I use this method only because I can easily remember which plates go with which ticket, but it’s a slow method.
Any advice on how I can be quicker and more organized?