Thursday, May 17, 2012

A Man At Work: The Restaurant Kitchen Expediter




THE EXPEDITER: A Thorough Job Description Of The Heart of the Restaurant Business
by Alejandro Betancourt

Alejandro Betancourt as Chef for Tiffany's Catering in Syracuse, NY

Restaurants cannot operate properly without the middleman who exists between the kitchen and the dining room.
His name is Expeditor.

This is the lay definition to fellow diners and kitchen crew members who don’t know who I am talking about:

Expeditor: The gatekeeper in the window who yells at the kitchen, while getting yelled at by servers; then yells at the servers, continues to yell at the kitchen; and is otherwise in a deep spell driven to a super speed by perfection and timing to push the perfect plate of food out to your table.

To the individual preparing to take on this job, I have a program to follow that may change your life:

I am going to start with the short list of what it takes to expedite. Then, I will describe in more detail how to excel at managing this crucial aspect of the restaurant business.

The short list:

1. Proper Introduction: You must be introduced by owners, kitchen manager, and any other restaurant figures of authority as the new expeditor. Your kitchen staff will have attitude, and they need to respect and to trust you from the start as their leader.

2. Speed: No matter what your experience is, you must quickly learn the kitchen’s set up, the system’s tickets, and the handling of all menu items.

3. Organization: you must keep your tickets and plates organized by tables or any other logical system.

4. Demands: you must succeed at always getting what you want.

5. Communication: you must find the language that works best to express your demands without any concern for the discomfort it causes anyone.

The Push:

You are in control of the product. You must understand an order as it is printed on a ticket and expect it at a certain time.
Your copy of the ticket has four crucial items to read in this order of importance:
1. dine in or take out
2. menu items
3. time on the ticket
4. table number or order name

Dine in or Take Out
Number 1 may not apply much to your kitchen. If so, you are a blessed expeditor because many restaurants depend heavily on take out and dine in items during peak times, and organizing both is a lot of extra work. Depending on your food containers, the kitchen may give you these items wrapped and contained in a way that you can’t inspect them. You must use a language with the kitchen where items are verbally called or marked clearly. You need to know exactly which item it is and for which ticket. It is your job to remind the kitchen of any extra sides or modifications for every take out item before it is packaged and sent out.
It is a good practice to mark off or delete take out and dine in items from large orders as they are handed to you. When the order is completed, request the kitchen’s copy of the ticket or enforce a system where the kitchen’s copy is deleted to avoid duplicate items or any possible confusion.
If the kitchen makes a mistake and hands you a take out item that should be a dine in item (or vice versa), send it back immediately and have them correct the mistake.
If you inspect quickly and find any mistakes in any items, hand them back to the line and have them correct it on the fly.

Menu Items
Number 2 always applies to you and excites you too, because as soon as you read a ticket item, you envision the sight, smell, and taste of whatever menu item is about to fire from your window. You must identify each item as it is named on the menu and abbreviated on the ticket. You must know all of the ingredients in all of the items and how they are presented. You must also know the time that it takes to prepare each item. When you read the ticket, it is good practice to call out any items that require lengthy prep time or special preparation.
When you receive the item, inspect it for presentation and ingredients. If necessary, taste it. The item must match the item on the ticket you are looking at. Be very careful to look for modifications and special preparations, including sauces and ingredients on the side.

Ticket Time & Table Number
Number 3, the ticket time, must be read and organized with Number 4, the table number. They belong together because you will be sure that your entire table is served the proper courses at the same time.
Organize your tickets by table numbers by pinning the ticket directly near the counter space that you make available for all of your table’s plates.
Pay attention to the cooking line and anticipate the items that you will soon be given. If you are working in courses, prepare to move easier plates such as cold salads out the window, to your server’s hands, as they are handed to you after a quick but sharp inspection.
Ticket time becomes most important with hot appetizers and all courses considered entrees for the table. Memorize cooking times for all items and anticipate which items will be handed first, and which items will follow. When you collect half of your table’s hot items, call out for the status of any following items, especially those with longer prep times.
You will be given items for several tables at the same time. It is your job to organize these items according to their tables. It is your job to watch the time on each ticket and anticipate which table will be served first.
If you are given an item that exists on more than one ticket, ask the line to tell you which ticket the item is for. The line should be keeping track of each ticket, each item that they give you and items that will take longer time to prepare.
If a ticket is near completion, call out for the status of any remaining items. If they are on their way, begin firing them out your window to your server, and make sure your server knows which table to serve.
If they are not on the way, check the ticket time and call out to the kitchen to also check the ticket time for items that you are expecting. Tell them to make the items that you need according to ticket times and tables that are very near ready to serve. If an item is still taking too long and you need it to complete service for the rest of a table whose hot plates are beginning to cool, demand that it is made on the fly.

The kitchen is a machine with very specialized parts made of people who should stay focused on one or a limited amount of stations during service.
Exploded, each individual will hardly complete a plate. Together, they produce meals for hundreds.
During peak times, the individuals in your kitchen machine will not slow down the pace. If you allow a ticket to go through, they will work on it.
It is your job to pace the kitchen, and pace yourself.
When you hear tickets coming in, there is no doubt in your mind that you will read that ticket soon. But you must not allow the flow of tickets to overwhelm anyone. If you are working at maximum capacity, it is your job to complete orders before you allow the kitchen to begin working on new ones.
When you know that most of your items are on their way, send tickets through and allow your kitchen to stay on pace and on time.

At peak times, it is good practice to ask for assistance with dine in sides and take out packaging. But you must not surrender control of your position. As a leader, you must call out to your assistant which item to help you with and for which ticket.
Tickets will almost always be organized by time. But smaller tables will be completed before larger ones.
If necessary, help your assistant identify where you need help by calling out a description of the order, such as “large table with steak special.”
Maintain control of tickets as they come in, counter space as you organize it, kitchen and window as you push out dine ins and take outs, and pace of service.

It is your job to call for any sides and garnishes that you are running low on. As service slows down, it is your job to replenish or 86 any item.

You will not need assistance as service slows down, and you will begin to close your station.
Keep your kitchen well-paced until the last ticket is completed. Always regard ticket time and always inspect every item that you push out the window.