Line Cooks and Food Runners

The kitchen staff works on the front lines of restaurant, interacting with managers, waitstaff, bartenders, and sometimes customers. They work part-time or full-time, days, nights, weekends, and sometimes early in the morning to prep food. Part of a larger food preparation and delivery team, the kitchen staff works in a fast-paced and sometimes demanding environment helping to prepare delicious meals. The position a kitchen staffer will start out in is determined by the level of experience he or she has.

Depending upon your position duties and responsibilities are as follows:

• Clean and sanitize dishes, cookware, and utensils
• Clean and sanitize food preparation work stations
• Assist in the food preparation process by cutting, chopping, slicing, and washing vegetables, meats, and other ingredients
• Follow all food health and safety requirements
• Assist with the unloading of deliveries and their proper storage
• Communicate kitchen needs to supervisors
• Interact with customers as needed

• Dependability – a food service employer is only as successful as the cooks and kitchen staff it employs; the kitchen staff is expected to be reliable, on time for work, and consistent with the work they do
• Physical stamina – the kitchen staff work on their feet for the duration of their shifts, around scheduled breaks, in kitchens that may be uncomfortably warm; often they hand wash dishes in hot water, climb up and down ladders and stairs, and carry up to 50 pounds for short distances
• Customer service – working in all areas of the kitchen and often the food delivery space, including bars, seating areas, buffet tables, and dining rooms, the kitchen staff inevitably interact with customers, willingly listening to and assisting customers with their requests, even when they fall outside the kitchen staff's normal duties
• Facility with kitchen equipment – the kitchen staff work with sharp and potentially dangerous equipment on a daily basis—whether the deli slicer, pizza oven, or high-temperature dishwasher, they work safely and effectively with all kitchen equipment
• Team player – the kitchen staff takes direction from the kitchen supervisors and facility managers and is willing to assist other team members to get their jobs done

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