CHAPTER 6: THE KITCHEN OPERATIONS AND SYSTEMS

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Chapter Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, student
should be able to:
1. Explain how the word restaurant
came to mean a place to eat
meals.
2. Define mise en place.
3. Explain the four factors that
influence menu planning and
development.
4. Identify the components that
make up the production cycle.
5. Discuss the social and cultural
issues involved in foodservice
operations.
Historical Overview of Cooking and the
Culinary Arts

Cooking began about one and half million years ago, when people
learned to control fire

Early people quickly discovered that fire not only provided

warmth, protection and light-also could change and enhance the
texture and taste of food

Cultivation of grain, the domestication of animals and the

appearance of pottery among various cultures sometime between
10,000 and 6000 B.C-cooking become easier and more varied
• As various civilizations developed,
their ruling classes came to
appreciate good food, and
reserved for themselves those
people with special talents for
preparing delectable dishes

• Food become central to the

cultures of ancient civilizations

• Example:
- China
- European
- Egypt
- Africa, Asia, Americas
Elements of American and European Fine Dining
• In the western world, Classic French cooking is the most influential and highly
esteemed cuisine.
• Formalized culinary style- prizes subtlety, order, balance, and elegant presentation-
supported by a broad, specialized vocabulary, a rich body of cooking literature
• The French tradition is the standard for many fine dining establishments today
A.MAJOR FIGURES OF THE FRENCH CULINARY TRADITION

• Guillaume Tirel (also known as Taillevent)

• cook to Charles V, compiled Le
Viandier, one of the first cookbooks
to establish some fixed rules and
principles of cooking

• Catherine de Medici and Ann of Austria

• Married to men became kings of
France.
• Brought their personal chefs-
introduced foreign (particularly
Italian) influences on French cooking
• Marie-Antoine Carême
• The founder of classical French
cuisine, the greatest chef ever lived

• Georges Auguste Escoffier

• Simplified the excesses of the
previous century( Carême’s method)
• Devised an efficient system of
kitchen organization- the kitchen
brigade system
b) THE KITCHEN BRIGADE SYSTEM
- Also known as brigade de cuisine
- The kitchen staff was divided into specialized departments-each had
defined tasks and responsibilities
- Resulted in greater efficiency and better, more consistent result
- Standard for the large classical kitchen of European and American fine
dining
Chef
• Top level of authority in the kitchen
brigade system
• Culinary expert, supervisor, financial
manager, and personnel director for the
team.
• Develops the menu, orders supplies,
organizes work schedules, and
maintains quality standards for food
preparation and service

Sous Chef
• Next in command under the chef
• Carries out scheduling, daily supervision, training and
development of personnel, assisting other stations as needed,
covering for the chef
• Must be a dept at financial management, understanding the
finer points of food cost control, labor productivity and
management, menu engineering and food sanitation
requirements
Chef De Partie
• Under the Sous Chef
• Also called the station chefs or line chefs
• One person combines two or more responsibilities
in one station

• The sauté cook/ saucier- prepares all the sautéed

items and their individual sauces

• The poissonier/ fish station chef- prepares all fish

items and their appropriate sauces

• The grillardin/ grill cook- prepares all grilled or

broiled menu selections
Chef De Partie
• The entremetier/ vegetable chef- prepares all hot
appetizers in addition to soups, vegetables, pasta
and noodles, sometimes egg dishes

• The pâtissier/pastry chef- prepares pastries and

desserts, baked items

• The garde manger/ pantry chef- in charge of cold

stations, preparing a large variety of salads, patés,
cold appetizers, desserts and salad dressings.
Carries out marinating, smoking and brining
c) DINING ROOM ORGANIZATION
• Dining room workers provide the link between the customers and the
kitchen
• Today, the French-style system of service is most often seen in formal fine
dining establishments
Maître D’hôtel
• The top, coordinating service
policies and quality expectations
with owners or managers
• The dining room manager
• Oversees the entire operation of the
dining room, training and
supervising the service staff,
organizing seating, selecting the
restaurant’s wine menu,
cooperating with the chef to finalize
daily menus.
Chef De Salle
• Next in line after Maître D’hôtel
• Known as head waiter
• Responsible for the service provided in the dining
room
• Organizes and supervises the service staff

Chef D’ètage
• Has the most direct contact with the diners
• Captain
• Take the guest orders after explaining the menu,
describes the special daily features, answers
questions guests may have
• Carry out appropriate tableside preparations such as
finishing, salads or adding special sauces to certain
dishes as they are served
Chef De Rang
• Front waiter
• Sees to the service needs of the guests as they
dine
• Making sure that the proper service is set for each
course, water and other beverages are kept fresh,
used items are promptly removed

Demi-Chef De Rang
• Also called a back waiter or busperson
• Clears all appropriate service items form the table
between courses and often freshens water glasses
• May assist other service personnel as necessary
 Today’s Dining Room
• Rising labor costs and the need for faster
service have blurred Escoffier’s rigidly
defined duties and responsibilities
frequently overlap at the peak of dinner
hour preparations
• Today’s dining room staff is usually more
streamlined, reflecting changes form the
service style of Escoffier’s time- menu
final preparations were carried out at
tableside
• Today the complete, traditional kitchen
brigade system is most found in fine
dining restaurants in Europe, less
prevalent in US
• In today’s fiercely competitive
environment, foodservice operators
have developed new forms of
organization for the kitchen and dining
areas
• Mise en place (‘to put in place’)- foundation
for many cooking techniques, form basic stocks to
the most complex dishes
• All the necessary ingredients and cooking utensil
at hand and ready to use at the moment work on
a dish begins
• Students must master the basics of mise en place
before they can progress to more complex tasks,
marinates, cook flavorful stocks, the essential
component of soups and stews.
• Mirepoix- classic seasoning
combinations( usually chopped onions, carrot and
celery)
• The greatest test of a chef’s skill is sauces-
béchamel or Hollandaise
• Today, many executive and celebrity chefs
adapting the foundational principles of Escoffier
into a post-mortem cuisine- mixes ethnic variety
with a fusion of flavors.
MENU PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
• The menu is the operational plan a restaurant uses
to meet the needs and expectations of its guests-
the single most important element in the dining
operation and may destine your dining operation
for success or failure
• Successful menu design, costing, engineering and
market positioning require careful analysis and
planning.
• Menu composition in most quick-service
establishments and in middle scale restaurants –
determined by the chain or franchisor but white-
tablecloth restaurant has the greatest freedom
• Chef and restaurant owner usually develops a
solid basic menu when opening the business-
changing need additional planning and analysis
• Menu engineering- industry term that refers to the
review of menu item sales, pricing, cost analysis
and item contribution to profit
 Factors influencing menu planning and
development:
MENU • A)concept of operation
• B)customers wants and needs
PLANNING AND • C)margin of profitability
DEVELOPMENT • D)availability of staff and equipment
a) Concept

• An operation’s concept determines what will be on

the menu and what will not
• When a restaurant does add selections to its menu
that are not in keeping with its concept, its concept
become diluted.
• Careful research and analysis to determine the
ideal positioning and cuisine selection are
necessary.

b) Customers’ Wants and Expectations

• The customers’ wants and expectations should
govern menu planning and development
• Consideration should be given to- food habits
specific to the region, regular customer
c) Staff and Equipment
• What employees know how to do needs to be
considered in relation to the time, labor and skills
required at various stage of food preparation
• Specific skills and experience are necessary for
making complex or elaborate dishes
• Equipment available for storage and preparation
also influences the type of menu that may be
developed- without the right kinds of equipment,
some dishes cannot be prepared.

d) Margin of Profitability
• The menu item that must be sold at twice the cost-
poor choice, low-priced item item-low contributions
margins and hurt the sales of higher-margin items
• The contribution margin- the difference between
what costs to produce an item and the selling price
of the item
• The greater that the overall contribution margin is,
the higher the profit potential.
e) The Benefits of a Limited Menu

• Advantages: does not need variety, provide a clear focus for the
establishment, customers’ minds “positioned” the restaurant for a specific
taste, atmosphere or style, reduce inventory and space requirement, capital
expenditure for equipment, reduces spoilage
f) Menu Engineering
• Critical role in successful restaurant operations
• The food cost percentage-the percentage of the selling price of an item that must be
spent to purchase the raw ingredients.
• By setting the prices of all the menu items-average a target food cost percentage and
operation ensures a sufficient margin
• Is a sophisticated approach to setting prices and controlling costs
• Through this, menu items that should be repositioned, dropped, repriced or simply left
alone are identified
The Production Cycle
Forecasting
Standard Recipe File

Purchasing
Clean-up & Warehousing

Receiving
Service

Storing &
Final Preparation
Issuing

Pre-Preparation
The Production
Cycle
Standard Recipe File
• The standard recipe file is an
important factor in menu planning,
forecasting and purchasing
• The more detailed and specified the
recipe, the more consistent the
product
• Restaurants organize the recipes used
for basic menu items and specialties
in a recipe file-containing every
recipes in the menu (recorded on a
standard form), designated by
category, recipe number, serving
standard, expected yield, complete
list of the ingredients required and
detail method of preparation.
Forecasting
• Process of estimating future events, often
combining intuition with formal statistical
model
• Prediction of future needs is a major factor
in the cost effectiveness of a restaurant

Purchasing
• The purchaser must buy the necessary
goods in the right amount, at the right time
and at the right price.
• Good purchasing-critical element of cost
control
• Standard purchase specifications (Specs)-
standards of food quality established by the
restaurant, based on experience, tests and
objective measurements.
Receiving
• The receiving department makes
certain that the products delivered by
the vendors are those that were
ordered by the purchaser
• Receiving personnel must be aware of
the market and of product quality
standards-clearly communicate with
purchasing departments

Storing and Issuing

• All items (frozen, refrigerated, canned,
perishable or nonperishable) need to
be properly stored in appropriate
areas and issued in a definite
sequence
• Storage areas must be clean, well
ventilated, well insulated and easily
accessible from receiving area and
preparation area
• Personnel should record every
transaction to helps maintaining
inventory control
Pre-Preparation
• Pre-preparation ensures that a menu item can
be readied for final service to a customer with
as little labor a possible (cleaned, processed,
mixed, seasoned, chopping fresh vegetables,
peeling, thawing frozen meat and trim,
adding liquid to dehydrated items, simmering
broth or making salad dressing.

Final Preparation
• The point in the production cycle where heat
applied to food immediately prior to service
• Final preparation- frying, sautéing, steaming
and charbroiling
• Food is plated and garnished for service to the
guest
• “Line”- dedicated area where final
preparation occur
Service
• Traditionally, servers were expected to
take guests’ orders, deliver them to the
kitchen and when the food ready by
the chefs, bring the food to the guest’s
table
• Two greatest weaknesses in traditional
service
1) When servers are in the kitchen
placing orders, checking the
progress of the food, or picking
up the plates, they cannot be in
the dining room attending to
the immediate need of the
guests
2) It is possible for servers to
collude with the cooks to feed
guests free
• New technology replaces the
traditional server’s book of guest check
with a few point-of-sale terminals
located strategically in the dining room
and monitors and /or printers at the
various stations in the kitchen
Cleanup and Ware washing
• Involve the pots, pans, and utensil used in food
preparation, as well as the kitchen and equipment
• An important part of the production cycle
• Cleanup includes bussing dishes and silverware to
the dish room, while ware washing consists of
scrapping, cleaning and sanitizing
• Increasing landfill costs may drive more operations
to use pulpers and shredders to reduce the volume
of waste leaving the kitchen
KITCHEN SAFETY AND
ISSUES
• Five issues that affect foodservice:
• access for the physically challenged,
• food safety,
• the environment,
• food-labeling law
• health-conscious dining options

Equal Access
• Guidelines for all restaurants and
foodservice facilities in their design and
construction for disables including
parking lot space, ramp with the slope,
entry doors, fire exits, paths through
dining areas, table for handicap with leg
space
Food Safety
• Core part of any foodservice business-health
issue with life-or-death implications
• Food safety is a big economic issue-single incident
of food poisoning can damage a restaurant’s
image for years and cost the owners thousands of
dollars in settlement or litigation costs.
• The risk of food poisoning can be greatly reduced
by practicing cleanliness in the workplace as well
as personal cleanliness, preventing
contamination, thawing and cooking food safely,
and handling cooked food safely
Practicing Cleanliness in the Workplace and Personal
Cleanliness
• Cleanliness in the workplace means a sanitary
workplace-one that discourages food-borne disease
• Personal cleanliness means following stringent hygiene
practices to discourage food contamination
• These two elements form the first line of defense in
combating

Preventing contamination
• Food needs to be store, prepared and handled properly
• All food and food-related products stored in cooler
need to be dated and labeled properly
• Cross contamination from cutting board and utensil
leads to food-borne illnesses-using tongs and wearing
gloves when handling food will reduce the risk of
contamination
Thawing and Cooking Food Safely
• The critical element in preparing food safely is
the temperature of the food
• Harmful bacteria and other organisms flourish in
temperatures between 5-57ºC (danger zone)-
the shorter the time that food stands at those
temperatures, the safer it will be
• Cooking food to the temperature above 57ºC
kills most harmful disease agents
• Serving food as soon as possible after it is
cooked- reduce chances of food poisoning by
reducing the time food will be in the danger
zone-customer like food to be hot and freshly
cooked
Handling Cooked Food Safely
• Cooked food needs to be refrigerated as soon as possible to avoid bacteria
which survived cooking process multiply
• If food has been left at room temperature for more than 4 hours, it should
be thrown away
• Improper cooking occur in commercial and on-site foodservice operation
when they frequently prepare foods such as soups and sauces in bulk for
later use
• Food-borne illness due to improper cooling can be prevented –Cut or divide
large portion into smaller for rapid cooling, use blast chiller to reduce
temperature quickly and safely
HACCP
• Stand for Hazard Analysis Critical
Control Point- refers to a systematic
technique for reducing the possibility
of food-borne illness
• Involve four basic steps
1) Study the flow of food preparation and
production system to determine points
where contamination and / or the
growth of dangerous microorganism
could occur- “critical control points”
2) The production processes are redesigned
to prevent contamination and to limit
the time food spends in the danger zone
3) Conscious monitoring of food handling
and temperature at each of the critical
control points in the production process
4) Remedial action to resolve the problems
discovered through monitoring
Environmental control
• Recycle
- Used of disposable paper or polystyrene packaging
- Recycling

• Reduce
- Reduce amount of waste generated
- e.g., Domino’s pizza box from square to octagon to
reduce cardboard, McDonald’s switched to smaller
paper napkins

• Reuse
- Reuse and participate in recycling programs for
paper, cans, plastic and cardboard shipping and
packing materials
- Some restaurants offer their customers a small
discount if they return a package or box for their next
take-out order
Food Labeling Laws
• Akta Makanan 1983, Peraturan
Makanan 1985

Health-Conscious Eating
• Consumers are more educated
and aware of the nutritional food
components
• Labeling improvement-
consumer can pay more careful
attention to the caloric and
nutritional content of the food
• Specific foodservice
establishments may serve only
health-conscious food
END OF CHAPTER 6
THANK YOU

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