Cooks, Restaurant
Cooks (restaurant) prepare, season, and cook dishes such as soups, meats, vegetables, or desserts in restaurants. They may order supplies, keep records and accounts, price items on the menu, or plan the menu.
A restaurant cook is a skilled individual responsible for preparing dishes for customers who come to their restaurant.
Restaurant cooks’ duties include preparing meals for customers, inspecting and cleaning food preparation areas, checking food and ingredients for freshness, controlling and minimizing waste, coordinating and supervising the work of kitchen staff, determining prices for menu items, complying with outlined safety regulations, and more.
To qualify as a restaurant cook, one must have a high school diploma, culinary certification from a culinary school and a few years of experience in food service. They must also be able to handle the workload in a fast-paced environment, and be able to read and comprehend recipes.
The salary of a restaurant cook is commensurate with the skills, experience, job role, and geographic location of the restaurant.
Cook restaurant work in numerous kitchen, high end and family settings. They also work at schools, hospitals, fine dining and multicuisine restaurants.
To succeed in the career of restaurant cook, one must possess skills such as monitoring, active listening, time management, coordination, judgement and decision making, speaking and critical thinking. They must know about food production, customer and personal service, proficiency in the English language, production and processing.
Qualifications
Every career requires an element of study and academic qualification, and there can be several study routes and pathways you can take. In following any academic pathway you will study subjects that contribute to the specialised knowledge required to achieve your career goals. These qualifications provide a future employer with the evidence that you have the desired knowledge, understanding and experience of their industry, so it’s important to consider the various types of qualifications available to you and to understand how they can boost your career and create opportunities for you.
- ITI Course Cookery
- Diploma Professional Cookery
Tasks
- Turn or stir foods to ensure even cooking.
- Season and cook food according to recipes or personal judgment and experience.
- Observe and test foods to determine if they have been cooked sufficiently, using methods such as tasting, smelling, or piercing them with utensils.
- Weigh, measure, and mix ingredients according to recipes or personal judgment, using various kitchen utensils and equipment.
- Portion, arrange, and garnish food, and serve food to waiters or patrons.
- Substitute for or assist other cooks during emergencies or rush periods.
- Bake, roast, broil, and steam meats, fish, vegetables, and other foods.
- Wash, peel, cut, and seed fruits and vegetables to prepare them for consumption.
- Estimate expected food consumption, requisition or purchase supplies, or procure food from storage.
- Carve and trim meats such as beef, veal, ham, pork, and lamb for hot or cold service, or for sandwiches.
Progression Routes
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