Hotel Chef
Where you eat is often as much a part of the pleasure of dining as what you eat and if you choose to eat at a four- or five-star rated hotel, you will not only be eating in an exceptional place but be having an exceptional meal developed by a hotel chef. Chefs and cooks are key figures in the tourism and hospitality industry, working in a variety of food service establishments, including restaurants and hotels.
The hotel chef is the most senior member of the kitchen personnel, responsible for ensuring that the quality, quantity, preparation and presentation of all food is of a sufficiently high standard. He ensures that -
- food costs are maintained to a budget
- prepares and costs menus
- orders supplies of goods
- ensures that equipment and machinery is properly cleaned and maintained
- his staff are properly trained
The hotel chef needs to constantly keep up to date with the rapidly changing food trends, styles, ingredients and the latest diets of those staying in the hotel, so training is all but imperative to ensure an advanced knowledge of food preparation and management, as well as knowledge of human resources, administrative procedures and business management. Being a hotel chef means long hours which include weekends and holidays. Some people care more for their wine than the food and the hotel chef sometimes takes a couple of days for the preparation of a pairing, and actually tweaks some of the dishes in the final moments to ensure a perfect pairing. Some chefs select the wine first, then the dish to go with it, as hotel chefs realise that you can’t pair a wine with a dish you know nothing about as there are some ingredients that can drastically change a dish or the wine.
Chefs were once under the sole command of nobility because they were the only people who could afford to pay professionals to prepare their food,but with the rise of food establishments we can all benefit from chefs who have trained at Prue Leith.
