I’ve worked in steakhouses for most of my professional life. I love the smell of searing steak, the sound of meat sizzling on the grill and the rush of getting everything cooked and ready on time. Working in a steakhouse is very much like working in a factory, you have to work quickly but efficiently, and there’s little room for error.

For eight years, I worked for a popular restaurant chain called The Keg Steakhouse, mostly in Ottawa. I worked practically every position and worked my way up to grill cook. By the end of my The Keg career, I was training cooks in new restaurants the chain was opening.

What I will always remember from The Keg is how organized everything was (and had to be!) There were so many things to think about, and all the food had to come out at exactly the same time. For example, appetizers were served within 7 minutes of the order, while main dishes had to be served within 20 minutes. Everything was perfectly timed. On a given night, there could be up to 800 covers served! Considering the restaurant was open from 5 to 10 pm, that would mean about 1 steak (or chicken, ribs, fish, etc) coming off grill every 40 seconds! Plus, they all had different shapes, sizes, levels of tenderness and of required doneness… So organization was key!

The whole operation meant lots of hands on deck. When I first started in the business, even I was surprised to see just how many people are needed in a kitchen to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Here’s a rundown of the different roles available in a steakhouse kitchen:

Appetizer cook: This person is charge of all appetizers, hot or cold. These cooks have their own oven, take care of the deep-fried products and things that cook quickly or don’t require too much plating.

Sauté cook: The name pretty much speaks for itself. This person takes care of anything that needs to be sautéed, such as shrimp or meat toppers.

BA or Boiler Assistant: This is the assistant to the grill cook, or boiler chef. This person is in charge of preparing plates, garnishes, starches (ex: rice), stuffing the baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, etc. Basically, the BA makes sure the plate is set up and ready to receive its cut of meat.

Quality Service Awareness (or QSA-ers as we like to say in the culinary world): This person, usually the manager, looks at each finished plate before it is brought to the customer. He or she makes sure it looks right and the meat is cooked as it should be.

Boiler chef, or Grill cook: This person is in charge of - you guessed it - grilling the steaks! As well as directing the other line cooks. I remember when I was a grill cook… It was crazy! Meat was constantly coming on and off the grill, with no time for error. In fact, the restaurant guaranteed the customer that they would receive the doneness they asked for, or be immediately replaced with a new steak. Sometimes, I could have as many as 40 or 50 pieces of meat grilling at the same time! As a grill cook, I had to make sure everything was cooked to the right doneness and everything had to come off the grill at the same time. The grill cook also has to choose the cut of meat he or she wants for each portion. For example, all the meat is carefully selected by suppliers so that all required levels of doneness can be achieved; thicker cuts of meat are generally chosen for the rare steaks, while the flatter, larger cuts are used for the well-done steaks.

Preparation cook: This person comes in early in the morning and works all day to make sure everything that can be prepared ahead of time is taken care of. Peeling and mashing the potatoes, chopping the chives, getting the meat portioned and ready for grilling, mixing the sauces, etc. A preparation cook is crucial to the whole process; same goes for the dish washer. Without these two very important jobs, the whole system would crash!

The Keg Steakhouse is all about teamwork and spirit. It’s a great lifestyle for students and was one of my all-time favourite jobs. I learned so many things, and I developed a real interest in cooking. It was during my first years as an appetizer cook that I realized I wanted to study cooking and one day own my own restaurant .

The Cordon Blue Culinary Institute and the Hospitality Management courses I took were also two factors that had a huge effect on my cooking career, but that is a whole other blog.

Have any of you worked in a restaurant before? Have you worked in one of the positions I mentioned above? I’d love to hear about your experiences!

Warren

Keywords : appetizer cook, boiler assistant, grill cook, positions in the kitchen, sauté cook, skeakhouse, steak, The Keg

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