Food is consumed outside the home in a variety of settings. Eating places range from institutional cafeterias and fast food to elegant dining establishments. Some restaurants offer a varied menu featuring meals that are time-consuming and difficult to prepare, requiring highly skilled employees. Other restaurants emphasize fast service, offering hamburgers and other food that can be prepared in advance or in a few minutes by a fast-food or short-order cook, with limited cooking skills.
Restaurant and food service managers must attend to the various administrative aspects of the business, which includes recruiting, training, and supervising an adequate number of workers. The cuisine, price, and setting where the meals are consumed vary, but managers of these dining facilities share many of the same responsibilities.
Chefs, cooks and kitchen workers are largely responsible for the reputation a restaurant acquires. A reputation for serving good food is essential to any restaurant or hotel, whether it prides itself on exotic cuisine or hamburgers.
Restaurant chefs and cooks generally prepare a wide selection of dishes for each meal, cooking most orders individually. Whether in institutions or restaurants, chefs and cooks measure, mix, and cook ingredients according to recipes. In the course of their work they use a variety of pots, pans, cutlery, and other equipment, including ovens, broilers, grills, slicers, grinders, and blenders. They are often responsible for directing the work of other kitchen workers, estimating food requirements, and ordering food supplies. Some chefs and cooks also assist in planning meals and developing menus.
Institutional chefs and cooks work in the kitchens of schools, industrial cafeterias, hospitals, and other institutions. For each meal, they prepare a small selection, but large quantity, of entrees, vegetables, and desserts (see also Dietetic Technology).
Bread and pastry bakers, called pastry chefs in some kitchens, produce baked goods for restaurants, institutions, and retail bakery shops. Unlike bakers who work in large, automated industrial bakeries, bread and pastry bakers need only to supply the customers who visit their establishment. They bake small quantities of breads, rolls, pastries, pies, and cakes, doing most of the work by hand. They measure and mix ingredients, shape and bake the dough, and apply fillings and decorations.
Short-order cooks prepare foods to order in restaurants and coffee shops that emphasize fast service. They grill and garnish hamburgers, prepare sandwiches, fry eggs, and cook french fries, often working on several orders at the same time. Prior to busy periods, short-order cooks slice meats and cheeses and prepare coleslaw or potato salad. During slow periods, they may clean the grill, food preparation surfaces, counters, and floors.
Specialty fast-food cooks prepare a limited selection of menu items in fast-food restaurants. They cook and package batches of food, such as hamburgers and fried chicken, which are prepared to order or kept warm until sold.
Kitchen workers, under the direction of chefs and cooks, perform tasks requiring less skill. They weigh and measure ingredients, fetch pots and pans, and stir and strain soups and sauces. These workers also clean, peel, and slice potatoes, other vegetables, and fruits and make salads. They may cut and grind meats, poultry, and seafood in preparation for cooking. And their responsibilities also include cleaning work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, and silverware.