When customers visit a restaurant, they tend to only see the front-of-house, right? When they look at the menu they may see the name of the executive or head chef, and they might assume that person is the one whos making all the food. However, this is not really the case.
As a matter of fact, a good restaurants kitchen is a hive of activity, with many people assigned to different roles at a variety of levels. And one of the most important back-of-house roles is that of the line cook.
Line cooks work on the kitchen line and are responsible for different areas of cooking through a specific shift. Also known as a station chef or a chef de partie, line cooks are part of your core restaurant team and are essentially in charge of getting things done in a specific station.
How Do You Become a Line Cook?
Want to become a line cook? Well, there are different ways to go about it. You can take the more organized, educational route, which involves spending time at a culinary institute to hone your craft. This is not a necessary step for a career as a line chef, though. Actually, its not even the most common way people become line cooks (who can then look for line cook shifts with the help of Qwick!).
What Does a Line Cook Do?
What is a line cook? What does a line cook do? Both are very good questions with reasonably simple answers. Kitchens generally have a lot of different kinds of equipment, including stoves, fryers, grills, and ovens, in a “line”âand this is the “line” that is referred to with regards to the line cook title. A line cook is someone who works at one of the points along this line in the kitchen. That does not, however, really describe to any great level of satisfaction what it is that line cooks do.
Kitchen staff members work together as a team, and a line cook is on that team. If youre a line cook, youre part of the process of helping prepare food for customers. What you prepare and cook will depend on which station youre working at.
For example, if youre a line cook assigned to working the grill, youre going to be grilling whatever comes your way, be it tilapia, lamb, or steak. If youre a line cook working the dessert station, then youre going to be preparing whatever desserts are ordered.
What is a Line Cook ?
FAQ
What exactly does a line cook do?
Is it hard to be a line cook?
Can you make a living as a line cook?
What does a line cook do?
A line cook prepares and cooks food. They may work in a restaurant, hotel or corporate cafeteria. The “line” of a kitchen is the group of cooks who combine efforts to carry out the recipes and menu items designed by the executive chef. These are some line cook responsibilities: Chop vegetables, prepare serving sizes, make sauces and divide herbs
What do you call a line cook at a restaurant?
If you get a job as a line cook at a restaurant, you might not actually have the title of “line cook;” this may depend on what kind of fare is served and the culture of both the restaurant and the kitchen. So, you may be referred to as a chef de partie, as a station chef, or just as a line chef.
What is the difference between a line cook and a chef?
On the other hand, a line cook works on the “line,” which is the main cooking area in the kitchen. They are responsible for cooking and assembling dishes during service hours. Line cooks work under the supervision of the head chef or sous chef and follow established recipes and plating guidelines to maintain consistency.
What is the difference between a line cook and a station chef?
On the other hand, a line cook, also known as a station chef, takes the prepped ingredients and executes the dishes according to the restaurant’s menu. They work during service times, cooking and plating food under the watchful eye of the executive or sous chef.