Chapter 2

Discussion of Findings/Analysis/Recommendation

DEPARTMENT: COLD KITCHEN A Garde Manger meaning “keeper of food” refers to a cool, well-ventilated area where cold dishes such as appetizers, dressings and salads are prepared and other foods are stored under refrigeration. The person in-charge of this area is known as the Chef Garde Manger. In larger hotels they perform additional duties like ice carving. A. Areas of Concern: The cold kitchen area is small and only 2-3 people can fit. When preparing appetizer and snacks for 300 pax, it’s very hard because the space provided isn’t enough, and the tools and equipment are incomplete. 1. Organizational Structure: A. Michael Prado ( Exe. Sous Chef) - a chef who is second-in-command and also acts as a head chef head. He is responsible for scheduling the staff. B. Rhoda Atienza (Senior Chef de Partie) – a station chef who is in charge of a particular area of production. C. Geraldine Caralipio , Paul Vasquez, Irene Santos ( Commis ) – a basic chef in larger kitchens who works under a chef de partie to learn the station’s responsibilities and operation. (4) 2. Operation systems and Procedures: A BEO or Banquet Event Order is made by a kitchen coordinator and it consists a list of menu in functions that will occur this day. It is given to each area in the kitchen and it is categorized by course. Appetizers and Salads are prepared in the cold kitchen. The morning shift prepares the function for lunch. Sometimes, they prepare the functions today for tomorrow’s use. Then, another set-up is needed in CS or Coffee Shop which is standard. 3. Facilities, Equipment, Etc.: The cold kitchen have two small chillers for storing mayo-based dressings and cheeses, and a rack used for storing the oil-based dressings, bread, wines, honey, and many more. We use a spinner/dryer for drying greens. And we also have a slicer for a precise cut of cold meats and vegetables. The tools in the kitchen are incomplete like a can opener so we need to bring our own. 4. Man-power scheduling, Work method, Styles of Communication: The schedule-making is handled by the Sous chef and it changes every week. Some are rotated in their shifts, and some are not. The evening shift prepares for breakfast, the morning shift prepares for lunch, and in the afternoon they prepare for dinner. The set-up for breakfast in CS includes nuts, fruit compotes, 4 salads, 3 appetizers in a platter, 2 types of soy dish then, the salad bar with its condiments, dressings, seafood station, makis, cheese platter, and fruit station. The set-up for lunch and dinner is like breakfast but it exclude nuts and is replaced with anti-pasti. They communicate just with respect to each other, and when they’re doing some task they say it to one another so the finished work won’t be doubled. (5) 5. Work atmosphere, Inter-personal lay-out, Ventilation, Color scheme of office: The cold kitchen area is small for 10 people to work simultaneously. And the space for preparing food for 300 pax isn’t enough. The ventilation is good because it’s a cold kitchen so it’s cold. The Color scheme is white so it is bright and every dirt can be seen. 6. Use of materials and resources: The coordinator makes a request form of a list of ingredients that a chef needs. Then we will submit it to the purchasing office because they handle the store room and it’s their duty to release food items. 7. Sanitation procedures/Practices: They use gloves in handling foods, properly uses the chopping board according to its color.

B. Strengths: They are very competent on what they do, and each one of them possesses different forte or mastered skill.

C. Improvement areas/ Weakness: They lack cooperation and sometimes, communication that’s why the failure of an individual affects the whole group. (6) D. Recommendation:

Conclusion: In summary, I was able to experience different work situations like being hastened because there was not enough back-ups or refills, misunderstanding of a chef to another or a chef to the coordinator, or the coordinator to the purchasing office, and being praised and sometimes criticized. I was also able to apply what I have learned in the university, it really helped a lot because knowledge and skill is an advantage. Bibliography: *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef - I used it for the definition of different position of chefs. *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garde_manger – I used it for the definition of cold kitchen. (7)