Chapter 7 : The Line

THE LINE

(Prerequisite for LINE DANCING)

A professional kitchen is made up of three main areas; 

(1) the hot side

(2) the cold side

(3) the dish area 

(a) the dish machine

(b) pot washing

The hot and cold sides are where the described food is prepared. Cooks man these areas. They will usually be wearing white jackets, crazy looking pants, headgear, and linen aprons. The dish crew may be wearing the same checked pants as the cooks, but will have short sleeved shirts, no headgear, and plastic aprons.

The area where food is prepared is called THE LINE. No one but a cook has a passport to enter BEHIND THE LINE. This is a dangerous area where open flames, sharp knives, steam, boiling cauldrons, and ill-tempered culinarians roam. If you happen to be walking in a kitchen and the hard floor turns suddenly to soft rubber: STOP! Foreigners are not allowed here, no front of house managers, no waitresses, no guests. Dishwashers can get a very short-lived working visa, if they are delivering clean supplies.

THE LINE is a mass of stainless steel, consisting of two rows with a few feet between them where the cooks work; the picture on the cover will give you an idea. The front will hold all the items needed for that days service such as sauces, vegetables, and garnish. The rear is your heat sources; ovens, fryers, broilers, steamers and the like. The front of THE LINE is a working area about waist high topped by two shelves. The first shelf, or window. holds prepared food and the second, higher shelf, holds plates. DO NOT THINK OF HELL’S KITCHEN, this TV kitchen is too open, too spacious, and does not have a window.

In a real, American, kitchen, if a cook wants to see anybody on the other side of THE LINE, they have to bend and peer through “THE WINDOW”. At one place I worked, the condiment station was directly in front of “the window”. Servers, who all wore the same dark uniform, were constantly bending over to reach product or get backups from the lowboy refrigerator. The top shelf was usually stacked with dishes, so your vision, if you stood erect was limited. We could see through “the window” if you glanced downward. Over time, WE COULD IDENTIFY EACH WAITRESS BY HER BACKSIDE!

Of course, this rather intimate knowledge leads to some lewd and hurtful comments. One girl was wearing pants tight enough, that the material was constantly stuck between her butt checks. When she did something that aggravated one guy, he responded; “your butt must be hungry. What?  Your ass is eating your pants!”

The HOT SIDE is where hot food is cooked. This would seem obvious, but it also has a second meaning, ITS ’HOT!!! Broilers are on constantly, fryers are on constantly, ovens are on constantly, salamanders are on constantly, and the open flames of gas range tops are usually left on at full blast during service. You will sweat no matter what time of year it is, regardless of the temperature outside.

The COLD SIDE usually referred to as “the pantry” or “the salad station” is set up much the same. The front holds refrigeration units and the back usually contains more refrigeration or work tables.

The DISH ROOM, usually separated from THE LINE, is stacked with dishes, glasses, pots, pans, and every kind of imaginable kitchen device. This area is also generally hot, since steam is continually emitted from the end of the machine.

The noise level in each kitchen is different. Restaurants are usually the loudest and the most bawdy while the corporate world tones things down. Some allow radios, others have radios but not during service, some have banter between servers and cooks while in others its strictly business. Don’t be fooled by places with “open kitchens”, the staff knows they can be seen by the guests and act accordingly. As a general rule, the more talented the Executive Chef, the quieter he wants his kitchen.

Even though there are many women in the kitchen, it is still largely a male domain. It’s inhabitants tend to be abusive, sarcastic, egotistical, and authoritarian.

Women need strength to survive in the kitchen, mental is much more important than physical. Crying hysterics will not be tolerated, while cursing is almost required. Women need to model themselves after the ancient Iceni Queen Boudicca not Cleopatra. After she was publicly flogged and her daughters raped by the Romans, Boudicca fought back. She raised an army, sacked three cities and defeated a Roman legion. She did not grab her asp and die.

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICE ENVIRONMENT, IT’S A ROUGH PLACE TO WORK!

I owe, I owe, its off to work I go.

Into THE CAULDRON!




                                                                                    Is tuisce deoch na sceal