#kitchen

Diners who squat at a table long after the meal's done.

Short for shoemaker — a hack cook.

Small round dish for sauces, sides, and SOS orders.

A large serving plate or oval dish

Everything in its place before service — prepped, portioned, within reach.

Front of house — dining room, bar, host stand, anything the guest touches.

Kitchen code for 'we're out — kill it from the menu.'

Behind you with something that will burn you — move.

Verbal warning shouted when you're passing behind another cook.

Drowning in orders — past slammed, into survival mode.

Slammed past the point of catching up.

Fish cook — the station that handles everything from the sea.

The next order in the queue — get ready.

The expediter — the person at the pass organising tickets and getting food out.

Dishwasher in a professional kitchen (French).

Cooked to order the moment the ticket lands.

Your station setup; everything prepped and in its place before service.

First-in, first-out — use the old stock before the new.

Junior cook learning the ropes under a station chef.

Knife in motion — hold position.

Sauce on the side — the modifier every server scribbles when a guest doesn't want their plate drowned.

Combine two partial containers of the same product into one.

Touch lightly with heat or seasoning.

Make it exactly as the menu says — no mods, no subs.

Called out when you're walking knives or blades through the line.

Kitchen call meaning a dish is five minutes from the pass.

The classical hierarchy of a professional kitchen.

Suffix for the seat count of a table — two-top, four-top, six-top.

Cook is stepping away from their station — cover them.

A station or dish running behind the rest of the ticket.

Station chef — runs one section of the line.

Plate and push food out as fast as the line can move.

Got no tip.

A clumsy, careless cook who wrecks food.

Remake a dish fast after a misfire, return or screw-up.

Got it, chef.

Clear, reset, and reseat a table at full speed.

The free staff feed cooked and eaten before service.

A misfired, returned or no-longer-servable plate.

The number of guests served in a shift or service.