Line cooks vs prep cooks, who carries the pass during service?

Last Friday our prep guy called out and I had to run his station while also expediting, it fell apart and we had 40 minute ticket times. Do you think prep is the backbone of a kitchen or is the line where the real skill shows?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_dixon20d ago

Man, that sounds like a total nightmare, and I feel for you. In my experience, prep is the quiet engine that makes the line look good, but the real skill shows when you're dancing through a rush with everything already dialed in. Both roles need each other, but if prep fails, the line's just doing damage control, not cooking.

hugo_bennett18d ago

Wait, isn't the real skill just knowing what to do when prep does fail and you gotta improvise on the fly? Prep makes you look good, but it's the damage control that actually shows if you can cook.