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The sizzle of summer is upon us, and some of the best ways to maintain a cool composure in this heat is staying hydrated. The pressures of cooking in a professional kitchen is a high-stakes game, and when the heat gets turned up, so do the chefs.
From burger joints to fine dining kitchens across NEPA, the chefs that battle these scorching temperatures daily are the heroes of the culinary world. Sometimes, the kitchen could reach temperatures of over 115 degrees, so staying hydrated is a crucial component to keep your composure during times of high stress in the restaurant industry. To keep our customers happy, we need to keep that kitchen rolling, organized, and on the pace at all portions of the night so that our customers can come in and enjoy everything we have to offer.
Here at the Beaumont, we walk into the restaurant, assess the prep that needs to go into the day, and then immediately hit the garden to pick what’s ripe before the heat gets too intense. Once our harvest is complete, we go into the kitchen and start preparing for the day. We go over the prep list from the night before and start with the longest prep items first to get them knocked out of the way before concentrating on the rest of the list.
At this time during prep, the heat of the kitchen starts the rise. It starts to push over a hundred degrees, and the kitchen staff starts to feel the effects.
Hydration! It’s a key component in how we get through the course of the day. You need to listen to your body and the critical signs of heat exhaustion to balance a fine line of hard work and getting your job done. The walk-in cooler provides a bit of relief between tasks. Finishing a prep item then going into the cooler to retrieve what’s next to be prepared is a welcome blast of cold air.
Now that prep is complete; it’s time to start service. This is where the pressure and temperature truly get turned up. We all want to make sure that the food we present customers lives up to the reputation of a restaurant. Sometimes mistakes happen, but it’s how errors are corrected that let us stand out. When people come to dine with us, they have very high expectations.
During dinner service, all the hard work of maintaining all of this comes to a head. We know that the fruits and vegetables are as fresh as could be and that the work going into our features is top-notch. So, the execution of the night is imperative to the reputation of our restaurant.
Now the night is over; we executed a flawless service! Now to head home and take a cold shower before we call it a night and head back in the morning to do it all again.
Jeff Huntzinger is executive chef of The Beaumont Inn.