Being a line cook in a restaurant is not an easy job.
- I worked on the line for several years before earning a big promotion.
Now I oversee the kitchen and the dining area both, managing the staff and making sure the customers have a pleasant dining experience. The comfort of the diners is the most important thing, but it doesn’t pay to neglect the employees. When the employees are uncomfortable or unhappy, it translates into poor service and bad food. I recently ordered a new ventilation system for the kitchen, and hope it will mean an upgrade for the performance of my staff. The importance of air quality in a kitchen cannot be overstated, and it’s not just because of the cooks. Happy, comfortable chefs make better food, but poor indoor air quality can make even the best food taste terrible. Eating a great meal is not just the taste of the food, it’s the pleasing aromas that come with it! When the ventilation is poor and the same stale air keeps getting recycled, those pleasing aromas get lost in a fog of grease and smoke. Clean air and great ventilation make the food taste better, as well as being more enjoyable for the clients and the staff. The ventilation specialist from the local HVAC company not only installed the new equipment we needed, he also performed a full ductwork cleaning. He advised me to clean out the air ducts and air vents at least three or four times a year. With so much smoke and moisture in the kitchen, the ductwork gets dirty fast.