HORECA Establishments: Hotels, Restaurants, Catering

• HORECA (Hotels, Restaurants & Catering) is used to describe establishments where chefs work

Types of Establishments

• Hotels are traditional and offer accommodation, conference facilities, leisure facilities, and events catering
• Hotels commonly serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, room service, and provide banqueting/wedding menus
• Restaurant kitchens are often stand alone
• Catering establishments include food service operations for schools, workplaces, airlines, etc
• Other operations employing chefs include private chefs, corporate chefs, demo chefs, and culinary educators

Types of Hotel Establishments:

• 5-star luxury hotels may have 3+ restaurants and room service
• 3 & 4-star hotels
• 1 & 2-star economy hotels often only serve breakfast
• Hotels include casinos, theatres, and entertainment centres
• Guest houses and Bed and Breakfasts (B&B)
• Resorts and Lodges
• Game-lodges and Bush camps
• Leisure facilities and Health Spas (Golf Clubs, Sports Clubs, Gyms)
• Wedding Venues, Banqueting halls and Conferencing centres

Restaurant Types

• Fine-dining restaurants provide formal, expensive meals with exceptional service
• Bistros offer informal, moderately priced simple meals
• Brasseries focus on modest meals like those in a pub or gastro pub
• Cafés are casual coffee shops focused on daytime trade
• Delicatessens (Deli) or Counters (Comptoirs) offer food on the go
• Chains and Franchises have standardized menus but operated individually
• Speciality restaurants focus on one style of food, like seafood, sushi, or pizza

Catering Establishments:

• School, College and University canteens/cafeterias
• Corporate or Industrial Workplace Canteens/Contract Catering for staff
• Airlines, Cruises, Hospitals, Prisons, Armed Forces, Old-age residential homes, Hostels
• Outside event and function Catering
• Retail HMR (Home Meal Replacement) and Deli counters
• Bakeries, Confectionery and Chocolatier shops
• Fast food take-away operations, tuckshops, burger vans, food trucks, food stalls
• Food manufacturing production and Mass catering production operations

Chefs in the Kitchen Brigade

• The military precision of meals delivered in a restaurant is based on the traditional system
• Led by the chef, this kitchen brigade originated from military organizations
• European armies in the 14th century chose cooks from their ranks to feed troops on the move
• Rulers organized tournaments in peacetime, military cooks followed knights and kings to their castles
• Guilds developed, controlling employment; they adopted uniforms, hierarchies, apprenticeships
• The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, one of the oldest guilds, was disbanded after the French Revolution, revived in 1950

Chef Uniforms:

• The King's servants were also called upon to serve in battle
• By the 1820s, chefs wore uniforms based on those worn by Ottoman army soldiers
• White became the standard to highlight cleanliness

Chef's Hats (Toques)

• Chefs' white jackets originated when they were servants of the king and called upon to serve in battle as well as in noble households
• By the 1820s, chefs wore uniforms purportedly based on those worn by soldiers of the Ottoman army
• One legend claims old flour sacks were dipped in water, cooling chefs' heads
• Antonin Carême, an 18th-century chef, is credited with bringing the toque into the kitchen

Modern Brigade System

• The modern brigade system was developed by Chef Georges-Auguste Escoffier for maximum efficiency
• authority, responsibility and function, with the executive chef or head chef at the top, assisted by a sous chef
• Chefs de partie, each in charge of a production station, are assisted by demi-chefs, commis chefs and trainees (apprentices)

Station Chefs:

• Saucier (sauces)
• Poissionier (fish)
• Grillardin (grilled items)
• Friturier (fried items)
• Rôtisseur (roasts)
• Entremetier (vegetables and farinaceous)
  • Potager (soups and stocks)
• Garde Manger (cold food/pantry)
  • Boucher (butcher)
  • Charcutier (cured meats especially pork)
• Pâtissier (pastries)
  • Boulanger (bread baker)
  • Confiseur (confectioner)
• Tournant (roundsman, station relief, the chef who has no station but works where needed)

Simplified Kitchen System

• Most kitchens delegate responsibility to sections to carry out specific tasks
• Basic tasks include planning, organizing, and executing

Kitchen Tasks:

• Planning involves creating menus, hiring staff, and managing costs
• Organizing involves supervising food preparation and presentation
• Executing involves running stations and preparing menu items

Personnel

• Managerial Chefs: Managerial chefs, kitchen chefs
• Kitchen Chefs: Involved in menu planning and execution

Managerial Chefs:

• "Chef" means "chief" or "head" in French, every kitchen has one
• Executive Chefs oversee multiple kitchens, while Head Chefs manage one
• Group Executive Chefs oversee regions for hotel or restaurant groups

Executive Chef Responsibilities:

• Typically found in large hotels, corporate establishments or complexes
• Responsible for multiple kitchens/outlets
• Executive Sous Chefs work under them
• Functions as Head Chef of other head chefs

Head Chef/Chef de Cuisine/Maitre Chef Responsibilities:

• Responsible for a single kitchen/outlet
• Primarily plans and organizes, does little to no execution
• Manages staff, food safety, and equipment
• May occasionally cook for special guests

Sous-Chef Responsibilities:

• Second in command, takes responsibility when the Chef is absent
• Supervises food preparation
• Demonstrates recipes and equipment

Other Kitchen Management:

• Kitchen Manager handles logistics, not a managerial chef
• Kitchen Admin Manager assists chefs with administrative tasks and paperwork

Kitchen Chefs:

• Station chef, or section chef is in charge of an area of production, with line cooks or assistants
• Basic tasks involve some planning, organizing, and mainly execution
• A Chef de Partie manages a specific section and follows standard operating procedures

Specialized de Partie Positions:

• Saucier/Sauce chef: Sautéed items and sauces, traditionally the third person in command
• Rotisseur: The meat cook prepares roasted and braised meats and their gravies
• Grillardin: Grill cook, may prepare deep-fried items
• Friturier: The deep fry cook
• Poissonier: Fish cook prepares all fish and shellfish items and their sauces
• Garde Manager/Pantry chef: Cold kitchen - salads, dressings, cold starters, cold buffet items, cold meats, etc
• Boucher/Charcutier: Butcher - pickled, salted, cured, or smoked meats
• Entremetier/Vegetable chef: Vegetables, soups, starches, and eggs

Other Station Positions

• Pâtissier or Pastry chef handles pastry work and desserts
• Boulanger is the head bread baker
• Confiseur makes candy
• Chef de Tournant: Relief cook
• Chef de Garde: duty chef during splits
• Chef de Nuit night chef
• Banquet Chef
• Le Contrôler: Kitchen admin clerk
• Les Garçons De Cuisine: Kitchen porter/cleaner
• Le Plongeur De Batterie: Sculler

Junior Kitchen Positions:

• Demi Chef is an advanced Commis Chef
• Kitchen Assistant - food handler/kitchen hand/kitchen assistant
• Apprentice cooks/Trainees includes Kitchen-hands/Food Preparation Assistants/Kitchen Service Assistants

Other Kitchen Personnel:

• Sculler: Wash dishes and returns equipment
• Cleaner: General cleaning and waste removal

Hotel Chefs Roles & Responsibilities

• Part of a larger organization with a range of job roles and responsibilities
• Hotels offer food, lodging, travel, recreation, and event catering
• Key Personnel & Their Roles*
• Food and Beverage (F&B) Manager: Manages food and beverage operations
• Storeman: In charge of beverage and food
• Maitre D'hotel/Restaurant Host: Meets, greets and seats people and manages all front-of-the-house activities
• Waiter/Server: Takes orders and serves people
• Runner/Busser/busboy - Carries food and drinks to tables, clears tables
• Sommelier - Qualified wine expert who pairs and suggests wines for tables and suggests them to tables
• Wine Steward: Serves drinks and wines at tables
• Barman: Serves drinks and wines at the bar
• Banqueting/Events Manager - Manages all aspects of banqueting and function events
• Conferencing Co-ordinator: Manages all aspects of conferencing
• Financial Manager (Accountant): Manages all aspects of financial control
• Ops Manager: Manages all aspect of logistics, security, maintenance and operational requirements
• Front Office Manager: Manages all aspects of bookings, reception, and concierge
• Executive Housekeeper: Manages cleaning, housekeeping, and laundry
• Human Resources Manager: Manages all aspects of staff and payrolls
• General Manager (GM): Overall manager of the organisation

Tradition Kitchen Sections

• Traditionally kitchens are divided into hot and cold sections for efficiency and safety
• Large establishments may have separate pastry and banqueting kitchens
• Specialty kitchens exist for specific food items like halaal, kosher, or vegetarian,

Main Food Production Areas:

• Hot kitchen prepares cooked items using various equipment
• Cold Kitchen prepares uncooked items such as salads, sandwiches, pastries and desserts
• Pastry kitchen are air-conditioned areas for pastries and desserts
• Production/Banqueting kitchens prepares large scale events and banqueting caterings
• Speciality Kitchens prepares food like halaal, kosher, vegetarian,or seafood

Other Food Production Areas:

• The hot pass heats plated hot dishes until serving
• The cold pass keeps plated cold dishes until serving
• Buffet Area which included a carvery station
• Gueridon Trolley presents interactive items at tables

Receiving & Storage Areas

• Stores/Storeroom receives and distributes goods
• A Cutlery Crockery area that stores fragile items
• Pantry/Dry store stores goods at ambient temperature
• The Larder, Freezer - stores chilled foods.and frozen goods. Chemical Store - stores cleaning products

Cleaning Areas

• The handwashing station is the area where you wash your hands
• The Prep sinks wash all food prior
• The.washup/potwash/scullery Area dishes and pots are washed by sculler

Work Patterns

• Work patterns in the hospitality and catering industry vary by establishment needs
• Chefs have different working patterns than typical jobs, including shift-work and weekends
• Flexibility is common, depending on bookings, functions, and seasons
• Basic shifts include breakfast, day, evening, or graveyard shifts
• Split shifts are common, with a break in between; rare double shifts or long straight shifts may occur