Chef and Cook Interview Questions

“For me it starts with a prep list based on our pars and that night's bookings, so I'm not over- or under-prepping. Everything I need for my dishes is prepped, labelled and dated, and it sits in the same place every single service, so I can reach for it without looking. I keep enough on the station for the first wave and the backup in the lowboy underneath. My sauces are at the right temperature and tasted, my garnishes are cut, and I've got clean cloths, sanitiser, tasting spoons, tongs and plates warming. Before doors open I do a last check with the sous chef. If I have to walk away from my section during service to find something, my mise wasn't good enough.”

“I start with a reduction of white wine vinegar, shallot and peppercorns, strained, or just lemon juice. I whisk the yolks with a little of that in a bowl over barely simmering water until they're thick and pale and leave a trail. Off the heat, I add warm clarified butter slowly, a thin stream at first, whisking all the time, then season with salt and lemon. It splits when it gets too hot or the butter goes in too fast. To rescue it, I put a fresh yolk, or a spoon of warm water, in a clean bowl and whisk the broken sauce in a little at a time until it comes back. During service I keep it somewhere warm, not on direct heat, and bin it after the time our food safety plan sets.”

“In the moment, I say 'yes chef', redo the plate the way they want and keep the tickets moving. Service isn't the time for a discussion, and blunt feedback at the pass is normal because there's no time to be gentle. After service, when it's calm, I'd ask them to show me exactly what they want, maybe plate one together, or look at the spec photo, so I'm not guessing next time. Then I'd practice it in prep until it's second nature. I don't take it personally. If the head chef cares enough to stop and correct me, it means they want the plate right, and so do I.”

“We use first in, first out, which means the oldest stock gets used first. When a delivery comes in, I move the older stock to the front and put the new stock behind it, so nobody grabs the fresh box and leaves the old one to go off. Anything we prep or open gets a label with what it is, the date it was made or opened, the use-by date and my initials. Really, it's the use-by date that matters most, so if something newer has a shorter date, that gets used first. Every morning I check dates on my section and in the walk-in, bin anything past its use-by, and flag anything close to it so it can go on a special or into staff food.”

“I'd say something quietly and politely, right away, not in front of everyone. Something like, 'Chef, I think that spoon went back in the pot, do you want me to start a fresh batch or swap it out?' Most good cooks will just say thanks, because it's an easy habit to slip into when you're busy. What happens to the sauce is the senior cook's or head chef's call, but I'd point out the risk. I'd also make sure there's a pot of clean tasting spoons at the station so it's easy to do right. If it kept happening after that, I'd mention it to the head chef, because it's a hygiene risk for every guest who eats that sauce.”

“It starts in the fridge. Ready-to-eat and cooked food goes on the top shelves, raw meat and fish underneath, and raw poultry right at the bottom, so nothing can drip down onto food that won't be cooked again. On the section, I use colour-coded boards and separate knives for raw meat, fish and ready-to-eat things like salad, and I keep them apart on the bench. I wash my hands every time I switch from raw to anything else and after touching my face or phone. Surfaces get cleaned and then sanitised between tasks, and I use a fresh cloth, not the one that's been wiping raw chicken juice. And I don't rinse raw chicken, because it just splashes bacteria around the sink.”

“I started washing pots in a busy bistro when I was seventeen, and I kept sneaking onto the cold section to help with prep. The head chef noticed and moved me onto starters within a few months. After that I did two years on the grill in a steakhouse, which taught me speed and consistency, then a year in a smaller kitchen cooking seasonal food where the menu changed every few weeks. That last place is where I really fell for it, because I was working with whole produce and learning butchery. So what I want now is a kitchen that cooks from scratch with good suppliers, where I can take on a section properly and keep learning from a strong head chef.”

“I ate here a couple of weeks ago and I read the menu online before coming in. Two things stood out. First, a lot of the dishes use the whole animal, like the lamb neck and the crispy tongue, so there's real butchery happening in this kitchen, which I want to get better at. Second, the menu is short and changes with the season, which tells me the prep is from scratch and the team has to adapt fast. I've done nose-to-tail prep before on a smaller scale, and I'm comfortable with a menu that changes every few weeks. I'd rather work somewhere I'll be pushed than somewhere that just reheats.”

“I'd call my style simple and ingredient-led. I'd rather do three things on a plate really well than eight things half right. A dish that shows it is a roast chicken thigh I used to run as a special. I brined the thighs overnight, boned them out, and cooked them skin down in a heavy pan so the skin went really crisp. It went on a bed of white beans cooked slowly with garlic and the chicken fat, with a sharp salsa verde on top to cut through the richness. Nothing fancy, but every part had a reason. Looking at your menu, you're doing the same kind of honest cooking, which is why I applied.”

“Honestly, if it's a reasonable change and it's safe, I make it. It's their dinner, not mine, and a guest who wants their steak well done or the sauce on the side should get exactly that, cooked as well as I can do it. Where I'd push back is if the change can't be done properly, like asking for a dish without a part that's cooked into it, or if it would hold up the whole table in a rush. Then I'd send a message through the server with an option that works, like, 'We can't take the butter out of that sauce, but we can serve it with the herb oil instead.' That way the guest still gets something good.”

“At my last place a guest sent back a piece of cod saying it was undercooked. My first instinct was that it was fine, but I checked it properly and the centre was still a bit translucent. It was a thick piece from the head end of the fish and I'd given it the same time as the thinner ones. I told the server we'd have a new one out in six minutes, fired a fresh portion straight away and checked it by feel and with a probe before it went. Afterwards I spoke to the sous chef and we started portioning the fillets more evenly by thickness, not just weight, so cooking times stayed consistent.”

“It was a Saturday with a big party booked on top of a full room, and our fryer tripped out at seven. I was on garnish and starters. The first thing I did was tell the head chef straight away so he could pull the fried dishes from the board and let front of house know. Then I switched the chips to oven-roasted potatoes, which weren't on the menu but worked with the mains. I kept reading the tickets two ahead so I knew what was coming and called my timings out loud to the pass. We ran slower for about twenty minutes, but nothing went out wrong. What I kept from that night is to shout early rather than hope I'll catch up.”

“The first thing I'd do is count exactly how many portions I have left, including anything in the lowboy, so I'm working from a real number. Then I tell the head chef and the pass, and we let front of house know how many are left so servers stop selling it once they're gone, rather than guests ordering it and then being told. If there's a quick, proper way to make more, like portioning a spare piece of meat, we might do that, but I wouldn't rush something that won't be up to standard. Servers can steer people to a similar dish. After service I'd look at why we ran short, maybe the bookings or a party, and change the prep list.”

“During a morning prep shift I noticed that a tray of cooked chicken for the salads had been put on the shelf underneath raw beef in the walk-in. There was a bit of blood on the cling film of the chicken tray. It had only just been put there, but I couldn't be sure nothing had dripped onto it, so I told the sous chef and we binned the chicken rather than take the chance. I moved the raw meat down to the bottom shelf and cleaned the shelf. Then I asked if we could put a simple shelf plan on the walk-in door showing where raw and cooked go, and the head chef went over it at the next briefing.”

“The exact numbers come from the food code where you work, so I always check the local one, but these are the working rules I follow. Chilled food stays at 5°C or below, about 41°F. Poultry gets cooked until the thickest part reaches about 75°C, or 165°F, checked with a clean probe, and minced meat has to be cooked right through too. Hot food is held at 63°C or above, about 145°F. Reheated food goes up fast to at least 75°C in the centre, some codes ask for more, and it only gets reheated once. Between fridge and hot-holding temperatures is where bacteria grow fastest, so food shouldn't sit there. I log every reading and check the probe in iced water and boiling water so I know it reads true.”

“The goal is to get it through the warm range as fast as I can, and most food codes set a time limit for that, so I follow the one where I work. For a big stock, I'd split it into smaller containers or shallow trays and stand them in an ice bath, stirring now and then, or use an ice wand if we have one. If there's a blast chiller, that's the best option. What I'd never do is put a big hot pot straight into the walk-in, because it cools slowly in the middle and warms everything around it. Rice I'm strictest about, because the spores in it survive cooking and the toxin they can make isn't destroyed by reheating. So I spread it thin, chill it fast, label it and use it up quickly.”

“First I stop and read it properly, then I check with the server exactly what the allergy is and whether even traces are a problem. Then I check every part of the dish against our allergen matrix, not just the main item, so the dressing, the garnish, the oil and anything bought in. If I can't be certain a dish is safe, like if it's fried in shared oil, I tell the server straight away so they can offer something I can make safely. If it's fine, I cook it myself from start to finish. I wash my hands, use a clean board, clean pans and fresh utensils, and keep it away from the rest of the pass. The plate gets flagged and handed straight to the server, not left on the pass.”

“I'll arrive early with my knives, whites and a notebook, and ask someone to show me where things live and how they want things labelled. On the shift, I'll do things exactly your way. It's not the moment to change a recipe or show off a trick. I'll ask when I'm unsure rather than guess, taste everything I make, clean as I go and keep my station tidy. In service I'll call back every order so the pass knows I've heard it. You'll be watching my speed, knife work and attitude, and I know that. I'll also be quietly watching how the team talks to each other, because I want to be sure this is a kitchen where I'll do my best work.”

“When I became sous chef, I started a simple waste sheet on the back door, and within two weeks it was obvious we were throwing away a lot of bread and fresh herbs. The bread was ordered at the same level every day no matter the bookings, so I tied the order to the booking sheet. For the herbs, we'd been prepping big batches in the morning that wilted by evening, so we switched to smaller prep twice a day and turned the stalks into a green oil for one of the starters. We also started using the bread ends for crumbs and a panzanella staff meal. At the next monthly stock take the food cost had come down noticeably, and the waste bin was visibly lighter.”

“I'd check the fish there and then, looking at the eyes, gills, smell and firmness, and probe the temperature. Anything not up to standard gets refused and noted on the delivery note before the driver leaves, so we're not charged for it. Then I'd call the supplier to see if they can send a replacement in time. If not, I'd try our backup supplier. If none of that works, I'd talk to the head chef about switching the fish dish for the booking, maybe to a different fish that works with the same garnish, and make sure front of house and the organiser know before they arrive. The last thing I'd do is cook with fish I wasn't happy with.”

“I build a recipe card with every ingredient by weight, including the small stuff like oil, butter, seasoning and garnish, priced from the latest invoices. Where there's trim or cooking loss, I cost the usable weight, not the bought weight, otherwise the numbers look better than they are. That gives me the plate cost. Then I divide it by our food cost target. So if a plate costs four and we aim for food to be about a third of the selling price, the price needs to be around twelve before tax. I sanity check that against what the dish is worth to our guests and what's nearby. After it's on the menu, I compare what we should have used with the real stock take, because the gap shows waste or over-portioning.”

“A yield test is where you weigh something as it arrives, prep it, and weigh again to see how much you can actually serve. Say we buy a whole salmon. After taking off the head, bones, skin and trim, we might only get a bit over half the weight as usable fillet. So the real cost per kilo of fillet is the price we paid divided by the usable weight, which is much higher than the invoice price per kilo. That matters when you compare it to buying fillets already portioned. The whole fish might still win, because the bones make stock and the trim goes into fish cakes, but you also have to count the time it takes to break it down.”

“We had an unannounced inspection at my last restaurant on a weekday lunch. The inspector checked fridge and freezer temperatures, looked at our temperature logs, asked cooks how they'd handle an allergy order, and checked labelling and cleaning schedules. The logs were strong because we'd been filling them at set times every day, and the allergen matrix was up to date. What they picked up was that our cleaning schedule said the extraction canopy was cleaned weekly, but there was no record of it being signed off for three weeks. We fixed it by adding it to the Monday close checklist with a named person, and I checked the sheet every Tuesday. The next visit had nothing on it.”

“I'd first probe some of the food itself, especially the high-risk things like cooked meats, dairy and fish, because the display only tells you the air temperature. Then I'd check the log to see when it was last at the right temperature, so I know roughly how long it's been out. Anything that's still cold goes straight into other fridges. Anything high-risk that's been above safe temperature for longer than our food safety rules allow, or where I simply can't prove how long, gets thrown away. If in doubt, it goes. I'd record what was discarded and why, call the engineer, and tell the head chef so we can work out what's off the menu and what needs ordering in today.”

“We had a commis join from college who could cook but had never worked a real service. I put them on my section with me, and for the first week they just did the prep while I showed them each dish once and explained why it's built that way. I wrote the plate specs with photos on a card by the station. In the second week I let them plate the quieter tickets while I cooked, and I'd check each one before it went. By the third week they were running the section on a Tuesday with me close by. The biggest thing I learned was not to take over the moment they slowed down, because that's exactly when they learn.”

“A server kept coming to the pass asking where a table's mains were, and by the fourth time I snapped at her. The table had actually been fired late because the order was sent in two parts. In the moment I just told her I'd have it in four minutes and got on with it. After service I found her and apologised for my tone, and we worked out that the real issue was orders being split when a guest changed their mind. We agreed with the manager that any change would be sent as a clear note, not a second ticket, and I'd call out an honest time to the server when asked. It never came up like that again.”

“First I'd make a couple of quick calls to anyone off that day who might come in, even for a few hours. At the same time I'd look at who's here and move people so the hardest sections are covered by the strongest cooks, and I'd take a section myself. If we're still short, I'd trim the menu, taking off one or two dishes that need the most hands at the last minute, and push the dishes that can be finished quickly. Then I'd talk to the front of house manager about spacing the bookings, maybe staggering the big tables, and warning servers that mains may take a little longer. On the night I'd call the tickets steadily rather than letting everything fire at once.”

“I want a kitchen with high standards where people are still treated like people. You can be strict about a plate without shouting at the person who made it. For me that means a proper briefing before service so everyone knows the specials, the bookings and any allergies. It means helping the next section when I'm ahead, and asking for help early when I'm not. When something goes wrong in service, I deal with it calmly in the moment and talk about it afterwards, not in front of the whole line. I've worked in kitchens where fear was the system, and people just hid mistakes. The food, and the safety, got better in the places where people could speak up.”

“It starts with a recipe card for every dish and an allergen matrix that lists which of the regulated allergens are in each part, including sauces, garnishes and anything bought in. The weak spot is usually a change nobody tells you about, like the supplier swapping to a different brand of stock or bread. So anything new that comes in gets its label checked against the matrix before it's used, and the matrix is updated and dated. The list of allergens that must be declared differs by country, so I follow the local one. In service, allergy tickets are clearly marked, one cook makes the dish with clean equipment, and the plate is flagged. And if we can't be sure a dish is safe, like a shared fryer, we tell the guest honestly.”

“I'd start by being clear on the brief: who our guests are, what they spend and what the restaurant is known for, so the new menu still feels like us. Then I'd talk to our suppliers about what's at its best that season and what they can deliver reliably. When I write the dishes, I balance them across the stations, so we don't have five things on the grill and nothing on the cold section. I try to share ingredients across dishes to keep waste down, and I make sure there are good options for common dietary needs. Every dish gets costed and allergen-checked, then tasted by the team and front of house. A few weeks in, I look at what's selling and what's making money, and adjust.”