The Hospitality Guru (cooking) Guru: Elements of Professionalism

• Focus on the job at hand, one job at a time, and perform all tasks and responsibilities to the best of your ability.
• Wear clean and well pressed proper attire, and maintain good personal hygiene. A sticky chef is an absolute NO NO!
• Practice being a good listener. (This promotes teamwork, and camaraderie.)
• Avoid profanity, crude jokes and gossip. No matter how tough things are, make an effort to accentuate the positive.
• Remember, the food-service industry is a service industry. Customer oriented service is the best advertising for any service business.
• Learn to wind down after your workday by cultivating conversation with friends and co-workers, reading, and other constructive activities.
• Establish a steadfast rule; never consume alcohol during work shift. Haha... Obvious, but something I've found happens more than you'd think.
• Physically demanding work does not take the place of healthy exercise. Set aside time weekly to maintain good physical fitness. 15 minutes a day, keeps the doctor away!
• Do all things in moderation. (It takes 21 consecutive days to develop a new habit).
• Arrive at work punctually.

Chris Lyras - a 1^st year apprentice chef, from a good few years ago said..... 

Not all kitchens adhere to guidelines like these. In every profession there are pockets of enlightenment and harmony, as well as places where personal biases and ego-driven personalities get in the way of a focus on excellence. All students of the culinary arts are encouraged to find a niche where their creativity can flower, and where co-workers consider the following important but simple guidelines as a valid communal affirmation to be adhered to by all.

Kitchen User’s Guide

· If you open it close it.

· If you get it out, put it away.

· If you turn it on, turn it off.

· If you move it, put it back.

· If you spill it, wipe it up.

· If you get it dirty, clean it up.

· If you unlock it, lock it up.

· If you break it, get it fixed.

· If you care about it, treat it as your own.

Finally, if a question arises about who is responsible for a particular job, remember the story about EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY AND NOBODY.

There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.  Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.  Somebody got angry with that, because it was Everybody’s job.  Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it.  It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when No body did what Anybody could have done.