Dapper Chefs Make Better Food

Excerpts taken from the November/December Edition of Uniforms Magazine in an article written by Francine Cohen.

Finding the right uniform to suit your kitchen and your menu.

In the movie Ratatouille, a young apprentice chef is schooled in the ways of the kitchen by a more senior chef (and, coincidentally, the only female chef in the restaurant). While touching upon the topic of uniforms, she, clad in crisp chef whites, tells him that the mark of a good chef is one with a messy apron and clean sleeves.

Since the kitchen in the movie served a very fancy, starched, traditional French restaurant, the chefs who work there probably don’t have much freedom and flexibility in terms of uniform selection. Not so in the real world (or perhaps most other animated eating establishments), where chefs don’t have to skim over the multitude of kitchen uniform design options now available. Programs rolled out for executive restaurant chefs, sous chefs, line cooks and banquet chefs are exploding with multiple options for comfort and functionality, while still expressing personal style.

For generations of chefs, the traditional coat was double-breasted and long-sleeved. But now, all around the world, from warm-weather climates like the Mediterranean coast of Italy to the cooler countryside of England, chefs are going bare-armed in short-sleeve jackets. For some it’s a matter of fashion or comfort. Others will say that’s just the way it has always been, and there’s no clear explanation for their attire.

Ultimately though, no matter where in the world you are, restaurant staffers will tell you that comfort and functionality are the two key elements in kitchen uniform design. It doesn’t matter if it’s the dishwashers or the executive chef who still has to look good when he leaves his kitchen three times a night to make rounds through the dining room and greet guests. They all have to be able to maneuver in a tight kitchen, reach for hot pans across the stove, or stand over a steaming sink and know their sleeves won’t catch on fire and melt.

This is where a choice of fabrics and sleeve options (Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton, short, long, three-quarter, cuffed, not cuffed, etc.) comes into play. Different roles in the kitchen often require different outfits. For instance, the pastry chef who is constantly rolling and twisting dough may opt for a short-sleeve jacket so his or her food doesn’t get caught in the cuffs. “Most pastry chefs wear short sleeves,” says Josh Thomsen, corporate executive chef for Town Development Corporation in Las Vegas. “I actually used to wear long sleeves and cuffs, but I just bought a new style coat that comes just a bit longer than my elbow. It’s still double-breasted so you can switch back and forth, but as I’m kneading and throwing dough, there is less material on me, which is good. And there are tons of guys who wear the dishwasher shirts during prepping. But for service time you put on your chef’s coat.”

Chef Harold Dieterle is the owner of Perilla in New York, and a chef who infrequently comes out of his kitchen to visit with diners. He’ll don his soft Egyptian cotton on the rare occasion he makes the rounds in the front of the house, but if you were to wander back into the kitchen during service, you’d discover Dieterle comfortably attired in a pair of his own pants and a casual white short-sleeved shirt that sports a couple of black buttons and his initials. Like Thomsen, who purchases his coats at least seven at a time, Dieterle also makes a bulk purchase for his chef coats. “I get about a dozen at a clip,” he says.

Fitting a chef, however, means more than just getting him or her into the right sized jacket. It’s about meeting occupational, theological and emotional needs. What matters in the end is that chefs can pursue their passion and keep their sleeves clean.

For more information on the types of garments discussed in this article please visit Killer Chef & Hospitality.