kosher or sea salt
crushed black peppercorns (hand-crushed-not ground in the blender)
ground white pepper
fresh breadcrumbs
chiffonade parsley
blended oil in wine bottle with speed pourer
extra virgin olive oil
white wine brandy
chervil tops in ice water for garnish
chive sticks or chopped chives
tomato concassée
caramelized apple sections
garlic confit
chopped or slivered garlic
chopped shallots
softened butter
favorite ladles, spoons, tongs, pans, pots
all sauces, portioned fish, meat, menu items, specials and back-ups
conveniently positioned for easy access
Being set up properly, trained and coordinated is not nearly enough. A
good line cook has to be able to remain clear-headed, organized and
reasonably even-keeled during hectic and stressful service periods.
When you've got thirty or forty or more tables all sitting down at the
same time and ordering different items with different temperatures, the
stuff has to come up together; the various stations—sauté, garde-manger,
broiler, middle—have to assemble a party of ten's dinner at the same
moment. You can't have one member of a party's Dover sole festering in
the window by the sauté station while the grill guy waits for a rack of
lamb to hit medium-rare. It's got to come up together! Your hero line
cook doesn't let the screaming, the frantic cries of "Is it ready yet?", the
long and potentially confusing list of donenesses all working at the same
time throw him. He's got to keep all those temperatures straight in his