September 4, 2010

Any good restaurant will have the best chefs and the best food in town. Every employee plays a part when it comes to a great lunch and dinner service. Everyone from the executive chef to the expediter is key in making a customer’s night. The expediter in a restaurant is the person who is put in charge of putting together the dishes components. They also must act as presenter of the food for all tables and be able to do this is in a timely fashion. This is done by getting the food to the runners and servers so they can deliver the dishes to the customers.

This is a very fast paced position and a lot rides on how well the expediter does his job. A good expediter will keep excellent communication between all stations in

the kitchen from vegetables to meat to garnish. The food does not leave the kitchen until the expediter has put the customers order through the necessary stations in the kitchen.

How does one get a job as an expediter? If you are looking to get any job in a kitchen of a restaurant then you should have a background in the culinary arts. Experience helps out a lot. Knowing the duties of an expediter also helps. An expediter is responsible for calling out and verifying orders to the cook and the other kitchen staff.

They will also be responsible for letting the servers or runners when the dishes are ready to come out. They review the entire order and make sure that the order is correct before it leaves the kitchen. They are also responsible to adding up the check. They will also take a look at the garnishes and the portions of each order.

They can also be responsible for helping prepare and sometimes cook easy to make dishes that do not require a long cooking time. They will also record supplies and keep track of food coming in and going out. An expediter must also know food production, math, customer service, some economics and some accounting and some clerical skills.

They must also possess great communication skills, great listening skills and product inspection as well. Writing, reading comprehension and monitoring is also very important. If one dish gets through without inspection then the expediter is not doing his job. An expediter has a lot of responsibility and working in a kitchen is not a stress free job. They must be great at handling stress and get along with the other kitchen workers or he could have problems.