- If you've ever worked in the restaurant business, you probably already know.
Do you know these slang kitchen phrases? If you’ve ever worked in the kitchen, they’re probably words you will never forget.
In the Weeds
If a chef exclaims that they’re “in the weeds” they’re saying that the kitchen is struggling to keep up with orders and it’s snowballing into a stressful and chaos-filled service. No want wants to be “in the weeds” but heavy meal times and days with lots of patrons is just a part of the kitchen life.
A la Minute
“In a minute” came from French kitchens originally and implies that the food is fresh and made to personal order rather than prepared ahead of time for later consumption. If you were to order a dish like a roast, of course it would have to be cooking before you ordered it but when it comes to other elements of the plate like side dishes or appetizers, this is the part that would wait to be done and added to the plate at the end. This means you’ll get fresh and high quality food as soon as it’s ready.
Heard
In the busy and often loud environment of the kitchen, “heard” is not only acceptable but easy and understood when it comes to requests or instructions from others. It can be hard to hear in the kitchen so having slang kitchen phrases that everyone knows and uses is more than effective and works best to keep things moving and customers fed.
Line
The link is where the people cook and these people are know as “line cooks.” The line often has ovens, fryers, burners and different set assembly stations. The line is its own space for a reason and helps the kitchen to run smoothly, safely and ultimately, as efficiently as possible. The active work to plate, finish and construct the correct orders comes down to the line, so if you’re not a part of the line, kindly step away from it.
Fire
Yelling fire in the kitchen isn’t quite the same as yelling fire outside the kitchen. Case in point, when you hear the word fire in the kitchen, it means the line cook should begin to cook right away. Order tickets are fired out in a specific order and pace and this keeps the meal service running as it should.
Dying on the Pass
Dying on the pass refers to a dish that’s about to be cold, and therefore not taste as good or be as appetizing is it should be, after sitting on the pass too long.
Pass
People use pass as one of the slang kitchen phrases but no one really knows why. The pass is also known as expo and depending on the restaurant, that’s the word you use. It’s basically the place where the food sits, after being prepared and before being taken out to the eater that ordered it.
Eighty-Six
Menu items or dishes that have a component “eighty-sixed” are items that have been eliminated and are therefore no longer a part of a dish. For instance, if you order a burger sans onions and lettuce, the order may sound like ‘burger, eighty-six onions and lettuce’ in the book of slang kitchen phrases. It is also used in the case that someone from the kitchen staff has been fired or ‘eighty-sixed’ and they are no longer there to serve you.
There’s also “behind”, “on the fly”, “stage” , “all day”, “mise in place” and “yes, chef.” Have you heard these slang kitchen phrases before?