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Garde Manger in Restaurants
Appears in
By Jaclyn Pestka, Wayne Gisslen and Lou Sackett
Published 2010
In a small restaurant there is frequently only one garde manger chef on duty during a particular service. In larger restaurants you may have one or more additional chefs with you on the cold line. Unless a party or banquet is scheduled, in restaurants all garde manger service is à la carte.
Restaurant kitchens are typically small and crowded. Therefore, you should expect a restaurant garde manger service line to be compact, and you should not be surprised if it is quite close to the hot line. While this can be inconvenient, it also has benefits. Tight quarters allow for handing off (see sidebar). Compact kitchens also make cross-training easier and more prevalent. For example, on a slow night the garde manger chef can watch and learn the sauté station, and vice versa.