A kitchen does not behave the same way throughout the day.
At 11:30 in the morning everything may look beautifully organised.
At 1:30 it may be a completely different kitchen.
And at 11:15 at night, when everybody wants to go home, it may be different again.
So we don't want to say:
"We observed your kitchen for eight hours."
Eight hours tells us very little unless they were the right eight hours.
Instead, we look at the kitchen through Seven Daily Occasions.
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5.1.1. OPENING
How does the kitchen wake up?
What is checked?
What happened overnight?
Is yesterday's retained food looked at?
Are refrigerators okay?
Is the preparation area ready?
Is anything unusual?
A good opening can prevent many problems later.
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5.1.2. BREAKFAST START
Food begins moving quickly.
Hot food.
Cold food.
Milk.
Fruit.
Juice.
Eggs.
Bread.
Prepared items.
Serving utensils.
Staff movement.
Guests may arrive together.
This is where correct practice has to survive the first rush of the day.
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5.1 3. BREAKFAST CLOSURE
Perhaps even more interesting than breakfast itself.
What happens to the food that remains?
What gets discarded?
What gets retained?
Who decides?
How quickly does food return to safe storage?
Is everything identified?
Does somebody think:
"We'll see later."
Breakfast may be over for the guest.
For Food Safety, breakfast closure is still very much part of breakfast.
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5.1.4. RECEIVING
A supplier arrives.
Then another.
Someone is busy.
The Chef wants material urgently.
There may be vegetables, dairy, meat, chicken, fish, frozen items and dry groceries arriving within a short period.
Do we actually look before accepting?
What happens to rejected material?
How long does chilled material remain outside?
Does raw material move safely through the kitchen?
Receiving is one of those places where a problem can enter the kitchen before cooking even begins.
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5.1.5. LUNCH
Now preparation, cooking and service come together.
Multiple dishes.
Multiple hands.
Raw and cooked food.
Utensils moving.
Orders arriving.
Food waiting.
Food being reheated.
People working quickly.
The interesting question becomes:
Which good habits survive when everybody becomes busy?
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5.1.6. DINNER
Dinner can bring another level of pressure.
Perhaps more guests.
Perhaps more complicated orders.
Perhaps staff are already tired.
Perhaps banquet work is happening simultaneously.
Perhaps some preparation was done hours earlier.
Food Safety has to work even when the kitchen is working at its hardest.
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5.1.7. KITCHEN CLOSING
This may be one of the most important occasions of all.
Everybody wants to finish.
But many decisions are still being made.
Keep?
Discard?
Cool?
Cover?
Label?
Refrigerate?
Clean?
Report?
Leave for morning?
The person closing the kitchen is, in a way, preparing the kitchen for people who have not yet arrived.
That is why our Fifth Question becomes so powerful here:
HAVE I CLOSED THE LOOP AND LEFT A SAFE KITCHEN FOR THE NEXT PERSON?
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5.2 AT EVERY OCCASION, ONE SIMPLE QUESTION
We keep coming back to:
WHAT CAN GO WRONG HERE?
Not:
"Tell me the regulation."
Not:
"What is the correct answer?"
Just:
"What can go wrong here?"
A worker preparing chicken can answer that.
A cleaner can answer that.
A Chef can answer that.
And interestingly, they may give different answers.
That conversation itself begins creating Food Safety thinking.
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5.3 How will we observe the Seven Occasions?
Not necessarily in seven full days.
Some occasions can be seen together.
Opening and Breakfast Start may happen during one visit.
Breakfast Closure and Receiving may happen during another.
Lunch needs its own observation.
Dinner and Closing may be combined.
The schedule should fit the kitchen.
Not the other way around.
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5.4 What will you have in your hand?
YOUR KITCHEN DAY
7 Occasions Diagnostic
For every relevant occasion, it should help show:
What is already working.
What can go wrong.
What actually seems to go wrong.
What becomes difficult during pressure.
What depends too much on one particular person.
What deserves a closer look.
It should almost allow management to see its own kitchen day on paper.
