What to expect from an Amandine Chef

RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOUR CHEF

The following is a list of typical responsibilities that you can expect when you hire an Amandine chef. These responsibilities will vary depending on the type of job, whether on land or at sea, the number of other staff employed, the number of guests and of course any other specific requests. However, unless otherwise stated your chef will typically be responsible for the following:

  • Planning menus (liaising with you or your guests before the job starts and agreeing menu plans)
  • Managing special dietary requests
  • Agreeing & managing a budget for food
  • Food provisioning/shopping
  • Keeping kitchen/galley spotlessly clean
  • Washing up
  • Adhering to Food Safety Standards and any other relevant codes of practice
  • Emptying rubbish during and at the end of every day
  • For land based chefs only – if you want your chef to be responsible for setting the table and serving food then it is best to make this clear when you brief us. We can provide chefs who are happy to help with service but it depends on how many guests the chef is cooking for and how formal you want the dining experience to be. For informal dining the chef can help to set the table, serve and clear the food ( for up to approx 10 guests) but for more formal dining and for more than 10 guests we recommend the chef has additional service staff to help lay the table, serve and clear.

UNIFORM

Unless otherwise specified, our chefs will wear a clean white, black or navy chefs jacket with black trousers and black flat shoes. If you would rather your chef wear’s full chef’s whites then please let us know.

EQUIPMENT

Our chefs will bring their own knives to a job and for short term jobs on land they will do their best to bring any specific equipment that that they need. However please bear in mind that certain food requests are dependent on certain equipment being available and for short term jobs the chef may not always be able to bring the relevant equipment with them.

FOOD PROVISIONING & BUDGETING

All of our chefs will take time to discuss you and your guests specific food likes and dislikes and any dietary requirements. They will then prepare a menu plan in accordance with you and your guests needs. Most of our chefs take pride in using ingredients that are local and in season. If the chefs are given flexibility to use ingredients that they find fresh in the market on that day then often you will end up with some of the best tasting dishes, even if you have not planned for them! Amandine recommends the clients discuss and agree a food budget with the chef at the same time as discussing the menus and always in advance or on the first day of the job. For short term jobs we recommend that an allowance for the food should be given to the chef up front and our chefs will keep a record of all food purchases, keeping all receipts. At the end of each week we recommend the Chef runs through the balance of the food budget with you (with all receipts present) and that you agree a suitable additional amount for the following week if necessary. Chefs should not be expected to pay for food out of their own pocket.

FOOD WASTAGE

We encourage all our chefs to avoid wasting food, however we know that in some circumstances it’s difficult to avoid wastage. We ask that you discuss these sorts of things directly with your chef up front so that wherever possible your chef can be creative and resourceful in using up ingredients already available to you.

AMANDINE FEES

Amandine specialise in the introduction and placement of chefs to prospective employers, their representatives and or agents. Our role is that of an introduction agency and we charge an Introduction Fee for our services. Our full terms of business and details of our fees are available to download from the website, under Price Guide.

CHEF FEES

Amandine do not pay the candidates. We ask that our clients pay the chefs directly on an hourly, daily or monthly basis, at a rate & frequency agreed with Amandine prior to the commencement of their engagement.

RE- EMPLOYING A CHEF

If any Candidate introduced by Amandine is employed or re-employed directly by the Client (with or without the agencies involvement) within a period of 18 months from the date of the initial introduction, the Client will be charged the applicable Introduction Fee. The Agency Introduction fee is also applicable if the chef’s period of engagement is extended beyond the dates agreed above