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| Yes | 55% | 81 votes | Total: 146 votes | |
| No | 45% | 65 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesWhether on T.V or in his restaurant, a Chef should always dress like a Chef! In fact such are the traditions in France, where cooking is a highly regarded profession (unlike America) that there are a lot of steps before one can even aspire to be the head man; First they'll have you washing the dishes, and then you work your way on above, with the higher the hat. the higher the rank in the kitchen.
As a matter of fact when Fernand Point of the restaurant "La Pyramide" died some years back, his funeral was attended by no less then the president of France- Jacques Chirac at the time.. They showed the closed kitchen on french TV, and Chef point's hat was standing sadly there on the top of a shiny and unlite stove. In fact the Avenue where the restaurant is located is named after him, in the town of Vienne outside Lyon. This man trained many other famous chefs like Paul Bocuse, George Perrier in Philadelphia. the Troisgros brothers-for it is very important in a resume' to have trained with a well known cook.
One of my granddaughter (Corey) is also a Chef, who has worked her way to Australia and even Vietnam..and recently she was a finalist in the hellish show aptly named "Hell's kitchen" run by a tyrant by the name of Gordon Ramsey; although an English man I understand he has more then one 3 stars restaurant. So I guess it belies the french sage Voltaire who once said "The English have only 3 sauces but 40 religions." Corey would not even think of working anywhere without her uniform, anymore then a nurse or a doctor would. After all it is part of the tradition otherwise you might as well run the kitchen in Mc Donald!
One of my brother is a Master pastry Chef in France as well, he said that in the beginning all young apprentices are allowed to eat all the pastries they want, until soon after they get so sick of it, they never touch it again.! very often as was the case in my brother's Patisserie, the young apprentice will eventually buy the business, but such was the renown of the place that the boss's name is still above the front door!
As Toyve wisely sang in "Fiddler on the roof" Traditions -traditions! what would we do without them? Soon Thanksgiving will be here and I pray everyone will eat some turkeys..with cranberries and all the trimmings. Come to think of it, this started during the Pilgrims time and it is still with us today -so some traditions never die, and I say thank God for that!
Learn more about this author, Pierrette Komarek.
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No
I guess it would depend on what one calls "Industry Approved". It would be more accurate if "Customarily Accepted" were used. Kitchen hierarchies, at least in upper/higher level establishments, do dictate who wears what while performing kitchen duties. A Plongeur would not wear the same "uniform" as a Saucier who would not wear the same "uniform" as the Chef de cuisine etc. The differences in what is worn is more of a historical factor than anything to do with hygiene, kitchen staff sanitation et. al. I have worked in many establishments that do not require anything more than a clean apron and kitchen jacket. As a Chef/Kitchen manager I did on occasion require certain distinguishing attire only when food preparation was completed in what is called a Show Kitchen as it seemed to enhance the dining experience for our customer base.
Every kitchen employee knows who does what and could/would care less what they wore/didn't wear. The only time(s) that there was a requirement to distinguish levels of proficiency by attire when we anticipated having visitors to the establishment and to be honest it was for show and nothing else.
As far as television chefs go, there are many out there that are not truly chefs in the true sense of the word. Some have risen to stardom strictly due to their presence in front of a camera and have little or no professional training. If a show has a particular format/style then let that aspect dictate what is or is not worn by the presenter/entertaine r.
Learn more about this author, Robert Gatz.
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