Kitchen Culture

  • Management Team Philosophy

    We look at Common House as our home--a home where members and guests are always graciously accommodated, and where the warmth of the welcome comes from our heart. It is an exciting prospect to use our expression of hospitality to develop a product progressing beyond food and drink. Through classic methods of service and preparation techniques, we deliver an environment to our members that enriches their lives, as well as contributes outwardly to the integrity of our neighborhood and community. We aim to create a working environment where respect is paramount--respect of our guests, each other, and our workplace.

    Our parallel goal to the aforementioned welcome is to establish a successful business. We look for your contribution in the sustenance and profitability of this venture. Only a profitable enterprise will continue to be here to provide this extraordinary working climate. Each person is an integral part of the success of the club. Everyone associated with the club is counting on you to do your part. Take the initiative, find your role, and execute it with precision. Communicate problems that inhibit you from performing which you cannot correct yourself. Focus on your job, but never lose sight of the part it plays in our overall mission.

  • Common House Hospitality

    Flexibility is our super power. It is our job and pleasure to ensure that we exceed our members expectations of quality, service, warmth and hospitality. We strive to create a caring and nurturing atmosphere for our members as well as our staff. If we can, we do!

    Common House Kitchen staff will effectively display these core traits:

    • Unity

    • Self-Control

    • Communication

    • Organization

    • Humility

    • Leadership

  • Positive Work Environment

    All Common House kitchens seek to provide a work environment that is built of trust, respect and integrity. All staff from Chef to dishwasher will be held to a standard of personal and professional accountability. Every Common House kitchen employee will be expected to explain and justify their decisions or actions.

    We will hold ourselves and each other to a higher standard. A common phrase and mantra should be: “be better than you are”. Simply because your bedroom is messy or you didn’t do well in math class doesn’t mean that you are incapable of working clean and organized or properly costing out a new recipe. Together, we can all be better than we are individually. Dishonesty, disrespect, insubordination and poor attitude will not be tolerated.

    To achieve a positive work environment, we must look for ways to be proud and areas in which we can take pride. Specifically, we should take pride in:

    • Our work place (Common House)

    • Our work space (your specific station or area)

    • Our work environment (the general feeling of our work experience)

    • Our appearance:

      • Well groomed

      • Clean shaven or trimmed beard

      • Clean and trimmed fingernails

      • Clean and trimmed hair

      • Clean clothes

      • Close toed shoes

      • Long pants that don’t drag on the ground

      • Hat (required for hair longer than ½”)

      • Your performance (your ability to execute on high level with consistency)

    • Your contribution to the success of Common House

      • Every time you do your job well, Common House is one step closer to achieving long term success

All Kitchen/BOH Managers will provide staff with the tools they need to succeed.

Clear Expectations | Guidance | Discipline | Physical Help | Coaching | Counseling | Example Setting

Kitchen Employee Management

    • Effective and respectful communication is paramount to the success of a Common House kitchen.

    • All chefs and sous chefs are to be addressed as ‘Chef’. A single first name will be used to distinguish amongst them

      • (i.e. Chef Matt, Chef Neil, Chef Daniel, etc.)

      • (i.e. “Yes Chef”, “No Chef”, “5 Minutes, Chef”)

    • Upon shift arrival, every member of the kitchen staff is to greet each coworker with eye contact and affirmative greeting (i.e. good morning, happy friday, etc.)

    • Every member of the kitchen staff is to promptly introduce themselves to any coworker they have not yet met during a shift.

    • Effective communication is defined as respectful, clear, concise + complete

    • Be solution oriented! Presenting a problem without offering a suggested solution is unacceptable.

    • Even if the solution isn’t the right one, it is still a better starting place than “here, you fix this problem.”

    • Placing blame on others is not solution-oriented communication. Correcting the problem and amending the behavior from being repeated are the best approaches.

    • Do not check your phone in public kitchen spaces.

    • Follow the rules and do the right thing. Always maintain your personal and professional integrity.

  • Kitchen Shift Schedule Template Here

  • During the employment of a cook at Common House, one should strive to learn these theories and techniques as quickly as possible:

    Tasting

    • Sweet, Salt, Fat, Acid, Bright, Heavy, Spicy, Smooth, Crunchy, Soft, Warm, Cold

    Heating

    • Braise

    • Sear

    • Slow roast

    • Saute

    • Smoke

    • Grill

    • Sous vide

    • Baste

    Sauces

    • Monte au Beurre

    • Reduction

    • Slurry

    • Mother Sauces

      • Hollandaise

      • Espanol

      • Tomato

      • Bechamel

      • Veloute

    Stocks

    • All stocks (except fish) are solely made with dark roasted bones and water

    • Fish stock is made with leeks, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, raw fish bones

    • Bone roasting

      • All bones for stock are roasted until dark golden brown

      • Rendered fat should be discarded, and fond scraped off the pan into a stock pot

    • Never add salt to a stock

    Clarifying

    • Raft is made with:

      • Onion

      • Shallot

      • Thyme

      • Carrot

      • Egg whites

    Plating

    • Saucing

    • Arranging

    • Garnishing

    • Wiping

    Knife Skills

    • Dice

      • Brunoise

      • Macédoine

      • Permentier

      • Carré (smallest to largest)

    • Slice

      • Batonette

      • Julienne

      • Chiffonade

    • Shape

      • Tourne

      • Quenelle

      • Rocher

    • Butchering

      • Chicken

      • Fish

      • Whole muscle cleaning/trimming

      • Portioning

  • Prep lists are to be completed after each shift while all information is still fresh. This ensures that each cook can immediately begin work on the next shift without wasting any time investigating mise en place.

    Prep List documents will be created by CDC and distributed to all chefs/cooks.

    Prep List Excel Example linked here

  • As much as a hospitality professional is a politician (balancing interests, developing relationships, advancing agendas), they are also an athlete (strategizing where the next play is, getting there, and executing a physical skill). Incorporating athletic principles of conditioning into your preparation for kitchen service will give you an advantage.

    Warming up:

    The work we do is incredibly physically demanding. It’s recommended that you spend a few minutes stretching your muscles and warming up your body before leaving home for your shift.

    Stamina:

    Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. Look for ways to increase this by finding your limits, then pushing beyond them.

    Volume/Capacity:

    Push yourself to take on more projects. When your station is not under fire, offer to help those that are. When your prep list is light, offer to help another cook with a heavier workload. We can always do more.

    Pace/Urgency:

    Without cutting corners, compete with yourself to complete certain tasks quicker than ever.

    Emotional conditioning:

    DBC: deep breathing club

    When you get anxious, convert the anxiety into tasks.

    When you feel angry, find your cool. You will dramatically improve your chances of success. Anyone can get angry, only the best stay cool.

    If you are overwhelmed, take control by delegating tasks.

    If you are offended by the way someone speaks to you during an intense period of service, try to help that person learn to be a better communicator with good intentions after service.

    Attend wellness: your good health will make you more successful. You owe it to yourself to be your best.