Chef Uniforms
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Chef uniforms are comprised of a complete suite of clothing; such as a jacket, a shirt, a pair of pants and shoes as well as various accessories included among them are a bandanna, a scarf, a bow tie or a regular tie, a pair of hand gloves, an apron, a handkerchief and a hat or a cap.
Wearing all the accessories while working in a busy kitchen where the temperature can rise dramatically can become quite uncomfortable. Furthermore, the accessories can at times restrict an active chef’s freedom of movement. Consequently, most chefs do not wear their full array of accessories on a daily basis.
Traditionally, chefs have been known to wear white uniforms because they are symbols of peace, purity and cleanliness. Additionally, white is an easier color to remove stains from than any other color by simply bleaching them out. This bleaching process would ruin fabrics of other colors. In recent years, though, the fashion industry had introduced chef uniforms in an array of colors and restaurant owners have been very receptive to this new trend by dressing their chefs in colorful uniforms and accessories. For better image identity and recognition, restaurant names and logos have begun to appear on chefs’ hats, aprons, jackets and shirts.
Besides being decorative, most of the accessories listed above serve specific and definite purposes for the chef while working in the restaurant. The following is an explanation about various items of the chef uniform and the accessories:
- The Bandanna, the handkerchief and the scarf are intended to absorb perspiration with the hope that they cool the chef down and make him feel more comfortable.
- The apron is more comfortable than the bandanna therefore it was introduced in the last few years to replace the bandanna. The apron is made of a soft cotton fabric with two or three pockets to hold the handkerchief, the menu card, the diary and a pen.
- The jacket is the most important item of the chef’s uniform and it tends to get quite fancy and fashionable nowadays. Besides bearing the restaurant name and logo, some restaurants distinguish their chefs with ranks attributed to their seniority and these are applied to the shoulder strap of the jacket.
- The hat is the ultimate symbol of the professional chef and is a crucially important accessory. While other accessories are overlooked the hat is strictly enforced and must be worn at all times when working in the kitchen. Caps in recent years have been replacing the big white poufy hats that we are all so familiar with. Caps are more comfortable to wear, they absorb perspiration that the other hats never could and they keep hair from falling into the food much better as well.
- There is a relatively wide variety of pants styles for chefs but the most popular are the baggy pants that are most comfortable to wear and are much easier to fit. Regardless of the style, chef’s pants are usually dark in color to conceal dirt.
- The chef’s shoes are normally black with flat heels to prevent slippage in the kitchen when the floor is wet with water or grease. They should also be very comfortable to walk and stand in because chefs do not have the luxury of sitting down.
- Chefs also carry a separate napkin to wipe plates and utensils while dishing out their meals.
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