What is the dress code for a chef?
A typical chef uniform is a chef's jacket, chef pants, a hat, a neckerchief, an apron, good slip-resistant shoes, and sometimes a hand towel. Even if you aren't required to wear all parts of the ensemble, your chef uniform still serves a purpose.
Food Service staff are to dress in clean shirts, skirts, pants,and use hats or other appropriate hair restraints to prevent contamination of food. It is the responsibility of staff persons to ensure that clothes and shoes are appropriate for the job, clean, free of rips or holes, and in good condition.
Traditionally, chefs have worn white to increase their visibility, command a sense of respect, and signify cleanliness. It can be hard to do those things, however, when you're covered in splatter stains. Today's chefs are bucking tradition and choosing more flattering coats in shades like charcoal and even black.
White has been the traditional chef's colour since the 19th century, when it was introduced to give the cooking profession a sense of importance and high regard. White was chosen largely for hygiene reasons, as it enabled cooks and kitchen employees to more easily notice when their clothing was soiled.
Loose clothing is likely to be more comfortable. It helps to allow more ventilation, which can be important in a hot kitchen. It also doesn't restrict movement, which can help to boost the productivity of your staff. Of course, this doesn't mean that clothing should be overly baggy.
All staff must wear clean and appropriate clothes when handling food. Ideally, staff handling and preparing unwrapped food should put on a clean apron or tabard over their clothes. Clothes can bring dirt and bacteria into food handling areas. Wearing clean clothes, aprons etc.
Normally these are called bib aprons which can be available in adjustable neck straps just because of commercial usage as uniform. Traditionally, the purpose of the apron was also to protect the wearer's garments from food stains and smells.
Should a chef dirty their uniform, white is the most noticeable colour. A quick change reduces any risk of health hazards, such as cross-contamination and allergens. White can also be bleached, so stains aren't permanent. Additionally, white is also reflective, repelling heat instead of absorbing it.
A chef's hat, also known as a toque-Blanche, is an essential component of a chef's attire. In order to prevent any unintentional hairs from slipping into the food being cooked, a brimless cap covers the whole hair.
Chefs almost universally prefer to wear clogs over traditional, laced-up shoes for one simple reason; without laces, there's no chance of your shoes becoming untied and tripping you up at crucial moments. You don't need to tie or untie clogs, so they won't endanger you or your co-workers with loose laces.
Why do chef coats have 2 rows of buttons?
The jacket's buttons are made of knotted cloth that hold up better through frequent washing and cleaning. There are two rows of buttons, so the chef can cook with the jacket buttoned on the second row, then, if meeting clients or customers, re-button to the first row to hide stains from cooking.
The Toque. If you are wondering what the toque is, it's the sometimes comically large white hat that you see chefs use at formal events.
Wearing the appropriate uniform is just one positive step you can take towards ensuring food safety. Chefs must wear the correct protective clothing in food areas at all times, as this will help to ensure that any contaminants carried on normal clothing, such as pet hairs or dirt, do not contaminate the food.
It is not a legal requirement to wear a hat or hairnet in a food business. It is however a legal requirement to make sure that the food that they sell is not contaminated by any foreign object – including hair.
While health codes vary by municipality and may not explicitly forbid shorts, the FDA food code, upon which health codes are based, in article 2-402.11 covering the effectiveness of hair restraints, reads, "(A) Except as provided in (B) of this section, FOOD EMPLOYEES shall wear hair restraints such as hats, hair ...
