Front of the House, Back of the House

I received a very positive reaction a few weeks back about my blog posts. “What you do is so fun and exciting; it looks like you are having a ball!” I loved the comment! I do love people, cooking and kitchens and my work melds all of my favorite things together. However, there is so much “behind the scenes” work that is required before the real fun starts!

Many of you know the food world; maybe you were a prep cook for a summer camp, a server in college or possibly you made your way into a professional kitchen or two. The FOH “front of the house” refers not only to the visible part of a food establishment (the bar, restaurant, etc.) but also it refers to the staff that works in customer facing jobs. The BOH “back of the house” is the kitchen, dish area and all those behind the scenes areas, as well as the chef, cooks and dishwashers. There is an inevitable rivalry between the two, especially because the FOH often makes more money with tips than the BOH who are working in harder and some cases, more dangerous conditions. I always tried to work both FOH and BOH where I could. I loved the hospitality of the front and the “crew” mentality of the back. There is a feeling of camaraderie you can not replace when you work side by side on a “hot line” night after night cooking like mad, only to have to “break down” and scrub your station in the wee hours and then come right back the next day to do it again.

Aida Mollenkamp

I have long ago left the restaurant industry, but still work FOH/BOH in my current position as a culinary event manager at Standards of Excellence and beyond. Here are a few fun “behind the scenes” moments from recent events. 

The Cooking Channel’s fabulous Aida Mollenkamp was such a kick; here she is clowning around with my youth volunteers at a cooking event supporting homeless programs at Fresh Starts Cooking School. 

This picture is of Dave the Butcher, from a recent event with custom scaffolding that one of the homeless residents built for the event. Dave was shocked; it was the best he had ever seen! Talk about a “behind the scenes” moment!

Dave the Butcher

And here is the culinary and job training class plating food, 5 plated courses for 60 guests for that same evening! What a lot of work…

Plating food

In the food world, so much goes into a simple event, from the farm to the guest and beyond. To this day, I thrill at how it all finally comes together creating a moment in time for the people we serve. It is the same way with the clients we serve at Standards of Excellence, every day. Our team works both FOH and BOH creating magic in your home with spectacular kitchens, laundry areas and more. We take care of all the “behind the scenes” and let you and your guests enjoy the “front of the house” experience! 

Meet & Eat

Join us tonight at Standards of Excellence in San Jose at 6:30 as we all work double duty to create some kitchen magic of our own!