One of my characters work in a kitchen - an ordinary restaurant with cheap prices and simple food. Off course I know what a kitchen looks like, but I want some kitchen "secrets" to make the novel more authentic and interesting. Please write and tell me things that only working chefs would know. Thanks!
I will list some things which you could use. Most kitchen tables will open capsules on bottles where the leg meets the plate. Most freezers will contain liquor hidden behind food. The chefs knives are precious and no one uses them without asking. Even at the price winner restaurant the small talk in kitchen is very rough and the favourite subject is sex - you have to have a great sense of irony and not taking everything so seriously to enjoy being in a kitchen. If you´re a lousy chef it wont matter how good you are at talking - you will never be accepted anyway. Some more stuff you could use in your writing. Old school chefs burn away oil if they get it on their body (over the gas cooker). Drugs are very common in high class kitchens to be able to concentrate and work long hours. Cigarette addicts are the only ones which gets more breaks than others - that´s why lots of people start smoking in the restaurant business. Hope you get some help with this - I will post more if you want to.