Inventory

This week in the kitchen allowed myself an opportunity to be present during inventory. The truck with inventory arrived while Chef and I were prepping the kitchen for the night. I was able to observe how to correctly check inventory of restocking the restaurant. We used a clipboard of items that were ordered and matched them to the items that were brought in at the loading dock. The delivery man arrived at the back door which is located by the walk-in refrigerator and freezer. We stacked everything on the shelving and waited until the truck was completely emptied before we began inventory. Everything arrived as expected, in which Chef mentioned that that is not always the case. He stated that problems that may arise consist of an item that was not purchased arriving, missing items, or damaged items. With each of these complications, steps are taken in compromise to provide what is offered to our guests. These steps can consist of going to a local food market to replace an undelivered or damaged item until another delivery is made available.

In my observation of this inventory process, it made me realize how spontaneous procedures in a restaurant can occur but at the same time it remains manageable. At the time of the arrival of the delivery truck Chef and I were weighing portioned beef cuts. But we were able to put our current duties aside to unload and check inventory.