[Stewey]

If you are interviewing a person for a job in a fine dining restaurant, would you prefer to see the applicant in cooking whites with checked pants? Or would you prefer a white shirt with a tie and jacket and dress slacks?

Our instructors showed us a video once where the "applicant" went to interviews in whites. But wouldn't a shirt and tie be more appreciated? Your thoughts?

[oldschool1982]

While I think that I have been to every first and formal interview wearing a suit I have worn Chefs attire to very few of the subsequent ones. Mostly because I may have been asked to come in after a shift some where else. If they are to require you to do a basket then it's usually my experience that you can borrow a Chefs coat and apron.

While it's paramount to always look your very best you're also not applying for a Middle or upper managment position. If you are being considered for a higher level chefs position then only a suit and tie would be appropraite

I think it's more important to have a clean look. Someone who takes pride in hygene and personal appearance enough to be clean shaven, hair combed or taken care of, pleasant smelling but not over done, clothes washed, pressed if needed and neatly worn. Wearing your pants that hang halfway down your arse or a shirt/sweatshirt that proclaims something of the new order is not appropriate even for normal wear but that as well as all of this is a personal and professional opinion.

Just look your best and dress for the job being interviewed for. It's a corney saying but "ya gotta look sharp to be sharp".

[Quinn01]

I know me personaly, I wear a dress shirt with dress pants and shoes to an interview but always bring my whites and kitchen shoes in my truck just incase.

Always ready to rock out..............

[kuan]

Try and wear a suit. Don't wear a shirt with tie and chefcoat over unless you have some serious medals.

[damack]

my last interview i did was in a chef jacket, because i showed up ready to work he put me on a trial shift for that night and then hired me after that. my chef was impressed that i showed up ready to work. the people i have talked to have alway wanted there cooks to come in to a interview in whites because they might be puting them right in the kitchen.

[yorvo]

If you came in to interview in a chef coat I'd probably snicker at you. The guys I've seen come in like that usually weren't very good. I'd wear black pants and shoes and a decent shirt. Come ready to work but not ready to model.

[foodpump]

Depends on the job... Exec. position supervising over 40 staff and a hoity-toity meeting with the GM and F&B, yeah sure suite and tie.

Line cook? What I want to see is:
1) Personal grooming. Clean shaven. Beard/moustache? Neat and trimmed. Fresh--not perfumed--body odour, clean hands and nails, clean clothes. Don'treally care about the clothes as long as they're clean and neat--no "party till ya puke" t-shirts, and no 8" underwear label peeking over the belt line...

[kuan]

I still say come in a suit if you can. If there are a hundred applicants, each with relatively the same resume, the suit will set you apart slightly. That's what I like to see.

[Just Jim]

I always wear my whites, the nicest set I have.
I don't see the point of wearing a suit unless I would wear one on the job.
I tell them I just left work for the interview, and have to go back to work on a banquet.
I'm a busy man.

[chef.ESG.73]

Back in the day, always best whites, always..I always wore them because I had more confidents in myself, more so than suit and tie.
Suit and tie would make me try to hard to be someone who I'm not..

I'm sure a good therapist could explain that one, lol

[AllanMcPherson]

I'd go for the suit, with whites and non-slips packed and ready to go. While I can see the idea of showing up ready to work, the other side is that it means that you've been wearing your whites on the street. That, to me, is a hygiene red flag. Same for shoes.

--Al

[chef.ESG.73]

Hygiene red flag, same for shoes

I would love to hear the explanation for this one, please give!

No realy please explain your thoughts and opinions on how wearing your whites could danger someone..
Have you ever had to leave your kitchen to go buy product?
I'm not giving you a hard time, I am realy curious why you think it is a hygiene red flag. Maybe you know something I don't.
I've said in many post, remain teachable.

A suit is a sure win, i just am more comfortable in whites, mentaly

[yorvo]

I just don't like seeing guys walking around outside the kitchen in their whites. You're done cooking go put a shirt on. That's just me. I grew up cooking in Vegas where you dressed at work. There was a mindset of work clothes and street clothes. You didn't take your uniform home. I don't mind seeing someone in their checks and a T-shirt. But chef coats in public crack me up. I've seen guys at bars, sitting there in their dirty coats.

[AllanMcPherson]

My feeling is that whites aren't street clothes. They should be changed into on site. Somebody who comes in the door uniformed up could have been out playing with the dog, rubbing up against various contaminated surfaces (sweat smeared bus seats, freshly painted park benches, bird droppings). Same for shoes. If you have treads of any quality you can track any number of foreign substances into the kitchen.

Paranoid? Maybe, but as I see it any action that can reduce even the smallest chance of contamination is worth taking. By the way, I'm not even talking about serious harm here. You pop into a store and stray hair lands on your jacket. That hair makes its way into the pilaf. There's a comp'd plate for you.

--Al

[foodpump]

Have to agree with the last poster, sounds like they--as well as myself--have found out "the hard way" about kitchen clothes vs street clothes.