Showing competence

Anyone who works in a professional kitchen and prepares food must not do so in private clothing. In Germany, kitchens are classified in risk group 3 with a high hygiene risk because they work with perishable food. For the correct cooking clothing, the DIN standard 10524 contains corresponding clothing regulations for cooks. This DIN standard is not a binding law, but it helps to establish high, HACCP-compliant hygiene standards in the catering industry.

Professional chef's clothing is used to protect food from germs. Therefore, chef's jackets and chef's trousers are mostly made of a strong fabric such as cotton that does not allow contact with the skin. The DIN standard recommends white or pastel-coloured work clothes for the kitchen area. On such light-coloured chef's clothing, stains stand out clearly and the cleanliness standard of the clothing can be checked directly. Good chef's clothing should also be easy to wash. Work clothes worn in a kitchen get dirty quickly and should be changed daily for hygienic reasons.

The right chef's or work clothes not only ensure hygiene, but also safety in the kitchen. For example, pockets on professional chef's jackets are never on the outside, but always on the inside, so that the contents cannot accidentally fall out. For the same reason, trouser pockets should ideally be covered by the chef's jacket or an apron. Combining a chef's jacket with a chef's apron also helps to preserve outerwear and maintain hygiene standards: A dirty apron is quickly changed, a chef's jacket is not. But not only chef's jackets and chef's trousers count as complete chef's clothing; chef's hats, caps or triangular scarves must also often be worn as chef's coverings. They prevent hair from getting into the food while preparing it. Many establishments require the wearing of bandanas or neckerchiefs; they absorb sweat when working at the cooker and between hot ovens or protect against cold draughts in cold storage.

By the way: A restaurateur must prove that the cooking clothes are regularly changed, cleaned and reprocessed. Corresponding documents must be presented in the event of an inspection.

Wherever food is processed and served, hygiene rules are a must and street clothes are taboo. Not least because of the Corona pandemic, guests' hygiene awareness has increased. Even if there are no fixed regulations for service clothing, professional, uniform, "presentable" workwear in service is important for the appearance of the catering business and also very useful. After all, guests should be able to quickly recognise the service staff by their - hygienically maintained - work clothes and distinguish them from other guests.

But what is the best thing to wear when working in service? Match the service clothing to the type of gastronomy you offer. Do you mainly serve small meals and drinks or multi-course menus from the upscale cuisine? In these two cases, the basic outfit of your service team is probably different in each case. Whereas in the first case you could opt for sporty casual work trousers and polo shirts or T-shirts with a logo print, in the second case dark fabric trousers combined with a white work blouse or a white work shirt, finished with logo embroidery, would be a conceivable outfit.

A tip: Make sure that breathable, crease-free materials are used for the work clothes in the service. This also contributes to a well-groomed, hygienic overall impression of your service team!

The waiter or waitress is the figurehead of every gastronomic establishment. It is not only a friendly manner towards the guest that supports the hopefully positive first impression, but also the professional service dress is elementary. It clearly distinguishes the waiter from the guest. Depending on the restaurant, inn, café or bar, a waiter wears different hospitality outfits to match the style of the establishment. A waiter in an upscale restaurant usually wears a black and white wardrobe to appear elegant. A waiter in a country inn often wears service dress borrowed from traditional costume. The waiter's apron is a common item of waiters' clothing. It comes in short or long versions and is characterised by a large pocket within easy reach that can hold waiters' wallets and/or mobile devices for taking orders.

As colourful and diverse as the professions in gastronomy are, they have one thing in common: people - or rather guests - are at the centre of the work. Workwear in the catering industry reflects this: it is professional, fashionable, hygienically maintained, offers optimal wearing comfort (e.g. through the use of breathable fabrics) and withstands the stresses of work. Those who feel comfortable in their work clothes also radiate this to their guests. Because workwear in the catering industry is worn every day for several hours, breathable fabrics, comfortable cuts and natural materials are recommended. In addition, tear-resistant, crease-free or crease-resistant materials support the well-groomed impression of the clothing.

In a canteen where food is professionally prepared and served, special professional clothing must be worn. This is not only for comfort at work, but also for the protection of the employees and complies with legal regulations. The right work clothes ensure compliance with the prescribed hygiene standards in a canteen. Canteen chefs and cooks must wear chef's jackets with inside pockets so that the contents cannot accidentally fall out. The pockets of the chef's trousers should be covered by either a long chef's jacket or an apron. Complete canteen chef attire includes pre-ties and aprons, as well as headgear (e.g. a chef's hat, cap or triangular scarf). A useful accessory for canteen staff working between hot ovens or hot plates are sweat-absorbing bandanas and neckerchiefs. For staff serving canteen food, less stringent clothing regulations apply. Work clothes should nevertheless be hygienically maintained, uniform and suitable for contact with guests.

Gastronomy clothing is important, in the kitchen it is mostly prescribed within the framework of the HACCP concept and professional work clothing is also an indispensable component in service in order to serve the guest in a hygienically well-groomed outfit. A blanket answer to the question of who bears the costs for work clothes in the catering industry cannot be given - the legal basis varies.

Whenever there is a provision regulating the wearing of professional, work or official clothing at a workplace, the employer must bear the costs of procuring such clothing. A provision to this effect may be found in a collective agreement concluded for the industry or in an individual employment contract, a company agreement or a special agreement. Less common in the catering industry are legal regulations (e.g. derived from §3 of the ArbSchG) that prescribe the wearing of special protective clothing.

For example, anyone who works as a cook with unpackaged, perishable food is obliged to wear HACCP-compliant, hygienic work clothes (see also "What clothes do you have to wear in the kitchen?").

The situation is different for the service staff. For them, street clothes should actually be taboo and professional uniforms compulsory - but there is no corresponding legal regulation. If a service employee would like to wear professional clothing at work to protect his or her private clothing, without a written agreement to this effect, he or she must bear the costs for this proportionally or completely. However: The ratio of the procurement costs must be in reasonable proportion to the salary paid to the employee. It is said that the employee must not be "unfairly disadvantaged". In other words, the monthly cost of clothing must not be disproportionately high compared to the monthly income of the service worker.