Like, so many different tables, they can’t do each table at a time, so confusing
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Some places use heat lamps and will happily let your food wither while the rest of the items for your table are prepared.
Great places will see the executive chef calling out which stations need to begin on which items and at what times, so everything finishes at roughly the same time and goes out to you fresh.
So for example at white tablecloth kinda place I used to work at would serve a multi course menu, and the ticket comes to the kitchen by seat and by course. So for example if it’s just a table for two, it’ll come back something like :
S1: spinach salad, duck confit, ribeye MR, cheesecake
S2: caesar salad, seared scallops, grilled salmon, chocolate cake
So it’s 2 people having 4 courses, and the order above would require cooks from 3 different stations
You’d think that the first thing that gets started is the salads, and you’d be correct, but because it takes a relatively long time to warm the duck confit is going to be started at the same as the salads. The spinach salad comes with a couple of little fried cheese nuggets, so those will be started in the fryer first and left to drain and cook while the rest of the salad is prepared. Dressings and garnish for both salads prepared earlier in the day, including sliced tomato, croutons, spicy pecans.
The duck is of course confit’d days in advance, but it’s still stored submerged in the fat, and it’s relatively dense and needs some time to warm through evenly before getting a light sear to get the skin crispy just before being served. By contrast, the scallops might take 90 seconds to sear, so those don’t get called out to begin until just a few minutes before they need to go out, maybe a little longer if that station is busy. Again the garnish for both are largely done in advance. The duck is served with a blood orange sauce,
Made in advance. The scallops is served on some blanched bok choy greens, and rounds of of crispy pancetta. The pancetta is cooked in advance, and is sliced so thin that it requires no warming beyond the heat of the scallop and bok choy it is served with. This also got a sauce, I forget what, but it was also made in advance.
The ribeye steak are large, so that’s probably going on the grill as soon as salads are sent out of the kitchen. Salmon cooks quicker, and will probably be started a few minutes before the second course is plated. They’re both served with duchess potatoes which are made ahead of time, then warmed in the oven and toasted just slightly under a broiler prior to being served. Both are served with green veg which will be started together, and both dishes have unique sauces which again are made ahead of time and warmed and plated just before service.
For dessert, both the cheesecake and the chocolate cake are made ahead of time, and just need a couple minutes each for plating. Crème anglaise and fresh berries for garnish on the chocolate, and a few squirts of strawberry sauce and and a fanned strawberry for garnish on the cheesecake.
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