How to Hire Cooks and Kitchen Staff for Restaurants and Canteens

A restaurant kitchen has a hierarchy, even when it is small. Hiring the wrong level creates friction: a senior chef will not stay in a helper's job, and a commis cannot run a station alone at rush hour. Map who you need before you post.

A canteen is different from a restaurant. Canteen cooks prepare large batches of a fixed menu, often vegetarian thalis, to a tight serving window. Consistency, speed and cost control matter more than plating. A cloud kitchen needs cooks who can follow standard recipes precisely across many orders.

• Head cook or chef: plans menus, manages stock and food cost, leads the team.
• Cuisine specialist: for example, North Indian tandoor, South Indian, Chinese or continental.
• Commis or line cook: runs a station under supervision.
• Kitchen helper: cutting, cleaning, dishwashing, basic prep.
• Canteen cook: bulk cooking for fixed meal times, often for 100+ people.

Cooks care about the cuisine, the volume, the hours, accommodation and food, and the pay. Many cooks move cities for work, so mention if you offer staying arrangements. Be honest about split shifts, which are common in restaurants with lunch and dinner service.

On BetterJobs, a short line such as "South Indian cook for office canteen in Chennai, 300 meals a day" becomes a full AI-written job description in minutes, which you can edit before publishing on BetterJobs and Google Jobs.

Mention your notice expectations too. Many experienced cooks must serve a notice period or wait for a festival break before moving, so a realistic joining date in the post saves you from offers that fall through. If you need someone urgently, say so and offer a trial within the week.

• Sample headline: Tandoor Cook – Family Restaurant – Lucknow – Lunch and Dinner Service
• Volume line: Around 150 covers a day on weekends; tandoor and breads station.
• Requirement line: Three or more years in tandoor; can make naan, kulcha, tikka and kebabs to standard.
• Benefits line: Staff meals, shared accommodation available, weekly off, PF and ESI as applicable.

Many excellent cooks are more comfortable in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil or another language than English. Speak in the language they prefer. Ask about the dishes they know best, the size of kitchens they have worked in and why they are leaving their current job.

Ask for a few photos or short videos of dishes they have made, which many cooks share happily on WhatsApp. These help you shortlist, but they never replace a trial.

• "Which dishes are you strongest in? What was the best-selling dish where you last worked?"
• "How many covers or meals did your kitchen serve on a busy day?"
• "Have you handled stock and ordering, or only cooking?"
• "What is your notice period, and do you need accommodation?"

The trial is the most important step. Ask the candidate to cook two or three dishes from your actual menu using your ingredients and equipment. For a canteen role, ask them to prepare a dal or sabzi in a larger quantity. Many kitchens pay for a trial day, which is fair and attracts serious candidates.

Taste is only part of what you judge. Watch how they organise their station, how they handle knives and heat, whether they taste as they cook and how they clean up afterwards.

1. 1Choose two or three dishes that represent the role.
2. 2Give the same ingredients and time limit to every candidate.
3. 3Watch prep, organisation, hygiene and timing, not just the final plate.
4. 4Taste with two people, ideally the owner and the head cook.
5. 5Ask how they would adjust the dish for cost, spice level or bulk serving.

Food safety failures can shut a business. During the trial, check whether the candidate washes hands, ties hair, wears a cap or apron, keeps raw and cooked food apart and uses separate boards for vegetarian and non-vegetarian items. These habits are hard to train later.

Your FSSAI licence or registration comes with hygiene expectations, and many food businesses train staff using FSSAI's food safety training resources. Some employers also ask for a medical fitness certificate for food handlers. Check the current FSSAI requirements for your type of business or consult a food safety professional.

Cook pay varies hugely by cuisine, experience, city and kitchen type. As a rough guide only, experienced restaurant cooks are often offered around ₹18,000–₹35,000 a month in metros, with senior chefs earning more and kitchen helpers often around ₹10,000–₹15,000. Canteen cooks for large volumes may earn at the higher end. Always respect your state's minimum wage.

Accommodation and meals are a major part of the offer for kitchen staff, especially those from other states. State clearly what is provided. Where applicable, EPF (12% of basic plus DA from each side, subject to wage ceiling rules) and ESI (for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month) apply. Check the latest notifications or consult a payroll professional.

Even great cooks need to learn your recipes. Write standard recipes with quantities and plating photos for your top dishes; this protects you if a cook leaves and makes training faster. Spend the first week cooking alongside the new hire during service.

Explain your rules on stock usage, wastage, cleaning schedules and kitchen safety, including gas cylinder handling and fire extinguishers. A clear routine helps a new cook settle in quickly.

Office, factory, hospital and hostel canteens have needs of their own. The cook must produce large quantities on time, keep taste consistent day after day and work within a tight per-plate cost. Ask candidates how many people they have cooked for at once and how they plan quantities for, say, 250 lunches.

In a trial, ask a canteen cook to prepare a full batch of one dish and observe how they manage large vessels, gas burners and timing. Check whether they can prepare a weekly menu that rotates dishes so diners do not get bored, and whether they understand regional preferences of the people they will feed.

Bulk kitchens also need strong helpers for cutting, washing and serving. Plan the ratio of cooks to helpers based on meals per day and serving windows, and keep one helper trained to step in on the cook's weekly off.

• Ask about the largest batch they have cooked.
• Test quantity planning and per-plate costing.
• Check menu rotation ideas for a week.
• Plan helper cover for weekly offs.

Kitchen staff often leave over long hours, poor accommodation and disrespect during rush hours. Give a proper weekly off, decent living arrangements, good staff meals and on-time salary. A festival bonus and a word of thanks after a hard weekend matter.

Build a pipeline so you are never stuck. Keep in touch with good trial candidates you did not hire. When you need more people, post jobs to hire kitchen helpers, hire waiters or hire cooks in Bengaluru and other cities.