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Restaurant management games get chaotic quickly, especially when a table of four orders the most complicated recipe on the menu. Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator does a great job of turning up the heat when it comes to pressure.
The more money, the more renovations. The more eco-friendly, the better the food. You will want to understand how to juggle every side of Chef Life to become the restaurant in the city. These tips will help you get used to the fast-paced environment and how some of the mechanics in the game work.
Invest In A Second Fridge
Refrigerators are your best friend when it comes to prepping food. You already have one near your Recipe Book. Almost anything can be stored in here, from raw ingredients to pre-made sauce. Visually, it looks like there are around three shelves within the fridge. Unfortunately, you can only use the first shelf. This is why it is important to buy another fridge as soon as you can.
You can only store twelve items per fridge. If you have a sous-chef focusing on anything other than helping you prep food, having multiple storage units will aid you during service hours. One fridge can contain raw ingredients, while the other can hold larger meal preps like sauces and meats.
Take note that there is a trash bin next to the back storage room door, where you can discard ingredients you accidentally picked up. Be wary that trashing food will make your Responsibility go down.
Cook Smarter, Not Harder
The warmer is just as important as the fridge. Green beans or sauces can stay on the warmer during the prepping phase of the day. They have to stay in pots, though. If you put smaller portions on the front part of the warmer before service starts, it will disappear once you open up.
Around day seven or eight you will gain the ability to use Karim as kitchen help. He will be able to prep smaller ingredients for you during your shift. Utilize this as much as you can, but remember that he will get agitated doing the same job for too long. Using Karim to prep food means you have more time to clean dishes and prep ingredients.
Cook Multiple Meals At Once
Be sure to step away from whatever you are cooking to start other things. In the tutorial, you were unable to leave the cooking menu until the food was done. Because of this, you may not realize that you actually can leave the stove and go start something else. It is important to balance leaving food to start other meals but returning in time to season and flip the food.
Nothing is more important than the meal being cooked thoroughly. When you leave food unattended you will see the cooking progression hovering over the stove or fryer. Learn which progression stages need intervention for specific recipes. For instance, Steak With Shallots needs to be flipped halfway through, and the shallots need to be added in the second phase. Seasoning can be added during any part of the cooking phase for every recipe.
Check individual recipes to see what part of the recipe you are able to store in the fridge.
Stay Eco-Friendly And Keep Clean
The best way to ensure happy customers and increase tips are by purchasing the best ingredients and keeping the restaurant clean. The cleanliness of your kitchen affects customer satisfaction. If you have not had your employee cleaning for a while, brown markings will appear on the kitchen floor. When the kitchen is perfectly clean, there will be green sparkles.
If you buy food for the week instead of for the day, the food may also get stale. It is better to buy for the day. This way you can also learn any new recipe you unlock instead of having to wait for a new batch of ingredients.
The last two produce stores on your list are eco-friendly but therefore cost more.
By checking your computer in the office, you can see how much your cleanliness and Responsibility are affecting your business. The clean factor affects your staff and Responsibility affects your customers. Happy staff = better work, happy customers = more tips.
How To Manage Time Before Opening
The first thing you want to do the next day is to unlock any new recipes you desire. Then you want to purchase your food for the day or week. The new recipe you unlock may need ingredients you can only get after unlocking it, which is why you want to do that first. Your next step should be prepping for the day. Prepped vegetables, meat, or sauces in the fridge and place any pots on the warmer.
Remember that any food kept on counters, your inventory, or on the lower section of the warmer will disappear once you start service.
After preparing, you should start practicing any new recipes you have. You can't put any recipes on the menu that you haven't made at least once before. That is why you have to make it during the day. It is suggested that you practice a new recipe multiple times before putting it on the menu because once customers start coming in, it is too easy to lose control and mess up ingredients you aren't familiar with.
Decorating And After Service Hours
Designing your kitchen and dining room does not negatively or positively affect the customers, but it is a nice touch. The only design that can affect customers is purchasing new plates to aid in different plating styles for food.
You can decorate by heading to the Catalogue book in your office. Here is where you can purchase kitchen tools such as a Mixing Table or a second fridge. Decorating can be done during off-hours, in the prepping phase of your day.
The only time to change the menu is before your kitchen is already full of ingredients.