Chef interview questions
A small kitchen asks one person to cook, order, keep the records and teach the kitchen hand. These questions find out which of those four they have actually done.
| Question | What to listen for |
|---|---|
| Describe the last kitchen you ran a section in. | Covers, kitchen size, the section they held and who was beside them. Specific beats impressive. |
| How do you write a prep list, and what do you write it from? | Last night’s dockets, the bookings, what is in the cool room, and what is about to turn. A prep list written from habit is a prep list that wastes stock. |
| A delivery arrives short on two lines an hour before service. What do you do? | Call the supplier, check what can be substituted, tell the floor before service rather than during it. Changing the board quietly and hoping is the wrong answer. |
| How do you call a pass when three tables land at once? | Sequencing and a voice. Reading the tickets, firing in order, calling it so the floor hears. Listen for somebody who has actually held a pass. |
| What temperature records does a kitchen you have worked in keep, and who keeps them? | Cool room and freezer temperatures, cooking and cooling, cleaning. Somebody who says the chef does it is fine; somebody who has never seen one is not. |
| Tell us about a dish that kept coming back and how you fixed it. | A real dish, a diagnosis and a change. The answer is about noticing rather than about the dish. |
| How do you order against par levels when trade is unpredictable? | Par levels adjusted from recent weeks, a short order midweek, and a cut-off for the weekend. Over-ordering to be safe is an expensive habit. |
| How do you bring a new kitchen hand up to speed on a section? | One task at a time, shown then watched then left. Anybody who says they just pick it up has not trained anyone. |
| What does your close down look like, in order? | An order rather than a list: hot line down, cool room checked, temperatures in, floors last, prep list for tomorrow written before the apron comes off. |
| A supplier price moves and the dish no longer works at its menu price. What do you do? | Talk to the owner, price the dish again, change the spec or change the price. Not quietly shrinking the portion. |
| This role is five days across Tuesday to Sunday, often a split. Which days suit you? | Which days, and whether the split suits them. A split shift suits some people and not others, and it is better said now. |
| How much notice would you want before a roster change? | A number. The answer tells you what they are used to and what they will find unreasonable here. |
| What would you change about the first menu you ever wrote? | Self-awareness. A menu nobody would change is a menu nobody has cooked for long. |
| What would you like to ask us? | Questions about the kitchen, the suppliers or the roster. Expect them from a chef. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Wharf Road Kitchen.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Read the chef job description first, and cut any question the job does not actually need answered.
- Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order, so the answers can be compared rather than remembered.
- Print the blank sheet and write what each person said beside the question, during the interview rather than after it.
- Score at the end against the job description, not against who you liked talking to.
Common mistakes
- Questions about age, health, pregnancy, family responsibilities, religion, race or union membership, which are not about the job and carry real risk
- A different set of questions for each candidate, which makes the decision impossible to explain later
- Asking about availability and then rostering outside it in the first fortnight
Sources
The official pages this wording was read against, on 21 October 2026.
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Hiring employees
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Protection from discrimination at work
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Job ads
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Find my award
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
The roster questions at the end are the ones a kitchen lives with. Roster Flow publishes the week to everybody at once and keeps a record of every change, which is what makes a notice answer worth giving.
Questions
What is on the chef interview questions?
14 sections down the side, running from describe the last kitchen you ran a section in. to what would you like to ask us?. The example beside them is filled in for Wharf Road Kitchen: fourteen questions about the prep list, the pass, ordering and food safety records.
Does the chef interview questions work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 14 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the chef interview questions in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open chef-interview-questions.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with chef-interview-questions.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the chef interview questions ready to use as it is?
The chef interview questions is a starting point for Wharf Road Kitchen or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 21 October 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.