Run, 5 min read
Setting up KOT routing
Every ticket should land at exactly one station, in the order it will be cooked. A practical guide to stations, categories and the pass.
A kitchen order ticket (KOT) is an instruction to a cook. The fastest kitchens make sure each cook only sees the instructions meant for them. The tandoor never has to read past the drinks, and the bar never sees a plate of dal bhat.
Start from the line, not the menu
Walk the kitchen and write down every place where food is finished: hot line, tandoor, fryer, cold section, pastry, bar. Those are your stations. Five is plenty for most restaurants; two is normal for a café.
Map categories to stations
| Menu category | Station |
|---|---|
| Momo, chowmein, curries | Hot kitchen |
| Naan, tandoori, sekuwa | Tandoor |
| Salads, starters | Cold |
| Cakes, desserts | Pastry |
| Tea, coffee, lassi, cocktails, beer | Bar |
Route by category, then handle the exceptions item by item. If a dessert is plated on the hot line (a sizzling brownie), move that one item; do not create a new category for it.
Decide who owns the pass
Somebody has to see the whole table. That is the expo or head chef at the pass, and their screen should show every station’s items for a table together, so a table of four gets its mains at once instead of whenever each station finishes.
Fire, hold and cancel
- Agree which courses are fired immediately and which are held for a call from the floor.
- Make cancellations loud. A cancelled ticket that the station never sees becomes a plate in the bin and a line on the waste report.
- Bump tickets when they leave the station, not when they leave the pass. That is how you learn where the time goes.