A reputation for serving good food is essential to any restaurant, whether it prides itself on hamburgers and french fries or exotic foreign cuisine. Chefs, cooks, and other kitchen workers are largely responsible for the reputation a restaurant acquires. Some restaurants offer a varied menu featuring meals that are time consuming and difficult to prepare, requiring a highly skilled cook or chef. Chefs and cooks are responsible for preparing meals that are pleasing to the palate and the eye.
Chefs are the most highly skilled, trained, and experienced of all kitchen workers.
Although the terms chef and cook are still used interchangeably, cooks are less skilled. Many chefs have earned fame for both themselves and the establishments where they work due to their skillful preparation of traditional dishes and refreshing twists in creating new ones. Institutional chefs and cooks work in the kitchens of schools, industrial cafeterias, hospitals, and other institutions. For each meal, they prepare a small selection, but large quantity of entrees, vegetables, and desserts. Restaurant chefs and cooks generally prepare a wider selection of dishes for each meal, cooking most orders individually.