Patent ID: 6976004

Claim:
A system in a restaurant kitchen for controlling preparation of a plurality of food items on a cooking apparatus having a cooking area, said system comprising: communication means for receiving an order for a plurality of food items; a computer display screen positioned for viewing by a cook; a database that stores cooking times for each of the plurality of food items; and a controller in communication with the communication means, the display screen, and the database, comprising: means for generating on the computer display screen, a graphical representation of the cooking area of the cooking apparatus, said graphical representation including a plurality of logical locations, wherein each logical location corresponds to an actual location on the cooking area of the cooking apparatus; means for displaying a plurality of icons on the computer display screen, each of said icons corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of food items, and each of said icons being displayed on the display screen in a logical location corresponding to an actual location on the cooking area, said icons indicating to the cook when and where each food item is to be placed on the cooking area; means for retrieving the cooking times from the database; means for calculating a start time for each of the plurality of food items such that placing each particular food item on the cooking area at the calculated start time for the particular item results in the preparation of the plurality of food items being completed simultaneously, said calculating means including: means for causing the displaying means to display the icon for each food item at the calculated start time; means for calculating a time delay before displaying a subsequent icon after displaying a first icon corresponding to a food item having the longest cooking time, the time delay equaling a difference between the cooking time of the food item having the longest cooking time, and the cooking time of a food item corresponding to the subsequent icon; means for analyzing the cooking times of the plurality of food items in an incoming order to determine whether there will be space available on the cooking area when it becomes time to place each of the plurality of food items on the cooking area; means for rescheduling the time for starting the food item having the longest cooking time when the analyzing means determines that there will not be space available on the cooking area when it becomes time to place each of the plurality of food items on the cooking area; and means for indicating to the cook when the preparation of each particular food item is complete.