Coming Soon: Back of House Training — Recipe Card Quizzes for Your Kitchen Team
I've been thinking about this one for a while and want to open it up to the community before we build it.
Here's the thing: we built ShiftTrained for front of house. Menu quizzes, allergen knowledge, wine pairings — the stuff your servers and bartenders need to actually do their jobs well. That's working. People are using it. Scores are up, guest experience is up, managers are getting their nights back.
But every single chef I talk to — and I mean every one — eventually says something like "this is great for my servers, but what about my cooks?"
The Idea
Upload your recipe cards. Upload your service cards. Upload that 40-page plating standards deck the corporate chef spent six months on. Same way you upload a menu PDF today.
The AI reads them. Generates questions on the stuff that actually matters on the line:
- Cooking temps — medium-rare is 130-135, not "pink in the middle" - Portion sizes — how many ounces of protein, how many of sauce, how many garnish - Plating standards — where the protein goes, where the starch goes, the angle of the garnish - Build order — in what sequence the components come together for consistency - Allergens — which station touches which allergens, what the cross-contamination protocol is - Shelf life — how long the demi-glace is good for, when to 86 something - Food safety — cooler temps, handwashing checkpoints, date-labeling
Your prep cooks and line cooks take it on their phone. Same 10-minute mobile quiz your FOH staff already uses. Same leaderboard. Same scoring. Same manager dashboard — except now it's the sous chef or KM looking at it instead of the FOH manager.
Why I Think This Matters
FOH training is about knowledge. BOH training is about execution. Different problem, same solution shape — test people on the thing, give them feedback, do it often enough that it sticks.
Right now most BOH training is "stand next to the guy who's been here longer and copy what he does." That works until the guy who's been here longer has bad habits, or quits, or isn't around when the new hire needs help. Chefs tell me they'd kill for a tool that reinforces execution standards without them having to be on the line every service.
What I'd Love to Hear From You
If you're a chef, KM, sous, or owner who runs kitchens:
- Would you actually use this? - What would you want it to cover that I haven't listed? - What input format makes sense for your recipes — PDF? PPTX? Google Doc? Handwritten scans? - Is "allergens on my line" a training thing or a food-safety-system thing in your kitchen? - Anything obvious I'm missing?
Drop your thoughts below. This isn't a done deal — it's an idea I want to pressure-test with the people who'd actually use it before we build it. Upvote if you want us to prioritize this, reply if you want to shape what it looks like.
Have a great day! — Terry
