Fine Dining Checklists Kit Pro: Tasting Menu, Brigade & Chef's Table Checklist Templates for Excel

Four blocks, in order. Personal hygiene and a safe start-up: clean uniform, no jewelry, cuts covered, hands washed with water at 100 °F or above, nobody sick handling food, the hood on before anything else, the gas check, and torch cartridges and N2O chargers away from heat. Modernist equipment: immersion circulators on only after the hood and gas, the dehydrator, ferments with their pH logged, the dry-aging cabinets and walk-ins checked to confirm they ran all night (41 °F or below and 0 °F or below, readings logged), the Pacojet and the siphons. Bases and mise en place: stocks and glaces, infused oils, hydrocolloids, sous vide in progress, a station for each course and the plating bible visible at every pass. Dining room: climate, lighting, music, tables, pairing glasses, the kitchen and dining room pre-shift meetings with allergens on today's reservations, and the floor plan. The "AM Opening" checklist has those 33 tasks already written.

Logs first: walk-in, freezer and dry-aging temperatures, the pH of overnight ferments, the time left on long sous vide cooks, and every prep labeled with its use-by date (7 days maximum at 41 °F). Then cleaning: siphons, nozzles and chargers, plating tweezers and squeeze bottles, the Pacojet, torches and smokers, and the circulators and dehydrator turned off unless a cook is running overnight. Then the administration: the register closed out and the day's sales logged, covers served, incidents, the chef's feedback on the dishes, the day's waste (it corrects plate cost and tomorrow's order), tomorrow's reservations and allergens, the brigade's time records validated (FLSA), and the alarm and lock-up. The "PM Closing" checklist has those 22 tasks already written.

The "Maître & Dining Room" checklist puts them in order. Before service, the maître d' prepares the narrative of each course, coordinates table timing and the course sequence with the kitchen and manages VIPs. During service, the tasting menu servers receive each course from the kitchen and serve it, explain it to the guest, verify allergens at each table before every course, clear plates in coordination with the kitchen, serve bread, water and extras between courses and relay guest feedback to the maître d', who handles allergens, complaints and requests and gives a personalized farewell at each table. The pre-shift meeting bonus lines it all up before the doors open.

By lead time, so nothing is left to the last hour. Long-lead prep (24–72 hours): brown veal stock, dashi, glaces, consommé, lacto-ferments with their pH, koji, long marinades and long sous vide cooks. Mid-lead (6–12 hours): sous vide egg at 145 °F, vegetables, infusions, gels, spherification baths and ice cream and sorbet bases. Same-day (2–4 hours): foams, hot sauces, airs, vinaigrettes, protein and fish cuts to the gram, tartares cut no more than 2 hours before the pass, and the microgreens and flowers washed. Then the plating bible checks each course (from the snack to the petit fours) against its reference photo, weight and position, with the tools ready at the station. The instructions show you how to adapt it to a 7- to 15-course menu.

Seven sheets of daily tasks: the executive chef (menu of the day, premium suppliers, food cost, plating supervision and the final pass), the sous chef (mise en place of every station, brigade management, temperatures, labeling, restocking), the chef de partie on the hot line (stocks, sauces, proteins, sous vide during service), the chef de partie in garde manger (salads, crudo, ceviches and tartares, cold courses), the creative pastry chef (pre-desserts, desserts, petit fours, ice creams, sweet ferments), the sommelier (the day's pairing, the alternative pairing, cellar stock) and the maître d' with the tasting menu servers. 60 tasks in total.

The "Chef's Table" checklist covers it in two steps. Prep: the final guest count and the allergens already confirmed in writing at booking reviewed with the kitchen, a special menu, the storytelling of each course, a visible station set up for interaction, special tableware and the pairing coordinated with the sommelier. Service: the chef's introduction, live plating with the technique explained, course timing adapted to the table, extra bites or off-menu surprises, photos with the guests' permission and a personalized farewell from the chef. The same file covers pop-ups, cooking demos, pairing dinners with a guest winery and private dinners.

Yes, a whole file. R&D sessions on a fixed weekly day, with ingredients set aside from service stock and a goal for each session; a new dish sheet (concept, inspiration, ingredients, technique, cost per portion, execution time, plating difficulty and the 9 major allergens); a test protocol with 3 iterations, each photographed and with team feedback, ending with a service timing test and the executive chef's approval; the final recipe sheet (weights to 0.01 g for hydrocolloids, temperatures and times, photos, actual food cost, target margin); operational feasibility for a 40-cover service; 4 seasonal menu changes; and a library of tested and discarded techniques.

Yes. Any fish served raw or undercooked (tartare, ceviche, crudo, cured or cold-smoked) needs parasite destruction under the FDA Food Code (3-402.11): frozen at −4 °F or below for 7 days, or at −31 °F until solid and held 15 hours, or at −31 °F until solid and then 24 hours at −4 °F. The kit has you require the supplier's letter or freeze it yourself, log the lot, keep the record 90 days (3-402.12) and print the consumer advisory on the menu (3-603.11). Citrus acid does not replace freezing: it only changes the texture.

Yes. Cook to the time and temperature of your validated recipe; if you chill and store the food in the bag (reduced oxygen packaging), you need a HACCP plan or a health department variance (FDA Food Code 3-502.11 / 3-502.12), and you chill it from 135 °F to 70 °F within 2 hours and to 41 °F within 4 more (3-501.14). The sous vide egg runs at 145 °F (or per your recipe), with the consumer advisory if served undercooked. The Quarterly & Annual sheet checks that your health permit covers sous vide, curing, dry aging and reduced oxygen packaging.

Yes, a whole file for the sommelier: the pairing designed course by course (wine or drink, glass, temperature and pour, about 2–2.5 fl oz (60–80 ml) per course), a non-alcoholic pairing for every course, signature cocktails served only under your license and to guests 21+ with ID, and the wine cellar: monthly inventory, minimum stock for each pairing label, FIFO, temperature and humidity, receipts and outflows, tasting sheets with notes for the dining room's storytelling, winery and distributor relationships, weekly team training and beverage cost per cover.

Yes. A photo session for every new dish before it goes on the menu (overhead, 45° and detail shots, consistent editing), a weekly editorial calendar for Instagram and TikTok with behind-the-scenes content, the narrative of each dish and the restaurant's story, reviews on Google, Tripadvisor, Yelp and OpenTable answered within 24–48 hours, press management, and material for the Michelin Guide (in the cities it covers), The World's 50 Best and North America's 50 Best, OAD and the James Beard Awards.

Yes. The Quarterly & Annual sheet lists what you contract and what an inspector asks for in writing: licensed pest control, hood and duct cleaning by a certified contractor (NFPA 96), your HACCP plan where a variance requires one, food handler cards and a certified food protection manager, your health permit, gas lines, refrigeration and dry-aging cabinets serviced by an EPA 608-certified tech, scale calibration, probes calibrated at 32 °F, used oil pickup, extinguishers and the hood suppression system, the fire alarm and emergency lighting, insurance, FLSA time records and Form I-9, the POS and sales tax, and permit renewals. Each one has a notes cell for the service report number and the next date.

Yes. A cash drawer workbook with an opening sheet, a closing sheet and a monthly log. You count by US bill and coin, and the sheet works out the total cash, deducts the starting bank and calculates the total collected and the over/short against your POS Z report (sales + tax, excluding tips), which turns amber when the drawer does not balance. The monthly log gives one row per day, so you see at a glance which days did not balance.

No, and the kit says so where it matters. For private dinners and events, the special dinners checklist has you confirm in writing what the price includes, and it notes that a mandatory service charge is business revenue, not a tip (IRS Rev. Rul. 2012-18), so you tell the guest in writing. Tips are kept out of sales in the cash count.

Both. A restaurant with a 12-course tasting menu can use every file; a creative bistro with a short menu can start with opening and closing, the brigade and the weekly and monthly tasks, and mark the rest N/A. The blank templates let you build anything else your concept needs.

Yes, you will find free restaurant checklist templates online, and a blank one is fine to get started. This kit is something else: 13 Excel files with 477 fine dining tasks already written and sorted by shift, station and role, a counter on every checklist that skips the tasks you mark N/A, °F temperatures under the FDA Food Code and a cash count in US dollars. Print it on US Letter, or save any sheet as a PDF from Excel.

Yes. Every checklist comes with the real tasks of a fine dining restaurant already written: 477 in total. You'll want to make it yours: adjust tasks to your restaurant, delete the ones that don't apply and add your own. The whole-restaurant and cash drawer files end with 5 free green rows that the counter already includes, and the blank templates have their own free rows.

Each checklist has columns for the area, who does it, ✓ (a drop-down with ✓, — for not done, or N/A), the time and notes, a counter ("Tasks done: X of Y") and a signature line at the bottom ("Signed off by"). The whole-restaurant and cash drawer files add a column for initials and come with who does it and a due-by time already filled in. The person in charge of the shift prints the checklist and hands it out, each person checks off their tasks, and at the end of the shift the checklist is checked and signed.

Checklist apps charge a monthly fee per location and need connected tablets or phones. This kit gives you the same kind of task lists in Excel for $19, a one-time payment. What it is not: there are no reminders, photos or notifications on your team's phones.

Yes. One purchase covers one business with all of its locations, which makes it a good fit for restaurant groups. If you are a consultant, you can use the checklists with your clients, but you can't hand them copies: each business buys its own.

Yes, with a few edits, all in cells you can change (the protected sheets have no password). The kit is set up for the US: temperatures in °F under the FDA Food Code (41 °F cold holding, 145 °F for the sous vide egg), the 9 major allergens, US contracted services and a cash count in US bills and coins. In the UK, the legal limits are 8 °C for cold holding and 63 °C for hot holding, and allergen information covers 14 allergens (the kit's allergen tasks already note the UK's 14). In Canada and Australia, check your provincial or state food safety rules and allergen list and type them into the tasks, and swap the denominations in the cash count for your own. For the wine pairing, the legal drinking age is 18 in the UK and Australia and 19 in most Canadian provinces (18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec). Every English edition also includes the US · UK · Canada · Australia Equivalents Guide, a bonus with the local terms, taxes, food safety, staff rules and alcohol side by side.

The price is $19 USD, a one-time payment. At checkout, Stripe can show the amount in your local currency (for example GBP, EUR, CAD or AUD) and converts it for you.

No subscription: you pay once and get lifetime access to the online dashboard. When we add new templates or improvements, you get them at no extra cost — just download the files again.

Yes. A full 30-day guarantee. If you're not happy, we'll refund 100% with no questions asked.