Mike wrote:
> This is slightly off topic - I'm thinking about the food served in
> restaurants. Take Chilli's or T.G.I.Friday for example (a chain, but
> not "fast food"). How is the food prepared there? Let's say I order
> a grilled chicken sandwich. I assume the cook pulls a portioned
> chicken breast out of the freezer. Maybe its already cooked, or even
> partially cooked so it just gets heated? Was the bun fresh (never
> frozen)? I have to assume the lettuce and tomato that came on it were
> fresh, right? I would guess if you order a plain salad that
> everything in it is fresh (croutons, bacon bits notwithstanding). How
> many deliveries would a chain restaurant get in a week in order to
> continually have all the fresh ingredients they need?
>
> Now think about the local Chinese restaurant. Surely some of their
> seafood and meat offerings have to come to them frozen. After all, if
> I order sesame chicken (essentially chicken nuggets fried then covered
> in a nice sesame sauce), it had to be frozen until I ordered it,
> right?
>
> Procedurally, does a chain or local restaurant thaw out all the frozen
> items it thinks it will need in a given day, or just thaw them as
> needed?
>
> Thanks for any info....
>
> Mike
>
Most food in a (real) Chinese restaurant is cooked on demand. They
typically get frequent deliveries from food service vendors. The
industrial places such as Chilis are a lot more likely to be serving
frozen portion controlled stuff and sauces soups etc that came from a
big bucket or plastic pouch.