Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator – Frequently Asked Questions

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Chef Life: A restaurant simulator immerses you in the world of restaurant management and the challenges of obtaining a Michelin star. There are many obstacles along the way, and we will address many of them here in the hopes of improving your experience.

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Tutorial Issues

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Kassim always says my steak is not cooked properly when I make it right. / How do I know when I have seasoned enough?

This tutorial will teach you the mechanics of seasoning and chef sense. To use chef sense, press the seasoning/chef sense button once more. This will audit your current seasoning and tell you if you have enough or if you are missing some.

• Season/Chef Sense Button
  • PC: 1
  • PS: Triangle
  • XBox: Y
  • Switch: X
• Tips for Chef Sense
  • Perfect: Correct amount of all seasonings
  • Not Enough: Needs 1 more
  • Needs A lot: Needs 2 – 3 more always do 2 then check again.

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I am stuck in the plating editor after putting food on the plate. / Why can’t I complete my plating?

There are minimum requirements for certain food items when adding them to the plating editor. They are indicated on the corner of the ingredient by a red circle with an arrow. If all of the conditions are not met, the plating will be considered complete and no further progress will be permitted.

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General Questions

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What recipe is for this sous chef mission?

Please refer to my original sous chef guide: Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator Sous Chef Story Guide

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What counts as X recipe on the menu?

The tags on a recipe determine the type of food required. To have them on the menu, the majority of the recipes on the menu must be of that sort.

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Michelin Distinctions

What are the differences between the two paths?

The Bib Gourmand title is given to restaurants that serve more soothing cuisine, cater to local consumers, and have a moderate price point. While the Michelin star is awarded to establishments that push the boundaries of cuisine and service to join the realm of fine dining.

In Chef Life, you can choose which path you want to take, with the option of setting your prices to be low or high. Please note changing paths or losing the ability to remain on a path will cause all progress towards that distinction to be reset. Each path has its own set of prerequisites, which will be described below.

Bib Gourmand – Inexpensive price path

• Any dishes with the Gourmet tag are not restricted from being put in the menu.
• Will Be able to keep all loyal customers

Michelin Star – Expensive price path

• Due to the prices all loyal customers will be removed
• Allowed to put gourmet dishes on the menu, but unpretentious dishes are no longer allowed.

When can I choose my Michelin Distinction Path?

You can begin your adventure by building a menu of mostly gastronomic-level dishes. Normally, these dishes may be purchased from the research book or upgraded once your chef reaches level 26, but completing quest lines for your sous chefs will result in a level 1 gastronomic dish. Adele’s narrative can be completed as soon as your chef achieves level 21. Kassim’s set will necessitate the use of level 23 dishes. If you followed the sous-chef guidance, you should be able to be ready for the final dishes at level 23 and get your gastronomic menu with just the two recipes from Adele and Kassim, plus one bistronomic-level dish on a three-item menu.

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This game is very difficult. Is there anything I can do?

When the tutorial is finished, Day 4 begins. The Preference Screen appears, and you can toggle modifiers for your preferences to make things easier. There is no shame in using these modifiers because they are a learning tool and will help those who are anxious about pressure and demands.

Preferences

• Calm Service
  • Customers will never be annoyed if the timer runs out. This will eliminate the worry of running out of time and receiving poor grades from customers. This is useful for easing into the pressure, and when you can run through service quickly and easily, you can turn this setting off. This setting is also suitable for those who are artistic and wish to use the free plating feature to create dishes for each customer, as no timer will allow them to do so.
• Few Customers
  • This will lower the amount of dishes you have to cook a night. With orders there will be automatically plated dishes.
• Recipe Reminders
  • This is a great feature for time management when learning new recipes or re-creating old favorites. I started using this feature, and it has saved my life. The cooking hud will completely update to remind you which phase of cooking an ingredient is added to, as well as if something needs to be covered.
• Cooking Assistance
  • Food can’t burn or fail, but will lead to bad habits since you won’t know you have them.

For other tips you can always check out the tips and tricks guide here Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator: Tips for success in the kitchen.

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Why is my sous chef not prepping? / How do I prep with my sous chef?

Prepping during prep time, unlike during service, requires filling out the order sheet from the prep station. To get to the prep station, go to the side edge of the prep area next to the starter warmer location. Interacting with this menu will bring up a clipboard with the same order window that was displayed during service. Fill out your orders as needed, keeping in mind the same four-item limit as service.

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The stuff I prep continue to disappear

For prepared food, there are appropriate storage devices. Any food that is not properly stored at the time of service will be removed.

• Warmer
  • Warming Tray: No items will be saved
  • Warming Plate: Items will be saved for service
    • Only Pots and Sauce pans are usable on the warming plate.
• Fridge
  • All items will be saved that are left in the fridge.
  • Limitations
    • Foods with Temperature (thermometer symbol) that are for the warmer cannot be placed into the fridge
    • Complete plated dishes cannot be placed in the fridge

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I can’t prep some items at the mixing table like the recipe states

The mixing table has multiple modes, depending on the setup at the time of mixing. There is a default mode with a specific set of recipes, and then add-on tools to switch to a different set of recipes. When reviewing the receipt in the book or on the reminder pin, there should be an indication that an add-on is required.

• Addon Cookware
  • Metal Tray
  • Roasting Dish
  • Baking Dish
  • Marinating Bowl
  • Pizza Peel

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What does the packaging station do?

The packaging station is the one area of your kitchen that serves no use.  In the actual world, a packaging station allows you to package food for storage, delivery, takeout, and other purposes. This has no practical application in chef life.

The package station is simply an alternative to using the trash bin to remove stuff in order to avoid liability.  The items are removed from your game in the same way that deleted game objects are.

Antine with Cyanide stated in a reply on their discord server stating the following: “The food you store in the “Packaging station” are meant to be brought home by you or your team (it’s a more Responsible way of throwing food that you don’t need away) You can’t really see that in game as it is only implied but not shown”

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Why do I keep getting rats?

Rats are a sign of hygiene issues or expiration of food. Here are some tips on how to ensure you don’t have this often.

• Buy only enough for a given day.
  • The game limits you to 10 of an item causing many players to buy multiple batches at a time.
  • You can purchase all you need, then immediately pick up the phone and order the rest. When Max arrives, all orders made will still arrive at that moment.
  • If the vendor has a coupon deal, then buy just enough for the coupon then order the rest to also get the coupon.
• Max’s Expiration Dilemma
  • Accept the 2 day expiration that is 1 quality lower.
  • When the next day starts, immediately throw these out if you don’t want to use them.
  • Purchase food from local vendors to offset the responsibility loss
• Ensure a sous chef is always available to clean. The spot less perk only means that the hygiene is maxed out at that exact moment. If you get spotless at the beginning of prep, but cook prep and learn new recipes, the hygiene will continue to drop. There is no reason why a chef cannot be a janitor the entire time.
  • The dishwasher for the night can be the prep/extras person.
  • The Janitor can be one of the service preps for that night.

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