A family meal or staff meal is a group meal that a restaurant serves its staff outside of peak business hours.
The restaurant provides the meal free of charge, as a
perk of employment. Typically the meal is served to the entire staff at once, with all staff being treated equally, like a "family".
The restaurant's own chefs (traditionally, but not always, the lowest in the pecking order) prepare the meal, often using leftover or unused ingredients. As a result usually the meals don't involve dishes on the restaurant's regular menu.
Chefs may also use the family meal to experiment with new recipes, or simply whip up something from their own ethnic backgrounds.
Several cookbooks have been published describing family meals at well-known restaurants. Examples include:
* ''The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria'' by
Ferran Adrià of
elBulli
El Bulli () was a restaurant near the town of Roses, Catalonia, Spain, run by chef Ferran Adrià and driven by the culinary ideas of Albert Adrià. The restaurant overlooked Cala Montjoi, a bay on Catalonia's Costa Brava. It held three Michelin ...
(2011)
* ''Staff Meals from Chanterelle'' by
David Waltuck (2000)
* ''Off the Menu: Staff Meals from America's Top Restaurants'' by Marissa Guggiana (2011)
* ''Come In, We're Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World's Best Restaurants'' by Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy (2012)
See also
*
List of restaurant terminology
This is a list of restaurant terminology. A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money, either paid before the meal, after the meal, or with a running tab. Meals are generally served and eaten ...
References
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External links
Family Meal- A chef describes his experiences preparing staff meals early in his career
Restaurant terminology
Employment compensation