Restaurant-service challenge: kitchen brigade coordination

After a briefing from professional chefs, the group is organised like a real kitchen brigade: head chef, stations for starters, mains and desserts, a pass that checks every plate, and front-of-house staff who take orders and serve guests. Each team learns a short menu and the basic techniques with the chefs.

Then service begins. Orders arrive at an increasing pace from "guests" (colleagues, or a second group), and the brigade has to coordinate timings across stations so that every table's dishes are ready together. Special requests and surprise changes keep the pressure up.

After service, everyone sits down to eat together while the facilitator and chefs debrief: where did orders get stuck, how was the pass used, and which kitchen habits, such as calling back orders, could help your team at work?