Cook

How to find a cook for a restaurant, cafe or canteen

Updated 31 October 2026

Who you need: section and level

A cook for the hot section, the cold section, the grill and a sous-chef are different profiles. If you simply write “cook needed”, everyone who has ever stood at a stove will call. So in your request, describe the section, the cuisine and the volume of work: how many seats in the dining room and how many dishes per shift.

Cuisine matters too. Continental, North Indian, South Indian or Chinese food need different skills, and a cook with pizzeria experience will not necessarily cope with a tandoor menu.

What to put in your request

• Section — hot, cold, grill, bakery and desserts, sous-chef.
• Cuisine — continental, North Indian, South Indian, Chinese.
• Type of place — an 80-seat restaurant, cafe, canteen, hotel.
• Place of work — city and area, for example Mumbai, Andheri.
• Schedule — 2-on-2-off from 10:00 to 23:00, 5-on-2-off, weekends.
• Salary — from ₹1,000 per shift or a monthly salary, bonuses.
• Employment — formal contract, medical fitness certificate.
• Experience — 2+ years in a similar place.

Example request

“An 80-seat restaurant in Andheri, Mumbai, needs a cook for the hot section. Continental cuisine, 2-on-2-off schedule from 10:00 to 23:00, formal contract, from ₹1,000 per shift. 2+ years of restaurant experience, medical fitness certificate required.”

How to check a cook before they start

A CV shows places of work, but not speed or tidiness. Offer a trial shift: let them prepare a few items from your menu. Notice how they hold the knife, organise the station and stick to portions and yield.

Ask about recipe cards, hygiene standards, HACCP, and what they do when many orders arrive at once at peak time. A person with real practice will answer without pauses. Find out whether the candidate can work from prepped ingredients and keep stock records, because food cost depends on it. Also ask why they left their last job: it shows how the candidate treats a team.

How the search works on BlaBlaPrice

You do not browse dozens of profiles. You describe the job, and the site checks it for ads and tells you what is missing. Cooks reply in the chat: their experience, when they can start and the pay they expect. Compare the replies and reviews, and open contacts for the one you choose. A request stays active for 30 days. If you need a helper, see kitchen assistant, and for how it all works, the How it works page.

For cooks looking for a place

Register as a service provider, choose this category and your area, and job requests will come to you. Describe your section, cuisine and experience.