Role guide · Kitchen porter
The KP works the corner of the kitchen the whites catalogue forgets: standing spray at the pot wash, floors at their wettest, and the heaviest lifting in the building — kegs, crates, stock deliveries. The kit list is short, wet-rated and unglamorous, and every item earns its place.
The list
| Item | Spec | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Waterproof bib apron | PVC, full length | Cotton soaks in minutes at the sink; PVC sheds all shift |
| Tee or lightweight chef top ×3 | Quick-dry, dark | It will get wet; the question is how fast it dries |
| Chef or work trousers ×2 | Loose, hot-washable | Scald logic applies at the pot wash too |
| Footwear | S2 washable, SR sole | Wettest floors in the building + kegs and crates = cap and grip |
| Grip gloves | Heat-tolerant rubber for hot wet handling | Trays out of the washer arrive scalding and slippery |
| Nitrile gauntlets | EN ISO 374 for chemicals | Machine chemicals and degreasers are proper chemistry |
| Skull cap / hairnet | Per hygiene policy | Same rules as the cooks, less ceremony |
The reality
Kitchens injure people at the floor, and the KP owns the wettest floor plus the heaviest loads — the barrel-and-crate work that puts this role, unusually for hospitality, in toe-cap territory: an S2 washable shoe or boot rather than the O2 the rest of the brigade wears. Same slip rating, same washable upper, plus the cap the cellar run justifies.
The other KP-specific truth: everything gets wet, so everything must dry. Quick-dry synthetics under a PVC bib beat cotton whites at this station, gloves live in pairs (hot-wet grip for the washer, chemical gauntlets for the machine chemistry), and a spare dry top at the half is worth more than any premium garment. The chef-side wardrobe logic lives in what chefs wear — the KP list is its wet-weather sibling.
Details
Questions
Quick-dry basics under a full-length PVC bib apron, hot-washable trousers, washable slip-rated footwear — with a toe cap (S2) where keg and crate work features — plus grip gloves for hot wet handling and chemical gauntlets for machine chemistry.
They're the strongest case in the kitchen: the wettest floors plus the heaviest handling (kegs, crates, deliveries). An S2 washable shoe adds the toe cap to the slip-rated washable spec the whole kitchen wears — the cellar run justifies it.
Two kinds: heat-tolerant rubber grip gloves for scalding wet trays and pans, and EN ISO 374 chemical gauntlets for handling dishwasher chemicals and degreasers. One pair doing both jobs does neither properly.
Send the headcount — the kit list comes back priced, embroidered and sized.