Best Watches for Chefs and Waiters

Introduction

Good chefs and waiters will have their skills honed to absolute perfection. Food preparation is a subtle science that not everyone can get right. Measurements, methods, proportions, recipes, all of these are memorised in an incredible mental library.

Of course, they have plenty of tools to boot. Apron, hat, knives and all manner of expensive tech to make some delicious artwork on our plates.

We all know and appreciate the fine skills of a good chef. Have you ever wondered what watch would be a great companion for either a chef or they’re equally important front-of-house colleagues, the waiters?

Useful features for a chefs and waiters watch

Shock-resistant

This one is a no-brainer. A chef or waiter’s watch is going to take some bashing about, every day. Getting a timepiece that offers a shock-proof guarantee will let the wearer get on with their job without worrying about knocking it.

Sapphire crystal

With the above in mind, sapphire crystal is the material you want to be looking out for.

The crystal of a watch is what covers the dial and offers a layer of protection. You’ll find this made of various materials but sapphire is the strongest and is extremely scratch-resistant.

Don’t go for a leather or fabric strap

Think about all the spills the watch is going to be seeing. If you’re shopping for a watch for your chef or waiter friend, or you need one for yourself, then you’ll know this device is going to see more substances than the average.

A leather or fabric strap isn’t really going to be the most hygienic option in the long-run. Opt for something silicone or resin. You want something wipeable as well as durable. Something that won’t cling to any food or liquids that get splashed on it.

Waterproof

At some point, everyone has to have a turn at the pot wash station. Even the chefs. It’s a good idea to get something offering a level of water-resistance that means the wearer can plunge their hands into the water without having to take the watch off first.

Plus, for the above-mentioned reason about splashes and potential stains, a waterproof watch won’t allow any sauces or crumbs get into the parts of the watch that could damage it.

Fitness features for counting steps

If you’ve ever worked a shift in a restaurant or bar, you’ll likely remember how tiring it is. Thousands of steps are taken in a single shift. Having a watch that offers fitness and activity tracking features are a great way to see how many steps were taken and, most importantly, how many calories have been burned over the course of a day. It’s easy to underestimate how many calories you’ve burned versus how many one should eat by way of recovery.

Timer

Timing is everything in the restaurant trade. Food prep and delivery is key. It’s only sensible that a chef and the waiters have a watch on their wrist as a reliable timekeeping tool to help keep everything running smoothly. Not only does it need to be accurate, but it also needs to withstand daily life in a kitchen, knocks and bumps and all.

Smart features

If you’ve ever known a chef or waiter, you’ll know it’s almost impossible to get a text back when they’re on shift.

Sometimes you need to communicate and a smartwatch offering features like delivering notifications and (usually only for Android users) the ability to reply to texts.

A smartwatch will deliver those all-important notifications which can be checked at the flick of a wrist. It also stops people catching their waiters checking their phones on the sly, which can look unprofessional.

Two top watch picks for a chef or waiter

Fitbit Versa

$168 / £138

The Fitbit Versa offers everything a chef or waiter might want. It’s waterproof, it tracks all the fitness data you’d need, the bands are interchangeable, including many silicone options.

Keep an eye on steps and distance travelled as well as floors and the number of active minutes during the day.

After the shift’s over, it’ll also monitor sleeping patterns, which you can analyse on the app, on your smartphone.

It’ll deliver handy notifications like text, calls, emails, calendar events, reminders, alarms and social media like WhatsApp, Insta, Facebook, etc. You can also use it to call an Uber for when your shift is finished, or pay for a drink at the bar with Fitbit Pay.

It doesn’t have any expensive materials to make it as durable as more expensive options with harder cases, but the customer service at FitBit is exceptional. If you have a bump and something breaks or scratches, you just need to talk to them.

Garmin vívoactive HR GPS

$169 / £139

You can never go wrong when you invest in a Garmin. They make some of the best sports watches in the world.

The vívoactive will track activities like steps, total distance covered and floors climbed as well as total minutes spent active that day.

It has a heart rate monitor to collect data on calorie burn and at night it monitors sleeping patterns and therefore the quality of REM cycles.

This Garmin has a GPS feature to allow for real-time stats as the wearer moves from dish to dish, table to table.

It’s a smartwatch, not just a fitness tracker, so it’ll deliver notifications like text, calls, social media, emails etc. It’ll keep going for 8 days at a time, which is perfect for busy people.

It’s waterproof with a rating of 5ATM. The wristband is interchangeable, too, so you can opt for something in silicone to keep this device in tip-top shape during the hardcore shifts.

Summary

Working in hospitality is a lot like taking part in an extreme sport. There’s lots of walking, heavy lifting, risk of submersion, knocks, impact and scrapes and temperature changes.

A good fitness tracker with smart features is an ideal timepiece for a chef or waiter.

Check out more about the Fitbit range that would be suitable, here.