Part 06 · The long game · Rank

Brigade rank, and the capability gate

Seven ranks. Points alone will not move you up one.

Where this is in iWhisk

Journey, the rank card

iWhisk borrows the brigade de cuisine, the traditional order of a professional kitchen, and runs it in seven steps: Apprenti, Commis, Chef de Partie, Tournant, Sous Chef, Chef de Cuisine, Chef Exécutif.

Everybody starts at Apprenti.

6.03.1

Points make you eligible. A capability promotes you.

Every rank above the first has two requirements and you need both. One is a points total. The other is something you have to be able to do, such as reaching a working standard on a number of stations.

So you can have more than enough points and still not move. The card tells you which requirement is missing rather than leaving you to work it out.

The rank card. It reads current brigade rank, Chef de Partie, 1300 SP to Tournant, above a progress bar showing 900 Skill Points at 0 percent. A panel underneath is headed next capability and reads 3 stations at Proficient. A chip in the corner reads 0 day rhythm. — Screen 6.03a Enough points, wrong reason This kitchen has the points and is still not promoted. The panel at the bottom names the actual blocker, **3 stations at Proficient**, instead of showing a bar that refuses to fill and leaving you to guess why.

6.03.2

Rank never goes down

Ranks are permanent. A month away from the kitchen does not demote you, and neither does a bad run. Whatever you reached, you keep.

6.03.3

Stations

A station is an area of technique rather than a place in your house. Practising one means cooking things that use it, and Journey counts how many you have touched and how far each has come. There are six, listed under core stations:

Prep & Knife Skills
Stovetop & Sauté
Oven & Baking
Grill & Roast
Sauce & Finishing
Dough & Fermentation

Each one shows how many recipes you have practised at it and the level that earns you, starting at New and moving to Proficient. The rank card names whichever station requirement is currently blocking your next promotion.

Note what this list is not organised by: not cuisine, not meal, not difficulty. It is organised by what your hands are doing, which is why breadth across stations is what rank asks for rather than volume in one.