After discovering a rather disappointing aircraft downgrade from the flat-bed 777 J seats to the sloping A340 J suites, I was surprised to see a chef greeting guests at the door. The onboard chef feature seems to be one of the more undocumented features of the long-haul J class experiences onboard TK.

In my opinion, it enhances the experience, but I would like to know what exactly the chef does. From what I witnessed, he simply takes the pre-plated J-class meals and reorganizes them in a more presentable way. Is this correct? Does he/she have more of a culinary role than that? I know they can prepare eggs to order although this was not an option on my flight.

The chef actually slows the inflight meal service delivery process as things are done according to his/her wishes. Many airlines including DL/US similarly plate meals according to chef guidelines, but the FAs do it which speeds up the process.

Any thoughts on the TK chef experience? Do the chefs also have other FA duties such as security/safety procedures? I think most pax would assume they would, which could increase risk in the unfortunate event of an emergency.

Hi I was on TK2 on July 2nd from JFK to IST in J cabin on a 777, there was a Turkish and a German chef onboard, I haven't seen anything special that they did, except bringing some appetizers and serving coffee to me.

I also believe that they prepare the breakfast items-like scrambled eggs etc- on demand, however I didn't see them performing this, this is just an assumption.

Do the chefs have FA traning in emergency evacuations, etc? Or are they primarily on board as chefs?

I believe they board as Chefs, since at the security checkpoint at JFK i was right behind the Turkish crew and pilots and chefs for my flight, and the TSA Security Officer didn't want to let the Chefs thru security first since they didn't had the same flight attendant identification but a Turkish Airlines company identification card on them.

Then the head of the security came while all passengers waiting on the very left security checkpoint, and asked the pilot if he was one of them and whether he knows the chefs in person. The pilot pledged, and they let the Chefs board.

So I assume they don't have the credentials as Flight Attendants, however I saw them sitting on Jumper Seats.

The proper terminology is jumpseat.

i believe its also known as "pendant"....