Expeditor (expo)

The expeditor works the pass, the counter where the kitchen hands off to the dining room, and runs the flow of orders across it. They read incoming tickets aloud, call and time each station so the parts of a table's order finish together, do the final accuracy and presentation check on every plate, wipe the rims, and release the food to the runners. On a busy night the expo is the single point of coordination that keeps a rush from unraveling. In a small kitchen the chef or a lead cook expedites; in a high-volume room it is a dedicated position.

The expo is where Ticket time and order accuracy are defended in real time. Good expediting keeps courses paced so a table is neither waiting nor buried, catches the wrong or missing plate before it reaches a guest (an error that becomes a remake, a comp, and a slower table), and protects the Table turn time the whole floor depends on. It is the human hub of the Back of house, turning a stack of tickets into a smooth sequence of finished plates.

Technology supports the expo rather than replacing the judgment at the pass. A kitchen display system routes each item to the right station, times every ticket, and flags the ones running long, giving the expeditor a live picture instead of a paper rail. Staffing the line to real volume is the other half of the job, since an under-staffed rush overwhelms even a great expo: see demand forecasting.