Learning in workplaces is neither ad hoc nor informal. Such labels are a misnomer and do not do justice to the highly-structured nature and complexity of many workplaces where learning takes place. This article discusses the organisational and structural framework developed from a three-year doctoral study into how apprentice chefs construct their knowledge and skill in moving from a novice to a more experienced chef. The processes of knowledge and skill construction were as much aided by the indirect guidance of the production environments of the kitchens as by the direct guidance of the chefs. It is through the space, tempo, routines, hierarchy and workflow of a kitchen, comprising the organisational and structural framework, that many of the opportunities to construct knowledge and skill reside for the apprentices.