What happens beyond the swinging doors that lead into a restaurant's kitchen isn't always the infernal scullery you see on reality TV.

Sure, plates get dropped, stockpots get banged around, kitchen crews shout above the din and temperatures rise as the evening's service hits its peak. What helps many top restaurants keep their kitchen crews cool and in sync when working in high gear? They sit down together before dinner service for a meal, often simple comfort foods.

Two recent books vouch for the value in preparing and eating a meal together: "Off the Menu: Staff Meals From America's Top Restaurants," by Marissa Guggiana (Welcome Books, $40), and "The Family Meal: Home Cooking With Ferran Adria" (Phaidon Press, $29.95).

"At its core, it is a time for the health of the staff to develop," Guggiana writes. "Like dinner for many families, it is the only time that everyone is together in an unstructured way."

At El Bulli, chef Adria's culinary temple in Roses, Spain, the daily supper was dubbed the "family meal," because the 75 staff members are like family. Adria and a head chef at El Bulli (now closed, but reopening in 2014 as a culinary think tank) meticulously planned "everyday varied and inexpensive meals" of an appetizer, entree and dessert, working from 100 or so favorite recipes.

Guggiana toted a camera and laptop to 51 restaurants, from Abattoir (skillet-fried rice in Atlanta) to Zingerman's Roadhouse (cheddar ale soup in Ann Arbor, Mich.).

"In most places, the staff gets to make the staff meal," she said. "And in a restaurant where that's valued — where it's 'Hey, why don't you make something delicious out of what's in the walk-in?' — that makes people happy."

The principle applies at home, too, Guggiana says: "People value things more when they've made a contribution — at home and in the restaurant kitchen."