Red Leg Zeff
Red Leg Zeff is the peg-legged owner and head chef of the Baratie restaurant. He maintains strict standards for customer service and food preparation while overseeing a crew of cooks. Zeff formerly sailed as captain of the Cook Pirates and survived a shipwreck that cost him a leg. He is known for his past as a pirate whose kicks earned him the nickname Red-Leg and for taking in Sanji after their shared ordeal at sea.
Zeff enforces a one-year unpaid work period on Luffy after an incident damages his establishment. He refuses to surrender his Grand Line travel log to Don Krieg and demonstrates continued physical capability through powerful kicks even after his injury. Zeff shares a belief in the All Blue with Sanji and continues to train and guide young cooks at the floating restaurant.
Appearance
Red Leg Zeff wears a tall white chef hat along with a chain necklace and a striped shirt beneath his coat and apron. His braided mustache and braided beard frame a face marked by a scar, and he maintains a stern gaze during confrontations inside the restaurant. The peg leg replaces the foot he lost years earlier and remains visible when he lounges on a bench or stands among patrons.1
Zeff appears in chef attire during encounters with Don Krieg and continues to wear the tall hat and apron while seated among restaurant customers. His long braided hair tied with a dark bead hangs over his shoulder, and he grips a large knife with a fierce scowl when tensions rise in the kitchen.2
Personality
Red Leg Zeff places the duty of keeping customers well-fed above all else and roars at his cooks when he believes they risk ruining the restaurant. He demands full payment from disruptive patrons and expels them without hesitation while declaring that customers are the gods of the restaurant. Zeff rejects any attempt to shorten Luffy's work debt and insists on a full year of unpaid odd jobs.3
Zeff remains calm when refusing Don Krieg's demands for the Grand Line logbook and states he now lives only as a cook with no connection to his former pirate life. He threatens to reject any dish that falls below Baratie standards and laughs while overseeing young Sanji's first entree preparation, yet he still allows the trainee to attempt the task when a customer specifically requests it.45
Abilities and powers
Red Leg Zeff delivers a spinning kick technique named the Head Chef's Kick of Justice that sends Luffy flying across the restaurant during their argument over the work period. He performs a powerful kick that creates a wind blast capable of extinguishing flames amid an explosion and withstands the blast without moving from his position.67
Zeff once sailed as a pirate whose kicks could pulverize bedrock and whose red shoes became stained with enemy blood according to Don Krieg's account. After losing his leg he confirms he can no longer fight but retains the ability to cook with his hands and continues to enforce order with physical force when necessary.4
History
Pirate Era
Stranded on the Rock
Zeff and young Sanji became stranded together on a rocky sea outcrop after a storm sank their ship two days earlier. Zeff carried large sacks of food and gave Sanji a smaller portion while declaring that waiting for rescue was their only option and that they might become bones before help arrived.1011
Baratie Ownership
Zeff later opened the Baratie and hired tough cooks while maintaining his role as owner and head chef. He began training Sanji with strict methods and promised to remember everything Sanji had done for him until his dying day.12
Relationships
Red Leg Zeff confronts Don Krieg inside the Baratie and refuses to hand over his travel log while Sanji observes the exchange. He also interacts with Luffy by offering a one-year work period after Luffy damages the restaurant and later throws Luffy off the upper deck during a confrontation involving Sanji.1314
Zeff maintains a long-standing tense yet caring bond with Sanji marked by mutual insults and shared history from their time stranded together. He scolds the younger cook about smoking in the kitchen because tobacco dulls the tongue and reacts furiously when called little eggplant during their exchanges. Zeff declares he will never forget everything Sanji has done for him and encourages the dream of traveling to the Grand Line while claiming extensive global cooking experience.151617
Zeff oversees Sanji's growth from a young trainee into a capable chef by rejecting substandard dishes and taking him to markets for ingredient selection. He laughs off the idea of Sanji preparing entrees at first yet ultimately allows the request when customers specifically ask for him and teaches the unique properties of Red Ram mutton that cannot be substituted.181920
Major battles
Red Leg Zeff engages Luffy in a heated argument over compensation for restaurant damage and delivers a powerful kick that sends the young pirate flying across the room. He rejects a one-week work offer in favor of a full year of unpaid odd jobs and later uses a punch rather than his signature kick when physically grabbed and thrown by Sanji during their own dispute witnessed by Luffy.212215
Zeff confronts Don Krieg inside the Baratie after the pirate demands food supplies and the Grand Line logbook following a battle. He refuses to back down while standing among the cooks and Sanji and later has his peg leg broken during the standoff when Pearl threatens him with a massive shield.232425