a real chef wouldn't do this...

I design and sell kitchens for a living. While many of my associates do housing developments, I get the single custom projects. Medium to high-end gourmet kitchens and sometimes a client would actually be a professional chef.
Architectural drawings (what once were called blueprints) come to us with house design and a generic kitchen that gets approved by the country building division. The contractor and trades bid against the architectural drawings. Architects rarely go beyond the concept layout. Since it's custom, it's my job to take the concept to a finished design that not only works, but is aesthetically pleasing.
We have to ask how they want the layout and designate different areas for food storage, prep, cleaning, etc. Some clients entertain guests while they cook, others want the kitchen to themselves and bring out the food like it was a surprise. If it's a Kosher kitchen, we have to provide a layout for 2 sinks, and double of nearly everything including 2 dishwashers.

Most of my clients want spices adjacent to the range top. However, in a (large) working kitchen, food preparation and cooking are in two locations.
I'm glad large hearth-style hoods with spice storage are no longer in fashion, it presented the problem of heat in the general area that wasn't a good place to keep spices. I always asked... if they wanted, they got it.
The one thing I learned from a real chef is they don't season the food over the stove. It's done at the time of food prep and that's typically in a different location.
Not everyone has time to peel & press fresh garlic for each meal, that means most use powdered garlic. If you remove the cap from the bottle and you see garlic stuck around the perforated holes, you know they've been shaking powdered garlic directly over cooking food and the steam rising makes the garlic stick.