A system and method for controlling preparation of a plurality of food items on a cooking apparatus such as a grill. A food order consisting of the plurality of food items is input to a controller which retrieves cooking times for the items from a database. A primary fire item (PFI) is determined as the item with the longest cooking time. A display screen near the cook has a surface that is laid out in a grid pattern representing the cooking surface of the grill. An icon associated with the PFI is then displayed in a position corresponding to the item's intended position on the grill. Time delays are calculated for displaying subsequent icons so that, by placing the food items on the grill when each icon is displayed, the preparation of the food items is completed simultaneously.