Chef right away on counter dropping fine liquid (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
olive oil
'liquid' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Culinary liquid ' mean 'olive oil' so perhaps 'liquid' could also mean 'olive oil')
'chef right away on counter' is the wordplay.
'chef' becomes 'oliver' (I've seen this before).
'right' becomes 'R' (common abbreviation).
'away' is a deletion indicator.
'on counter' becomes 'oil' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'oliver' with 'r' taken away is 'olive'.
'olive'+'oil'='OLIVE-OIL'
'dropping fine' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for olive oil that I've seen before include "Ingredient of vinaigrette" , "dressing maybe" , "Substance pressed from fruit" , "Liquid used in cookery or salad dressings" , "Viscous liquid from green or black fruit" .)