Cooks in training in
Paris
Chef is a term commonly, and often times incorrectly used term to refer to an individual who cooks professionally. Within a restaurant however, the term is often only used to refer to one person: either the executive chef or chef de cuisine. In a professional kitchen environment, a chef (French for chief or head) is the person in charge of the kitchen.
There are many kinds of kitchen organizations, with the titles and duties for each position varying depending on the particular restaurant. Even though within a restaurant there is usually only one person referred to as "chef", the common use of the term chef is for anyone who cooks within the kitchen environment. In general, the hierarchy in a classical kitchen brigade is as follows:
Chef de cuisine
This is the person in charge of everything related to the restaurant, including executive chefs. This title is often used for a chef who is in charge of several individual restaurants. Each one of those restaurants would have its own executive chef, with the Chef de cuisine in charge of directing each restaurant how they see fit. In most restaurants, only the executive chef is needed.
Executive chef
The executive chef, often referred to as just "chef", is the person in charge of the kitchen. The chef is a manager who is responsible for all aspects of food production, including menu planning, purchasing, costing, and planning work schedules.
Sous chef
The sous chef (pronounced "soo-shef" -- French for "under chef") is directly in charge of production. Because the executive chef's responsibilities require spending a great deal of time in the office, the sous chef takes command of the actual production and the minute-by-minute supervision of the staff. A direct executive assistant of the executive chef, the sous chef often shares some duties with the executive chef, such as menu planning, costing and ordering. Kitchens often have more than one sous chef, with each having his or her own area of responsibility, such as the banquet sous chef, in charge of all banquets, or the executive sous chef, in charge of all other sous chefs.
Expediter
Generally done by the sous chef, the expediter serves as the liaison between the customers in the dining room and the line cooks. With the help of proper coordination and timing, they make sure that the food gets to the wait staff in a timely fashion, so that everyone sitting at a particular table is served simultaneously.
Chef de partie/Station chef
A chef de partie, also known as a "station chef", is in charge of a particular area of production. In large kitchens, each station chef might have several cooks and/or assistants. In most kitchens however, the station chef is the only worker in that department. These positions are generally referred to as "line cook" positions. Line cooks are often divided into a hierarchy of their own, starting with "First Cook", then "Second Cook", and so on as needed. Station chef titles can include:
Sauce chef or saucier (so-see-ay) - prepares sauces, stews, and hot hors d'oeuvres, and sautes foods to order. This is usually the highest position of all the stations.
Fish cook or poissonier (pwah-so-nyay) - Prepares fish dishes (this station may be handled by the saucier in some kitchens).
Vegetable cook or entremetier (awn-truh-met-yay) - Prepares vegetables, soups, starches, and eggs. Large kitchens may divide these duties among the vegetable cook, the fry cook, and the soup cook.
Roast cook or rotisseur (ro-tee-sur) - Prepares roasted and braised meats and their gravies, and broils meats and other items to order. A large kitchen may have a separate broiler cook or grillardin (gree-ar-dan) to handle the broiled items. The broiler cook may also prepare deep-fried meats and fish.
The pantry chef or garde manger (gard-mawn-zhay) - is responsible for cold foods, including salads and dressings, pâtés, cold hors d'oeuvres, and buffet items.
Pastry chef or pâtissier (pa-tees-syay) - prepares pastries and desserts.
The relief cook, swing cook, or tournant (toor-nawn) - replaces other station heads.
Cooks and Assistants
In larger kitchens, each station chef would have cooks and assistants (commis) that help with the particular duties that are assigned to that area. With experience, assistants may be promoted to station cooks and then to station chefs.
See also
