Chefs

Chefs are professional cooks who manage and prepare meals in professional settings. The term comes from the French phrase chef de cuisine, meaning chief of the kitchen. Chefs are responsible for menu development, recipe creation, and the overall operation of a kitchen.

In most professional kitchens, work is organized by a brigade system. The executive chef oversees concept, menu planning, and kitchen operations. The sous-chef acts as the second in command and helps supervise day-to-day tasks. Line cooks work at specific stations, such as saucier (sauce cook), garde manger (cold dishes), patissier (pastry), and poissonier (fish). A pastry chef specializes in desserts and baking, while a tournant covers shifts as needed to fill in across stations.

Training for chefs typically combines formal culinary education and hands-on apprenticeships. Many attend culinary schools or complete apprenticeships, and they pursue ongoing training in areas such as knife skills, cooking techniques, and menu development. Certifications in food safety and hygiene, such as HACCP or ServSafe in some regions, are common prerequisites or valued credentials.

The brigade system, popularized by Georges Auguste Escoffier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, standardized kitchen roles and workflows, improving efficiency and consistency in professional kitchens.

Chefs work in diverse settings, including fine dining restaurants, hotels, resorts, catering firms, and institutions like hospitals and schools. They may specialize by cuisine or technique and increasingly engage in sourcing, sustainability, and staff management in addition to cooking.