What does a head chef do?
A head chef is responsible for the overall culinary satisfaction and dining experience of the guests. Head chefs manage the food production, starting from the preparation to the final presentation. They regularly research the current food trends to adapt to their innovative expertise, creating different cuisines to meet the guests' preferences. They also manage the kitchen staff, delegate tasks, and ensure the adequacy of food ingredients and supplies. A head chef must have excellent communication and organizational skills, adhering to the highest sanitation procedures, and responding to the guests' inquiries and concerns.
Head chef responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real head chef resumes:
- Hire, train, and manage a staff of cooks, also train servers and cross train dishwashers.
- Manage a kitchen of military personal and Japanese civilian chefs.
- Supervise, coordinate and direct all culinary activities within the food service department.
- Work manned omelet and brunch stations in dining room.
- Develop HACCP plans for every fresh item carry on premises.
- Assist with setup and break down of equipment for parties, meetings and brunch.
- Comply with all HACCP policies and procedures to ensure that all statutory regulations are observe.
- Establish caf /deli in 1984 and expand to full operation restaurant and bar seating 95.
- Create a system to safely accommodate special dietary needs, religious needs, and food allergies.
- Instruct cooks and sushi chefs in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food.
- Learned innovative styles of plating and garnishing
- Develop customized menus for cater events and caf operations.
- Order special catering events and offer culinary instruction and/or demonstrations of culinary techniques.
- Perform inventory and purchasing functions for this establishment specializing in healthy comfort cuisine.
- Revise and implement a more diverse menu along with creating and preparing original daily specials utilizing local and regional cuisine.
Head chef skills and personality traits
We calculated that 27% of Head Chefs are proficient in Kitchen Operations, Culinary, and Dinner Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Head Chefs that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Kitchen Operations, 27%
Facilitated kitchen operations for large-scale in-house and off-site catering events to present seamless, smooth-running events.
- Culinary, 9%
Ordered special catering events and offered culinary instruction and/or demonstrations of culinary techniques.
- Dinner Service, 6%
Led a team of talented line cooks through nightly dinner services, brunch services, and on/off site catering events.
- Food Service, 5%
Managed food service operations including Catering, College Cafeteria and Daycare meals.
- Cuisine, 3%
Designed menu items and daily specials emphasizing healthy and vegetarian cuisine.
- Safety Standards, 3%
Maintained impeccable hygiene and safety standards.
Common skills that a head chef uses to do their job include "kitchen operations," "culinary," and "dinner service." You can find details on the most important head chef responsibilities below.
Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a head chef to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what head chefs do because "executive chefs and chefs who run their own restaurant need to know how to budget for supplies, set prices, and manage workers so that the restaurant is profitable." Additionally, a head chef resume shows how head chefs use business skills: "specialized in the baking and preparation of gluten free and paleo foods in perth's central business district. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform head chef duties is communication skills. Head chefs responsibilities require that "chefs must convey their instructions clearly and effectively to staff so that patrons' orders are prepared correctly." Head chefs also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "set up meetings with culinary team to have effective communication with all staff levels team members. "
Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of head chefs is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday head chef duties, as "chefs and head cooks need to develop and prepare interesting and innovative recipes." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "performed inventory and purchasing functions for this establishment specializing in healthy comfort cuisine. "
Dexterity. head chef responsibilities often require "dexterity." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "chefs and head cooks need agility to handle knives properly for cutting, chopping, and dicing." This resume example shows what head chefs do with dexterity on a typical day: "managed the entire culinary department, hands-on culinary operations. "
Leadership skills. Another crucial skill for a head chef to carry out their responsibilities is "leadership skills." A big part of what head chefs relies on this skill, since "chefs and head cooks must be able to motivate kitchen staff and to develop constructive and cooperative working relationships." How this skill relates to head chef duties can be seen in an example from a head chef resume snippet: "promoted and facilitated an interactive leadership role for the established culinary departments. "
Physical stamina. Another skill commonly found on head chef job descriptions is "physical stamina." It can come up quite often in head chef duties, since "chefs and head cooks often work long shifts and sometimes spend entire evenings on their feet, overseeing the preparation and serving of meals." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day head chef responsibilities: "reduced food and labor costs and implemented monthly physical inventories. "
The three companies that hire the most head chefs are:
- Goodwin Recruiting15 head chefs jobs
- Snooze13 head chefs jobs
- Panda Express5 head chefs jobs
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Compare different head chefs
Head chef vs. Banquet cook
The Pastry Cook's responsibilities include preparing quality pastry items such as breakfast items, desserts, breads, ice creams, creams, simple syrups, amenities, and others. They are also responsible for minimizing waste and maintaining control to attain forecasted food cost.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, head chef responsibilities require skills like "kitchen operations," "servsafe," "food products," and "labor costs." Meanwhile a typical banquet cook has skills in areas such as "cleanliness," "food handling," "roasting," and "sauces." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Banquet cooks really shine in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $41,429. Comparatively, head chefs tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $48,735.banquet cooks tend to reach similar levels of education than head chefs. In fact, banquet cooks are 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Head chef vs. Pastry cook
A chef de cuisine, also known as an executive chef, oversees a kitchen's daily operations in public and private establishments to ensure food quality and efficient services. Their duties require cooking and leadership skills because they involve leading menu development and meal preparation, coordinating staff, delegating responsibilities, selecting and sourcing ingredients, and handling customer issues and concerns promptly and professionally. Moreover, a chef de cuisine leads and empowers staff to reach the kitchen's daily goals while implementing health standards and regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, head chef responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "kitchen operations," "food service," "cuisine," and "safety standards." Meanwhile, a pastry cook has duties that require skills in areas such as "cleanliness," "food handling," "food safety," and "customer service." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Pastry cooks earn a lower average salary than head chefs. But pastry cooks earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $36,443. Additionally, head chefs earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $48,735 annually.In general, pastry cooks achieve similar levels of education than head chefs. They're 0.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for head chefs in the next 3-5 years?
Karla Nardi
Program Coordinator, University of New Mexico - Taos
Head chef vs. Chef de cuisine
A Chef De Partie is responsible for supervising a section of the kitchen, such as pastry, butchery, fish, or sauces. They enforce strict health and hygiene standards.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a head chef is likely to be skilled in "cuisine," "safety standards," "servsafe," and "food products," while a typical chef de cuisine is skilled in "customer service," "cleanliness," "food quality," and "food safety."
Chef de cuisines earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $53,893. Comparatively, head chefs have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $48,735.When it comes to education, chef de cuisines tend to earn similar degree levels compared to head chefs. In fact, they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Head chef vs. Chef de partie
Types of head chef
Updated January 8, 2025
