What Does a Head Chef Do?

We looked at the average head chef annual salary and compared it with the average of a banquet cook. Generally speaking, banquet cooks receive $10,871 lower pay than head chefs per year.

While their salaries may differ, one common ground between head chefs and banquet cooks are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like culinary, dinner service, and food service.

There are some key differences in responsibilities as well. For example, a 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 how truly different these two careers really are.

Banquet cooks really shine in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $41,429. Whereas 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.

Now we're going to look at the pastry cook profession. On average, pastry cooks earn a $10,612 lower salary than head chefs a year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Head chefs and pastry cooks both include similar skills like "culinary," "dinner service," and "menu planning" on their resumes.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are 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 might be skilled 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.

It's been discovered that pastry cooks earn lower salaries compared to head chefs, but we wanted to find out where pastry cooks earned the most pay. The answer? The hospitality industry. The average salary in the industry is $36,443. Additionally, head chefs earn the highest paychecks in the health care with an average salary of $48,735.

In general, pastry cooks study at 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.

The chef de cuisine profession generally makes a higher amount of money when compared to the average salary of head chefs. The difference in salaries is chef de cuisines making $6,456 higher than head chefs.

By looking over several head chefs and chef de cuisines resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "kitchen operations," "culinary," and "dinner service." But beyond that the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, 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."

Additionally, chef de cuisines earn a higher salary in the hospitality industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $53,893. Additionally, head chefs earn an average salary of $48,735 in the health care industry.

When it comes to education, chef de cuisines tend to earn similar education levels than 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.

The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than head chefs. On average, chef de parties earn a difference of $5,532 lower per year.

While both head chefs and chef de parties complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like kitchen operations, culinary, and dinner service, the two careers also vary in other skills.

Each job requires different skills like "food service," "safety standards," "servsafe," and "food products," which might show up on a head chef resume. Whereas chef de partie might include skills like "cleanliness," "food safety," "mise," and "food handling."

In general, chef de parties make a higher salary in the hospitality industry with an average of $39,260. The highest head chef annual salary stems from the health care industry.

In general, chef de parties reach similar levels of education when compared to head chefs resumes. Chef de parties are 2.0% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.