A chef is a professional who makes a living by preparing meals. In a restaurant, resort, or other food service establishment, a chef de cuisine is the executive chef or managing chef. He is in charge of overseeing the other chefs and kitchen employees. He’s also in charge of creating and preparing the menu, as well as deciding on nightly specials and, if necessary, setting the menu for special events or meals. It’s not uncommon for the chef de cuisine to also be the restaurant’s owner.
There are levels in the chef career path, just as there are in many other professions. Line cooks, sous chefs, and expediters are among the entry-level positions. The chef de cuisine is the kitchen’s highest-ranking employee. An executive chef may lend support to this senior executive, especially if he owns or manages multiple restaurants.
The restaurant’s atmosphere and decor are usually set by the chef de cuisine. He may also develop a marketing and advertising strategy, or he may hire a business manager to do so. A front-of-house manager is frequently employed to manage the day-to-day operations outside the kitchen, despite the fact that he may be responsible for hiring the servers, bartenders, and other non-kitchen staff.
However, when it comes to kitchen operations, the chef de cuisine is involved in every step of the process. He will choose and purchase all kitchen equipment, as well as hire and train all kitchen personnel. He’ll decide on the regular menu and all of the preparation procedures and recipes. If the restaurant hosts special events, such as holidays, he will create custom menus for these occasions.
A chef de cuisine either places food orders himself or has someone he trusts do so for him. He is usually found in the kitchen, where he supervises all kitchen activities. He may or may not actively cook on a regular basis, depending on the size and nature of the restaurant, as well as his own preferences.
Chefs de cuisine may have a variety of other responsibilities and opportunities. Most television chefs, for example, are or have been chefs de cuisine at some point. Many of them also write and publish cookbooks, which they must promote using a variety of methods. Others design cooking equipment or dishware lines, or lend their names to them. Some also work as consultants, creating menus and training kitchen staff for those who want to open restaurants but lack the necessary experience in the kitchen.