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Becoming a chef takes many years of study, beginning with culinary school. Aspiring chefs usually work as unpaid apprentices while they are still in school in order to decide on a specialty of their own. They may labor for years as prep chefs or assistants, looking for any opportunity to demonstrate their prowess to the head chef.

Physical demands of becoming a chef

It can also be physically demanding to become a chef. Chefs must stay on their feet constantly, kneading, chopping, and stirring, as well as lift heavy pots. Besides the stress associated with preparing food for hungry, critical customers, chefs are occasionally saddled with the additional burden of ordering food, creating menus and managing large kitchen staffs.

In addition to the head chef, the kitchen of a large restaurant is crowded with other chefs and cooks, including the sous-chef, pastry chef, and short-order cooks. All positions in a kitchen can be seen as building blocks towards a career as a chef. Learn more about the different types of chefs.

Aspiring chefs gravitate to large urban centers, where there is an abundance of restaurants and chefs who can serve as mentors. Executive chefs often partner with financial restauranteurs to open their own restaurants. These top chefs spend more time associating with patrons and investors and away from the kitchen. Some well-known chefs also earn recognition and added income by writing cookbooks.
What is takes to become a chef

The road to become a chef should begin by attending cooking school, followed by at least five years of working under head chefs at different restaurants as an apprentice. Most chefs start out as support staff in the kitchen, with a special task to perform, such as preparing vegetables. Search our network of culinary schools.

Young chefs aim to be sous-chefs under the top brass at the best restaurants, particularly in large cities. They often work at several restaurants, acquiring experience under different mentors before they decide on a specialty, like desserts. Those who are able to withstand the high stress and pressure of the job will probably become a head chef within 10 years. A head chef will direct a kitchen staff, in addition to preparing meals, or strike out to start his or her own restaurant.

Cooking Career Opportunities:

• Entry-Level Positions
• Line/Station Cook
• Garde Manger Cook
• Sous Chef
• Chef’s Apprentice
• Prep Cook
• Front of House Operator

Advanced Culinary Positions:
(after gaining experience in the workplace)

• Lead Line Cook
• Kitchen Manager
• Executive Chef
• Food Service Supervisor
• Restaurant Manager/Owner
• Company Types
• Caterers
• Restaurants
• Resorts & Hotels
• Private/Recreation Clubs
• Country Clubs
• Contract Food Services
• Cruise Lines
• Hospitals

Cooks prepare and cook complete meals and individual dishes and foods. They supervise kitchen helpers and oversee subordinate personnel in preparation, cooking and handling of food. They may also plan menus, determine size of served portions, estimate food requirements and costs, and monitor and order supplies.

Prep Cook

The Prep Cook is an early step in the training of most professional kitchens. In a very large organization the prep cook might peel bags of potatoes, mince pounds and pounds of garlic, chop forests of fresh herbs, and dice mountains of onion. In smaller kitchens, in addition to preparing raw ingredients, it might be the prep cook’s job to prepare parts of specific dishes. For example, the prep cook might make the batter and cook the buckwheat blini to be served under that night’s caviar special, or caramelize the sliced carrots that will serve as a bed for a piece of veal.

Short Order Cook

Short order cooks, also called grill or line cooks, make simple, fast-cooking meals and snacks. They are also called grill cooks, fry cooks, broiler cooks, breakfast cooks, or line cooks and work in places like coffee shops, lunch counters, family restaurants and steak houses.

Short Order Cooks make food to customer order, following basic house recipes. They must know which side dishes to prepare with each main dish and organize their work so that all items are ready at the same time. They need to know the right way to place the food on the serving plate.

Fast Food Cooks

Fast Food Cooks work in restaurants that feature a one-item menu such as hamburgers, chicken, pizza or tacos. The food comes in standard, ready-to- cook portions. Cooks operate large cooking units such as grills or deep-fat fryers to cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer. They usually work for a national fast food chain restaurant.

Chefs and specialist chefs prepare and cook complete meals, banquets or specialty foods such as pastries, sauces, soups, salads, vegetables, meat, poultry and fish dishes, as well as create food displays. They instruct cooks in preparation, cooking, garnishing and presentation of food and they supervise cooks and other kitchen staff. They may plan menus as well as requisition food and kitchen supplies.

Commis

The commis is an entry-level position. Also known as an assistant or apprentice, the commis works under the line cooks (chefs de partie) to learn particulars of a station, through food preparation and plating. Though the commis may seem to have a lowly position in the kitchen, the experience is invaluable. Besides gaining knife and prep skills by working with chefs, the commis will experience the pace, pressure, and demands of a kitchen.

Pastry Chef

Pastry chefs must have the knowledge to create different kinds of baked goods and confections, as well as be able to take on special projects. They must also be creative, have a good aesthetic eye, and understand the principles of taste and flavor in desserts.

In the corporate environment of a large hotel, the pastry chef typically reports to the Executive Pastry Chef, who reports to the Corporate Pastry Chef. Below pastry chefs, in the typical restaurant structure, are Assistant Pastry Chefs and line employees.

A good pastry chef must be an exceptional manager of people, be able to coordinate staffing with production requirements. Must be able to keep track of costs and be in charge of ingredient ordering.

Saucier

Among the kitchen positions known as “section chefs,” the saucier (sah-see-ayy) is relatively prestigious. This person makes all the sauces, and sometimes might make meat dishes cooked in a particular sauce. Because sauces are the foundation of French haute cuisine, the saucier might be considered “the keeper of the flame” in the traditional French-based restaurant kitchen.

The classically trained saucier knows that the basis of all sauces are the five “Mother sauces.” The first is Espagnole (or Brown Sauce), made from a dark roux of cooked flour and butter, along with brown stock made from roasted bones and vegetables. Veloute is a white sauce, made with a pale roux and a light stock. Bechamel is a basic white sauce made of flour, butter, and milk, to which cheese is often added. Vinaigrette is oil and vinegar, usually flavored with garlic, shallots, or herbs. And Hollandaise represents the emulsified sauces of egg and oil or butter, which include Mayonnaise.

Sous Chef

The sous (“soo”) chef is the second in command after the chef de cuisine or executive chef in the kitchen, almost like the first mate to the captain. Sous is French for “under,” and the under chef is the unsung hero of the kitchen, the one who makes things run. While the executive chef’s name is on the menu, it might well be the sous chef who created–and cooked–the dish that’s on the table in front of you.

Sous-chefs supervise the activities of specialist chefs, chefs, cooks and other kitchen workers, and they may demonstrate new cooking techniques and equipment to cooking staff. They may plan menus, requisition food and kitchen supplies, and prepare and cook meals and specialty foods.

Executive Chef

Executive chefs plan and direct food preparation and cooking activities in restaurants, hospitals or other establishments with food services. They plan menus, ensure that food meets quality standards, estimate food requirements, and may also estimate food and labour costs. They supervise the activities of sous-chefs, specialist chefs, chefs and cooks, and they recruit and hire staff. They may cook food on a regular basis for special guests or functions.

Some executive chefs are very hands-on, in their restaurants every day and night, actually preparing dishes or finishing the plates to make sure everything that leaves their kitchen is perfection. At the opposite extreme, the executive chef may have created the dishes and settled the menu, but leaves the sous chef to do all the day-to-day running of the kitchen while the executive takes time to write a cookbook or travel.

Garde Manger

Like most kitchen positions, the Garde Manger is a highly specialized line cook who is responsible for all cold food presentation, such as composed salads, pates, canapes and hors d’ouevres–everything cold that might appear on a buffet table. The garde manger chef handles all cold sauces, such as vinaigrettes and dressings, as well as aspics, pickles, chutneys and relishes. In a large corporate setting, the garde manger chef could be responsible for ice sculpture and large-scale food still-lifes to decorate a buffet table.

A Personal Chef

A Personal Chef is someone who loves to cook and help families gather around the table again for a meal together. Busy, time-starved families need the services of a Personal Chef in order to avoid frozen pizza, fast food joints, or expensive restaurant dining. A Personal Chef will complete a family interview to determine dinner time favorites, discuss allergies and dislikes, then shop for all the fresh ingredients and go to their client’s homes to prepare delicious meals to their client’s specifications.