The responsibilities of a cook and a chef can vary significantly. What are the roles and responsibilities of each position? What should a cook and a chef do to make a restaurant function efficiently?
The responsibilities of a cook and a chef can vary significantly. What are the roles and responsibilities of each position? What should a cook and a chef do to make a restaurant function efficiently?
How do the duties of a chef and a cook differ?
The different duties of a cook and a chef result from the organisational set-up of a restaurant. Different tasks are part of a strict hierarchy.
The chef manages the entire catering team. This includes both planning the activities as well as day-to-day management of the kitchen, quality control and delegation of tasks. The chef is often a personality, which in itself will attract guests
The chef (of chef de cuisine or executive chef) may also have a sous chef, who may also have a deputy. This could be a shift cook or a team cook (chef de partie), responsible for a specific area of production in a given place, managing a given group of cooks. Next in the hierarchy are the other cooks.
If we compared this situation to a sports club, the chef would be the club manager, the sous chef the coach, the chef de partie the goalkeeper or strikers’ coach, and the other chefs would be the players. In other words, the chef is responsible for all activities, and the cooks follows their instructions and prepare the dishes according to the suggestions.
What should you look for when hiring a cook?
If you are looking for a cook for your restaurant, take into account your budget, the planned scope of duties, the scope of responsibilities and the type of cuisine served. If you have a limited budget, look for someone who will not only cook but also advise you on aspects regarding managing the kitchen and sourcing the best ingredients. In other words, try to find a cook with the potential skills of a chef.
The type of venue and menu offer play an important role. If you run a bar that serves simple, home-cooked meals, then it would be best to hire a cook with experience in traditional and local cuisine. If you run a vegetarian grill or sushi bar, you will need someone experienced in vegetarian or Asian cuisine.
In larger restaurants or hotel kitchens, you may have a larger team with each cook having a different list of responsibilities. The standard roles in commercial kitchens are as follows:
- cuisinier – a cook working in a specific section of the kitchen,
- rotisseur – a cook whose responsibilities include frying, baking, grilling and processing meat dishes,
- entremetier – responsible for soups, vegetable dishes, eggs, flour and cheese,
- saucier – a cook whose primary responsibility is to prepare sauces,
- poissonnier – a specialist in fish and seafood,
- patissier – responsible for desserts and sweet dishes, confectioner,
- boulanger – baker
- tornat – a kitchen assistant helping wherever there is a shortage of people to do the job,
- garde-manger – responsible for the cold buffet, snacks and salads,
- commis – a junior cook,
- apprenti (e) – an apprentice, learning the trade.
In smaller kitchens, each cook can do several jobs at the same time, combining the roles on different positions.
What is the job description of a cook?
As mentioned before, a cook’s responsibilities may vary depending on the size of the restaurant and the type of cuisine. What are the typical responsibilities on this position?
The main responsibility of a cook is to… cook. The preparation of dishes should be carried out in accordance with the standards in your restaurant, respecting food cost assumptions. The cook should manage the products at their disposal in a rational manner and make sure each dish served is appropriately.
The cook is also responsible for food storage, i.e. looking after the refrigeration equipment and the storage of raw and ready-made ingredients. They are also responsible for hygiene in the workplace and keeping everything in working order.
Being a cook is a ‘front line’ role, so it is also their responsibility to inform their superiors, the chef, the sous chef or the shift cook, of any difficulties in the food preparation process, inventory issues and other matters that could affect the day-to-day running of the kitchen.
Responsibilities of the Head Chef
The chef can have a very wide range of responsibilities, including cooking. This function may also be performed by a designated cook. It could also be a management position, related more with running the kitchen than the actual preparation of dishes.
What is a chef responsible for? Among other things, the chef is responsible for the selection of personnel and assigning duties to each employee. The chef delegates tasks and creates processes that ensure smooth operations in the kitchen. For example, they could indicate the correct mise en place, i.e. the art of assembling ingredients and equipment before starting to cook to ensure a smooth and efficient process.
They also responsible for the taste of the dishes – they put together the menu, recipes, and show the cooks how to prepare each dish. On top of making sure the quality of the dishes is appropriate, they should also control the food cost.
The latter is also a matter of sourcing the right supplies. The chef should choose the suppliers, check the quality of the delivered products, and ensure that the kitchen does not run out of ingredients.
A chef’s tasks can also include managing the work schedule and compliance with GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), GHP (Good Hygiene Practice) and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).
In some cases, the scope of the chef’s duties could also include cooperation with other departments. For example, it could be cooperation with the catering events department. The chef should also be aware of customer feedback given to waiters about the dishes, and react appropriately when necessary.
Catering equipment for cooks
The scope of duties of a cook or chef could also include choosing the right equipment. What basic equipment will a cook need?
They will definitely need kitchen utensils, including a set of various types of good-quality knives. This should include, among others, a universal chef’s knife, a sharp meat knife, smaller blades for vegetables and fish and a serrated knife.
In addition, they will also need all kinds of different dishes for cooking, baking and frying, i.e. woks, pots and pans. Ideally, these should be made of high-quality material, for example stainless steel, which is resistant to mechanical damage and easy to keep clean.
Basic commercial catering equipment will make work much easier. For example, if a restaurant serves breakfast, a pancake or waffle maker will speed up the work.
The responsibilities of a cook and a chef – summary
You cannot become a chef overnight. To reach this position you should follow a career path, starting from working as a cook or even a kitchen assistant. Practical experience will help to understand how to better manage a team, because the chef will then understand the issues related to working in a kitchen.
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