What Is a Chef? Definition, Responsibilities and Salary

Updated 26 January 2023

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Chefs are professionals in the culinary industry who prepare food for clients. They can experiment with new flavours and perform leadership roles in the kitchen. If you are interested in becoming a chef, learning more about what they do can be beneficial. In this article, we explain what a chef is, detail their primary duties, provide their annual salary, review the requirements for becoming a chef, describe their work environment and answer common chef questions.

What is a chef?

A chef is a culinary professional who uses their thorough knowledge of food and preparations to create quality meals. To be a chef, you usually train with a reputable chef or get a culinary degree. Chefs usually work in restaurants but may also work in hotels or for catering services. They are creative professionals who pair ingredients and flavours to create new dishes for each season.

Primary chef responsibilities

A chef prepares and cooks food while providing leadership for kitchen staff. Chefs maintain relationships with vendors and may manage the restaurant's weekly food supply by taking inventory and ordering ingredients. They create new menu items and work with the general manager to set business goals. Other main responsibilities include:

Create schedules: The chef may design weekly staff schedules and manage any staff vacation requests.
Follow the budget: A kitchen manager usually designs the ingredient and equipment budget for a kitchen, and the chef follows this budget when ordering food and tools.
Hold staff meetings: Chefs schedule and conduct staff meetings to review the latest policies, procedures and menu changes.
Enforce sanitation: Sanitation is important to ensure customers receive safe food, and chefs ensure all kitchen staff members follow sanitation and safety practices by providing guidance and monitoring food handling.
Research trends: Chefs stay current on all new industry trends by researching new ingredients, dishes and popular meals.

Average annual salary for a chef

How much a chef can earn depends on their skills, experience and the restaurant or company for which they work. The average base salary for a chef is ₹16,844 per month or ₹2,37,905 per year. A chef's salary may also depend upon where they live. For example, chefs in New Delhi earn an average of ₹31,073 per month or ₹4,38,872 per year.

Requirements for becoming a chef

To become a chef, many restaurants and businesses require that you complete at least a basic education before working in the kitchen. Many restaurants prefer for their chefs to have a culinary degree or other advanced training. You can enrol in culinary programmes at many institutions, where you learn how to prepare, cook and present meals. There are programmes designed to prepare you for a commercial kitchen and provide you with apprenticeship and internship opportunities.

Before you work in a kitchen as a chef, you may need several years of experience training in the food industry. You may begin as a line cook and develop your skills while receiving direction from a head chef. During your experience, you can gain leadership skills by providing guidance for others and leading sections of the kitchen. For example, you may lead the confections or appetiser stations. To find employment in prestigious restaurants, you may need more than 10 years of experience working with professional chefs.

Important skills for chefs

To be successful as leaders and culinary artists, chefs need a variety of skills. They communicate effectively with their team members and customers, develop and share their knowledge of food preparation and answer questions about meals and ingredients. These are some important skills for a chef:

Communication

Successful chefs communicate efficiently with their kitchen team to demonstrate proper procedures and delegate tasks. A chef may also communicate with customers to provide recommendations, explain each dish or address dietary or allergen concerns. The chef may also collaborate with a kitchen manager to improve team performance, adjust the budget and update the menu. Strong relationships with vendors can also improve a chef's performance by allowing them to efficiently order what they need and receive priority when ingredients are in high demand.

Creativity

Chefs are culinary artists, and creativity is an important skill that allows them to design and develop new dishes. To create an interesting and cohesive menu, the chef may experiment with different ingredients and combine flavours to make non-traditional profiles. They design meals to be appealing and unique while using the best products from the current season. Chefs may also use their creativity to consider new ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness within their kitchen and better serve their patrons.

Organisation

Excellent organisation abilities allow the chef to track, record and adjust inventory levels each week and ensure they stock the kitchen properly. Being organised allows them to keep a tidy and efficient kitchen by ensuring each ingredient and tool has a proper place. This also allows chefs to manage their time, create functional schedules and multitask when necessary.

Leadership

Chefs provide guidance and direction for kitchen staff, leading by example, creating teams and delegating kitchen tasks. Strong leadership skills like communication, confidence and time management allow a chef to ensure their team performs well. Chefs use their leadership skills to train new kitchen staff by answering questions, demonstrating techniques and providing directions for complicated recipes and preparations. Chefs also use leadership abilities to resolve conflicts between staff, offer feedback and improve performance.

Business aptitude

Though a chef is an artist, having business aptitude is important for their success because it allows them to determine what their patrons may want from their meals. Chefs understand how restaurant businesses function and design their kitchens and operations to optimise profit and customer satisfaction. A chef may use business aptitude to determine menu prices, adjust and adhere to a budget, hire new staff members and create appealing new menu options. Depending on the restaurant, a chef may assist the kitchen manager in financial planning by tracking profits and setting financial performance goals.

Work environment for chefs

Though all chefs design menu items and provide guidance to their teams, their work environment can differ depending on where they are. These are some environments in which a chef may work:

Restaurants: When working in a restaurant, chefs can spend long amounts of time on their feet and experience high temperatures from ovens and stovetops. Restaurants may be more fast-paced and provide a bigger challenge to experienced chefs.
Hotels: Many hotels hire chefs to prepare room service meals for their guests, and this position may be less demanding than a restaurant, depending on location and size. Hotel kitchens may have a smaller kitchen staff and serve fewer customers at one time.
Households: Some chefs work privately for families to provide nutritious meals within their schedules. These chefs can receive higher salaries and experience less stress, but spots are often competitive and reserved for highly skilled chefs.
Cruises: Cruises hire chefs to prepare individual meals or food for buffets, depending on the structure of the boat and the passengers. Chefs working on cruises may need to ensure they do not get seasick before accepting the position.

Chef FAQ

These are the answers to some commonly asked questions about the roles, responsibilities and specifics of being a chef:

What is the difference between a chef and a cook?

Skill level, application of knowledge and function separate chefs and cooks. A chef is a culinary artist who thoroughly understands flavours, profiles, techniques and various types of cuisines. They use this knowledge to develop original meal and menu ideas. A cook is usually someone with limited culinary ability who follows instructions in a cookbook or written recipe to produce food.

Which roles does the chef fill in the kitchen?

In the kitchen, the chef fills a role that mirrors what a manager does in an office setting. They monitor kitchen staff, provide guidance for improvement and ensure all line cooks and other kitchen staff perform well. Chefs help younger or newer kitchen staff develop their skills and advance in the kitchen.

Is there a word for a chef who is a woman?

In English, there is not a word specifically for a chef who is a woman. In culinary settings, roles are available to anyone and most titles do not change depending on the person who fills them. Other terms for chef include culinary expert, lead culinarian and culinary artist.

Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries may vary depending on the hiring organisation and a candidate's experience, academic background and location.