In the catering industry, there are a wide variety of chef roles to aspire to and different levels to fill within these roles such as an executive chef or the top chef. There are many different roles that may be best suited for you, your experience and qualifications.
This guide has all the information to help you choose which area of catering you should think about specialising in.
Top Chef
Also known as the chef-owner, the top chef holds the authority for the establishment. There is only one of these in every kitchen and their main role is to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
To land this role, this will need a lot of experience and most likely, some form of qualification in order to prove you’ve got what it takes to run a kitchen. If you have good experience and qualities in managing a working environment, particularly a kitchen then this could be the role for you.
Along with managing the kitchen, the top chef will work on the menu engineering within the restaurant, deciding what is to be prepared and when. In terms of the other chef roles, the other members of staff will report to the top chef with queries and important information. For this role you need to have good qualities in remaining calm in stressful environments, to keep the rest of the team in good order and make sure that everything is working how it should.
Executive Chef
Another chef role that requires a masterful employee is the executive chef role. An executive chef holds strong leadership skills, alike to the top chef so filling this role will require evidence that you can do so.
This doesn’t necessarily need to be in the form of a qualification but could instead be experience which doesn’t necessarily need to be in the catering industry but various managerial roles. One of their main priorities is to maximise the productivity of the other kitchen staff.
Sous Chef
A sous chef is another form of chef that you may be considering working towards. This person is described to be the second in command chef, however, they report to the head chef when necessary.
This role holds a lot of responsibility for the candidate and opens up opportunities for promotions to the executive chef as they oversee food preparation in the kitchen.
Sous chefs are responsible for numerous roles that are accountable for the kitchen running the way it should. Enforcing food standards and managing staff are just a couple of these requirements.
While it may seem that a sous chef is practically the same to the other top roles in the kitchen, it doesn’t require as much responsibility or experience as the top and executive chef. It is also less dependent on qualifications and based more on loyalty to the establishment.
While most chefs are primarily situated behind the scenes and away from customers, they are expected to have good customer service skills along with creative cooking knowledge and good hygiene.
What are the Types of Specialist Chef?
Being more specific in the role surrounding the kitchens, many establishments have specialist roles that focus on certain food types and areas of food preparation. We understand that many aspiring chefs out there may feel more comfortable and knowledgeable focusing on certain foods, so looking for restaurants that provide these confined roles may be beneficial.
Pastry Chefs
This chef could be responsible for preparing and cooking bread, desserts and other forms of pastry. This role is particularly good for someone who likes variety when it comes to cooking. It also requires creativity as it’s not only food preparation but also the creation of dishes and making them look presentable for the customers.
If you feel that this role is for you but don’t have any qualifications, there are many practical training programs that can be taken to equivalate a professional qualification. However, many establishments don’t actually require previous education.
When looking for a good place to work, it is common that many places offer on the job training and base their employees on experience rather than education.
For interviewees who would like to focus on a primary area of cooking or feel that they carry specialist qualities for a particular food type, there are many roles that are more focused on exactly this.
Sauce Chefs
A sauce chef creates sauces for a variety of dishes in the kitchen. An example could be a hand-crafted tartar sauce for a salmon starter, requiring attention for detail and taste.
However, this could also be based on baking dessert sauces and creams. The types of sauces you make will be dependent on the workplace and generally requires little to no educational experience and instead, creative and dedicated personal qualities.
Dessert Chef
Most food establishments have a dedicated dessert chef as this is an area of catering that requires more time and creativity. While dessert chefs can bake anything from cheesecakes and pies, they also are responsible for decorating these courses in a presentable and appetising way, particularly in higher ranked restaurants.
Whilst education and experience are not necessarily compulsory, the right candidate will need to be good at baking and preferably have some knowledge of desserts in general.
This guide has provided information to a wide range of chef roles, each dedicated to certain areas of catering and all requiring different qualifications and skills, to suit individuals. If you’d still like some more information on which role may be best suited for you, contact us on 01392 840071
