The Hierarchy Of Chefs In Professional Kitchens Explained

If you're working in a professional kitchen, you'll need to know exactly how the chain of command works. As food safety training specialists with over 20 years of experience educating culinary professionals, we understand that a well-organised kitchen is not just about efficiency but also about maintaining proper food safety standards.

The kitchen hierarchy establishes clear responsibilities and accountability, ensuring that every dish leaves the kitchen both delicious and safe for consumption. Let's explore the traditional chef hierarchy and how it creates the foundation for both culinary excellence and food safety compliance in professional kitchens.

What is a Chef Hierarchy?

While to an outsider, the environment might seem hectic, it all works like clockwork because of the defined roles each member of the kitchen staff plays. The chef hierarchy governs who oversees who and what their individual responsibilities are. 

Why is Kitchen Hierarchy Important?

Preparing food for public consumption is an often stressful and time-sensitive task. What has become apparent is that professional kitchens run more smoothly when every member plays an individual role while adhering to food safety principles. 

This delegates out the work to different chefs in the kitchen who hold particular responsibilities and have specialist skills. The Brigade de Cuisine (sometimes known as the French Brigade), created by the famous chef Auguste Escoffier, remains the most common way of breaking down kitchen roles.

The Brigade de Cuisine Explained

If the Brigade de Cuisine sounds and seems military in style, that’s because it is. While Escoffier became a pioneering chef for great hotels of the day, such as the Savoy, he also spent 7 years as an army chef. There’s no doubt that his time in the French army helped him shape the orderly Brigade system, as it has a deep sense of rank, duty and order at its core.

This short video from chef Robert Morano explains this concept simply!

Below is a chart showing the roles and kitchen hierarchy in the Brigade de Cuisine, however, smaller establishments might pare this down or conflate roles. What’s quite remarkable about this system is that it works so well that it’s still the go-to way to organise kitchen roles across the world - even over 100 years later!

Take a look at the chart below that outlines the Brigade de Cuisine chef hierarchy. Next, we’ll explore each role and what they do within the kitchen.

Roles of the Chefs in the Brigade de Cuisine 

Some chefs will be directly responsible for the cooking of food, but others will focus more on preparation, inventory and processing of kitchen food. Each role contributes to the common purpose. Let’s get to know them.

Executive Chef

The Executive Chef oversees the restaurant and everyone in the kitchen. They take the lead on the direction of the menu, budgeting and staff hiring. They might oversee multiple restaurants in this capacity, rather than just one. 

Head Chef - Chef de Cuisine

While the Executive Chef might technically sit above the Head Chef in the brigade kitchen hierarchy, the Head Chef has a more direct relationship with the kitchen staff and more actual cooking in their job role. They only oversee the daily operation of one kitchen.

Their duties involve managing the staff as well as maintaining the quality of produce and supplier relationships.

Deputy Chef - Sous Chef

If you’ve already heard of any of the French chef role names, it’s likely you’ll have heard the term ‘Sous Chef’. This next rung down shares similar responsibilities to the Head Chef and even deputises for them when they’re absent.

The Head Chef is likely to focus more on developing the menu and overall kitchen direction, whereas the Sous Chef will have a more active hand in daily operations. The Sous Chef will be more hands-on in the food production, whereas the Head Chef will tackle more of the administrative responsibilities.

Relief Chef - Chef de Tournant

Unlike other chefs who specialise in a particular aspect of cooking, the Relief Chef (sometimes known as a Swing Chef) fills in for any of the stations’ chefs when they can’t work. This position demands excellent versatility in skills across a range of specialisms in order to jump in on any station with limited notice.

Staff Chef - Communard

The Staff Chef, as the name suggests, prepares food for the staff. They prepare a nutritious meal for the staff to eat during their shift, as hospitality shifts tend to extend beyond the typical 9 - 5 of office work. This is sometimes colloquially known as the “family meal”. 

These days this role is often combined with other duties and responsibilities and may be allocated on a rota basis to one of the other chefs.

Station Chef - Chef de Partie 

This particular role is split down into various specialist chefs who operate different stations. It’s how a restaurant is able to produce a perfectly cooked steak and a piece of seabass for the same table to be ready at the same time. We’ll cover them next. 

Vegetable Chef - Entremetier 

The Vegetable Chef prepares any vegetables needed in any aspects of the menu, from starters to soups to vegetables accompanying a main course. 

In a large traditional kitchen, this can be split further into the Potager, who makes soups and the Legumier who takes responsibility for the rest of the veg prep.

Pantry Chef - Garde Manger

Next up on the Station Chef level is the Pantry Chef. 

They have to ensure tip top food safety fridge storage, as much of their role involves ensuring food is prepped and stored ahead of service. They’re responsible for cold dishes like salads, pâtés and appetisers and manage the cold storage areas to keep food fresh.

Roast Chef - Rotisseur 

The Roast Chef is the go-to for all tasks related to meat, gravy and stock. They have to ensure exact food temperature control to know exactly how long to cook different cuts to get perfect results, from rare steaks to slow-cooked joints. This includes all kinds of methods of cooking meat, from broiling to grilling, frying and braising. 

Sauté Chef - Saucier 

Many consider this to be one of the most technically demanding chef roles in the kitchen. The Sauté Chef’s main duty is to produce all sauces needed for any menu item as well as preparing any sautéed food. This requires spot-on timing and great communication with the other kitchen staff to know when to dress the dishes.

Pastry Chef - Pâtissier 

While the other roles in the chef hierarchy so far have related to savoury food, the Pastry Chef focuses on the sweet. Despite the name, they don’t just make pastry - they create all the desserts and sweets on the menu. 

Many kitchens have a separate pastry section where these chefs can work away from the heat of the main kitchen. As much of the dessert prep can be done ahead of time, the Pastry Chef’s working hours might differ from the rest of the kitchen team.

Junior Chef - Commis Chef

Most professional chefs begin their careers as a Junior Chef (or Commis Chef) before specialising. They work under the different station chefs to support with the food preparation and learn new skills. 

Kitchen Porter - Plongeur de Cuisine

The Kitchen Porter handles washing up, basic food preparation and keeps work areas clean. While they might not directly be involved in the cooking, their role is just as important to keeping the kitchen running smoothly.

Additional Roles in the Kitchen Brigade 

While we've covered the main positions in the Brigade de Cuisine, there are several specialised roles you might encounter in larger or more traditional establishments:

• Aboyeur (Announcer) – Takes orders from waiting staff and announces them to the kitchen team, ensuring clear communication during busy service periods.
• Boucher (Butcher Chef) – Specialises in meat preparation, breaking down whole animals and ensuring proper portioning before items reach cooking stations.
• Poissonnier (Fish Chef) – Devoted solely to seafood preparation, from filleting fresh fish to preparing shellfish dishes and seafood sauces.
• Potager (Soup Chef) – Focuses exclusively on soups and broths, often working under the Entremetier in larger kitchens.
• Legumier (Vegetable Specialist) – Prepares all vegetable dishes and accompaniments, sometimes separate from the Entremetier in high-volume operations.
• Expeditor – Coordinates timing between kitchen and service, ensures plates meet quality standards, and calls orders to kitchen stations. May be handled by the Sous Chef in smaller operations.
• Grillardin (Grill Chef) – Specialises in all grilled items, mastering temperature control and timing for perfect results.
• Friturier (Fry Chef) – Manages the fryers and all fried menu items, maintaining oil quality and consistency.

These specialised roles show how the Brigade system can be tailored to a restaurant's specific menu and volume, with each chef focusing on their area of expertise to ensure consistent quality.

Why the Brigade de Cuisine Works

The fully fledged brigade system ensures that a large menu with different items can be produced with production line efficiency. Proper kitchen hierarchy helps prevent types of food poisoning by ensuring clear responsibility for food safety at every stage.

The video below from the Institut Escoffier Ile Maurice shows just how it can work so well in the haute cuisine restaurants it was invented for use in. 

The Modern Kitchen Hierarchy

In reality, though, most modern restaurants don’t always need a dedicated saucier or pastry chef. The pared-back, more modern brigade usually looks more like this:

Alternative chef hierarchies

Some professional kitchens will use other terms for the roles that the different chefs in the business play. This might be ‘Kitchen Manager’, ‘Assistant Kitchen Manager’, ‘Productions Leads’ and ‘Line Cooks’. 

What you’ll notice is that while these kitchens don’t use the role names from the Brigade de Cuisine, they still tend to roughly follow the same structure, proving just how versatile the brigade system is.

For instance, the Chef de Partie plays essentially the same role as a Line Cook.

Get Up-to-Date Food Safety Training Completely Online

Want to learn more about kitchen roles and food safety? Our online food safety training courses provide simple to access guidance for professionals at every level of the kitchen hierarchy. Learn when you like, with our engaging courses. 

If you work directly with food, you’re likely to need a Level 2 Food Hygiene Course where you’ll learn hands-on principles for safe food handling from chopping board colour coding to how to control common food allergens.

Kitchen Hierarchy FAQs

How do you advance through the culinary ladder?

Progression to a higher chef role is all about mastering your current role while showing you can handle the next one up. Formal training helps, but what really gets you noticed is being reliable. Show that you can be counted on and have all the skills you need to master the next position up.

What qualifications do I need for different kitchen hierarchy positions?

Entry-level positions require basic food safety awareness, so for instance Junior Chefs will need a more practical Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate. As you progress to Chef de Partie and above, Level 3 Food Hygiene becomes essential, as you’ll need it for roles that involve supervising others.

How does the Brigade system vary between different establishments?

In smaller kitchens, you won't see as many titles as often, and one chef wears multiple hats. A neighbourhood restaurant might have just 3 - 4 kitchen staff in total, but they'll still follow the same chain of command (just with fewer links in the chain).

How important is food safety knowledge at each level?

Everyone needs the basics, but the higher you climb, the more you need to know. Most kitchen staff will need practical knowledge for their work in preparing, storing and cooking food, while Head Chefs need to understand how to keep the whole operation compliant.