Search Culinary Schools by Program & Location

Choose a Program: No Preference Baking & Pastry Arts Catering Culinary Arts Culinary Management Food & Beverage Management Hospitality & Tourism Hotel & Restaurant Mgmt

and/or

Choose a State: No Preference Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas British Columbia (Canada) California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Cooking and Culinary Schools

Executive Chef

The executive chef is the senior-most post in any kitchen. In a restaurant, the executive chef, or chef de cuisine as he is called in Europe, is in charge of all kitchen staff and the meals that are prepared.

Executive chefs oversee all kitchen operations and handle duties such as ordering supplies, keeping accounts, and planning menus. They are also responsible for food preparation and styling, recipe development, and meal creation. Executive chefs ensure appealing presentation as well as good taste. In large restaurants with numerous staff, executive chefs may do little of the actual cooking. But they work long hours nevertheless.

Salaries for executive chefs vary considerably based on location and employer -- be it a private household, corporation, or full-service restaurant.

Many executive chefs hold some sort of culinary degree in pastry or savory arts.

A note on titles: Some restaurants with multiple locations may call the head chef in one location Chef de Cuisine, while the corporate chef, who oversees all other chefs, is called the Executive Chef.