What does a Head Chef Do, And How to Hire a Head Chef?

For a successful restaurant business hiring the best chef; those who know exactly what chefs do are very important for your kitchen. And having a good head chef will assure you that the owner has someone taking care of the kitchen and business. Hiring a good chef will make your business profitable by optimizing the menu and preparing delicious food with the minimum ingredient.

Having a head chef is crucial for the restaurant as they are responsible for managing the kitchen effectively and efficiently; they will provide a standard procedure, manage a proper workflow and will, introduce new recipes and prepare a good menu for the restaurant. Before hiring any head chef, let’s look at the necessary information.

How to hire the correct chef for the restaurant

As you get that it is essential to have a good head chef for your restaurant, let’s look at how you should do that. There are some qualities and skills that a good chef should have like

1. Good cooking experience

hire a chef for a restaurant also hires a cook for your kitchen. So generally, to become a chef, you need many years of experience in the kitchen, and as the work experience, you set an expectation as a chef. In the starting days, the chef gains experience from the cook and junior chef positions. Knowledge of pastry techniques and baking cakes is the advantage of having a good head chef who knows exactly what chefs do.

2. Hungry for learning

Becoming a good head chef needs constant practice and courage to do experimentation. They must master the techniques of various cooking methods by using different ingredients and different flavors. They should be innovative and creative in making new dishes and could help you make a perfect restaurant menu. Making any effort will take a lot of energy and time, so it is necessary to be eager to learn new things as a head chef.

3. Should be a multitasker

The head chef is the one who has all the responsibilities in the kitchen, like making main dishes and desserts, cooking appetizers, preparing sauces, chopping vegetables, etc. So to manage all the work efficiently, the head chef must be a very good multitasker and should have a lot of experience managing all these tasks simultaneously. They manage others’ work and help others to do their work on busy holidays. From serving to cleaning and from cooking to cooking, a head chef is the one who is responsible for all the work in the kitchen.

4. Must have detailed knowledge of everything

Cooking From the traditional days to the new generation, it is still considered a science, so the chef should know every detail of the recipe, like the exact measurements of the ingredient and what is the ingredient for any particular food preparation, and manage a proper workflow and will, introduce new recipes and prepare a good menu for the restaurant. This needs the knowledge to understand how long it will take to cook, how to use the ingredient, and in which order you will use it. There is a detail for the food presentation, heating, measuring, and portioning.

5. Leadership skill

As the name says head chef is the head of the chefs who will give the order to the rest of the kitchen staff, so he or she must have the leadership quality to lead the team in a particular direction and efficiently run the kitchen without any trouble. An experienced head chef will ensure that food preparation will run effortlessly by maintaining a calm environment with chaos and an optimistic attitude. And they should mentor and guide the junior chef if anything goes wrong or something needs to happen as per plan.

6. Creativity

A good chef who knows exactly what the head chef does plays a vital role in the restaurant’s growth. For the growth of the restaurant, you need new customers to come to the restaurant as well as old customers. The one thing which will do that efficiently is the food quality, test of the food and most importantly the variety of menu you have. A talented and creative chef will help you make a very good menu with limited ingredients, by which you can achieve the targeted customer and save money. Besides the restaurant’s ambiance, the food’s taste is the main factor for having a good customer base. That’s why the chef must be creative with the food to make different dishes with different flavors.

7. Computer skills

In this digital age, many programs and software are available in the market, which helps the head chef to make the tally of everything, from inventory to staff attendance, if they know how to use the software correctly. Nowadays, different techs are involved in the food industry, like ordering food using tableside tablets, mobile apps, and different online platforms, so the chef must be the account with computer knowledge as everything in today’s generation is getting done online, from ordering food to giving reviews.

Key responsibilities of a head chef

• A good chef will always keep the tally of the restaurant kitchen stock and use good quality ingredients for the food preparation.
• Having a head chef will assist you in making the perfect menu for the restaurant and fixing the dishes’ prices.
• The head chef is like the leader of the kitchen team, so an efficient head chef will ensure that all the kitchen staff is working at their full potential, which 2will benefit you as the restaurant owner.
• They will organize the kitchen and the staff of the kitchen and assign tasks to every individual. A good head chef will always give proper training and guidance to their use chefs and other staff to produce a very good result.
• A good head chef will take full responsibility for hiring and giving them the proper training for the new kitchen staff like meal prep workers, pastry chefs, cooks, or even a person for dishwashing.
• Having a good chef is important to maintain consistency in the quality of the food, which is the most important thing to have in the restaurant.
• A good chef will always main proper hygiene in the restaurant and always obey the safety and cleaning guidelines of the kitchen.
• To attract more new and old customers, head chefs should implement new dishes on the menu and make special menus for special occasions.
• Will make different menus that will suit the restaurant
• A head chef will help you achieve the restaurant’s vision and goals.

Conclusion

It is a challenging task to hire a good head chef. Before interviewing any candidate, you, as an owner, should be mentally prepared and know what you are looking for as it is the most important position for your kitchen; you should be fully alert and well-researched about all the candidates before hiring any candidate for the position. And make sure to hire the best candidate for the job who knows exactly what the head chef does and will help you take your restaurant to another height of success.