How Many Chef Members of Staff Do I Need to Hire in My Restaurant?

Staff expenses are one of the most crucial overheads for a restaurant. When you are planning to launch a restaurant, you ask yourself –how many members do you require?

Chef staffing is the most important part of staffing, and this is where you need to make a very conscious decision. Before you start searching “need a chef for my restaurant,” here’s a comprehensive guide you can go through first to choose the right chef staff.

Thinking, “Need A Chef For My Restaurant?”

The restaurant industry is gaining huge turnovers in today’s age. You require hiring the right professionals to gain successful turnovers from your restaurant. When you want to hire chefs, you would also need to create a team that is ideal for all the dishes that will enhance your menu.

Key Chef Positions

Here are the key chef positions. Learn the details if you want to hire a chef:

Executive Chef

The executive chef is a prestigious and skilled position. He or she supervises the restaurant’s operations or dining amenities. They are responsible for managing all other chefs and kitchen assistants. They also oversee the financial management of kitchen operations.

When you say, “I need to hire a chef who will lead and direct all the food and beverage operations of my restaurant business,” the professional you need to hire is the executive chef.

Head Chef

When you are considering, “I want to hire a chef who has in-depth knowledge and expertise in designing the food preparation process for each dish and ensuring great taste and value,” the professional you need to hire is the head chef.

The head chef is responsible for managing the preparation, quality, presentation, and delivery of food to customers as per their orders. They act as a manager of all the under chefs and cook and make the key decisions about ingredients and everything else in the culinary space.

Sous Chef (Second Chef)

When you say, “need a chef for my restaurant who will personally supervise and undertake the key cooking activities, guide and work with the chefs to ensure that food is prepared correctly as per the instructions of the head chef, “ you need to hire a sous chef. He or she acts as the team’s leader who must make sound snap decisions. Presenting creative concepts for a restaurant is another responsibility.

Station Chef or Senior Chef

Also better known as the senior chef, a station Chef ensures that the products used for the dishes are of premium standard. They must ensure that the health, guidelines, and safety legislation get implemented, adhered to & reviewed frequently. They also maintain the cleanliness of the areas and prepare cleaning rosters too.

These professionals are also known as Chef de partie. Every chef de partie must be occupied in the large kitchens with different assistants or cooks.

Specialized Chefs

The contemporary kitchen (from fine dining to institutional restaurants) runs under a strict hierarchy where chefs play a lead role. Assignments may differ based on the precise needs of the kitchen. Here are the specialized chefs that you must learn about:

Pastry Chef (or Pâtissier)

When you want to figure out your thoughts like “I want chef for my restaurant who specializes in pastries, muffins, baked delicacies, and savories,” then you need to hire a pastry chef.

The pastry chef makes it possible to get great items listed on your dessert menu. If you have a lot to offer in baked goods, then hire a pastry chef and some pastry cooks.

Fish Chef

Fish chefs are also known as poissonniers. They are responsible for the preparations of fish dishes in a kitchen. A fish chef should be an expert in seafood and in the cleaning and gutting of the different types of seafood in addition to cooking them correctly. A poissonnier also prepares the sauces for the fish dishes.

Meat Chef

A meat chef prepares the meat dishes in the kitchen. These professionals are always in charge of cleaning, cutting, preparing, and roasting the meat dishes in a perfect manner that impresses customers.

In a smaller kitchen, the meat chef prepares sauces for meat dishes. In addition, they are also responsible for using meat stocks and soups in the meat recipes.

Vegetable Chef

A vegetable chef’s workplace is the extremities station where they chop the vegetables. More than one chef manages the work in the extremities station. A potager chef is there to handle the work of making soups that are on a menu. In addition, the legume chef is in charge of preparing the vegetable dishes.

Saucier

A professional who has earned the title of a saucier is none other than the one who cooks different types of sauces. The image behind the description indicates the person who guards over different pots all day by adding seasoning and other ingredients to different sauces that eventually get dished over different entrees.

Pantry Chef

The pantry chef is also known as the garde manager and is responsible for the correct storage of ingredients and procured items. Everything from herbs and spices to flours, dairy products, ingredients for main courses, etc., needs to be available on time, and it is the duty of the pantry chef to ensure that.

Entry-Level Chef

These are trainee chefs or junior chefs who have to be involved in the actual chopping, grinding, baking, steaming, and other cooking activities. They follow the instructions of the senior chefs and execute the cooking activities.

Cooks and Chef Assistants

Line cooks

Kitchen Assistants

Short Order Cooks

The Best Way To Find Brilliant Chef Staff Members

1. Prepare A Checklist of Requirements For Each Chef Position You Want To FIll

Before you plan to hire a restaurant staff, you must prepare a checklist of your requirements for each chef position you want to fill. So, ensure that you conduct in-depth research before proceeding any further.

2. Consult With A Competent Chef Recruitment Agency

After you prepare a checklist of your requirements for each chef position you want to fill, now’s the time to consult with a competent chef workforce recruitment agency. When you intend to consult a chef workforce recruitment agency, ensure their experience in this domain.

3. Discuss Requirements, Compensation, and Types of Contracts

As soon as your consultation with the competent chef staffing recruitment agency is over, now’s the time to select the agency. It would help if you considered performing certain essentials to carry forward your job. Some of them include:

• Discussing Requirements
• Compensation
• Types of Contracts

4. Quickly Find Best-Matched Candidates Per Chef Position

After you discuss requirements, compensation, and types of contracts, it’s time to find the best-matched candidates for the chef’s position.

5. Get Help With Interview Management And Tests

Now’s the right time to get assistance with the interview management and tests after checking the applicants’ positions!

6. Finalize Candidates

As soon as you get help from the interview management & tests, it’s time to finalize the right applicants. If you need to hire a chef, consult an agency today.

Conclusion

If you want to hire chefs, Alliance Recruitment Agency is your one-stop recruitment agency. The brand is now a global chef recruitment agency where you can hire chefs for different positions.

Alliance Recruitment Agency

Alliance Recruitment Agency is a global recruitment company that has helped hundreds of restaurants acquire the right chef staff. We help new and old restaurant owners with consultation, manpower planning, and permanent and temporary chef recruitment services.

Our services have helped thousands of food service businesses, including top-class fine dining restaurants, mid-level restaurants, cafes, bakeries and patisseries, virtual kitchen owners, and other food delivery businesses.

Consult with us for your chef hiring needs!