Explore
Sous & executive
Chef
Cooking becomes the smallest part of the job.
Typical pay
$50k-$95k
How you get in
Years on the line; culinary school optional
Outlook
Steady; experienced kitchen leadership is scarce
Chefs run kitchens — menus, costs, ordering, hiring and standards. Moving from cook to chef means trading knife time for spreadsheets, scheduling and being responsible for everyone else's output.
A day in the life
- 8:00aReceive deliveries, check quality and invoices
- 9:30aPrep list, then cost out a new menu item
- 11:30aFamily meal and pre-shift with the team
- 1:00pInterviews and scheduling — the constant task
- 5:00pExpedite dinner service on the pass
- 11:00pBreak down, walk the walk-in, order for tomorrow
How to get in
Up through the line
Duration
5-10 years
Cost
$0 — paid throughout
Credential
None — your track record and palate
- Work every station until you can run any of them
- Take a lead or sous chef role and learn ordering and costing
- Manage people, which is the actual skill that separates cooks from chefs
- Move to executive chef, or open your own place
Culinary school then the line
Duration
1-2 years of school, then years of work
Cost
$20,000-$60,000
Credential
Culinary arts degree or diploma
- Complete a culinary program with an externship
- Use the externship to enter a kitchen worth learning in
- Still start near the bottom — school shortens theory, not the climb
- Add food cost and management coursework if the program offers it
Chef into ownership
Duration
3-8 years after executive chef
Cost
$50,000-$500,000+ to open
Credential
Business licensing, food safety certification
- Run someone else's kitchen profitably first — prove the numbers
- Learn the full P&L, not just food cost
- Build savings and a concept with a defined audience
- Understand that most restaurants fail, and undercapitalization is the usual reason
What people love
- · Creative control over a menu
- · Real business skills — food cost, labor, margin
- · Path to owning your own place
- · Reputation travels with you
What wears people down
- · 60-70 hour weeks are normal
- · Nights, weekends and every holiday
- · Staffing is a permanent crisis
- · Salaried, so the extra hours are unpaid