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Long before we had the sit-down restaurant experience we know today, fine dining was a highly exclusive affair reserved for aristocrats—who could afford to spend six hours of their day eating food. The idea that great cuisine could be served quickly and cost-effectively for large groups of customers didn’t become mainstream before the 1800s.
Then along came Georges Auguste Escoffier. The “king of chefs,” as one German magnate called him, invented the brigade de cuisine or “kitchen brigade.” Escoffier realized that if each kitchen worker specialized in different tasks, a restaurant could scale its operations and serve many more customers without sacrificing consistency and quality. Let’s look at some of the roles in this kitchen hierarchy.
Positions in the Brigade de Cuisine
Technically, there are more than 25 types of chefs who could work in the kitchen under the brigade de cuisine. However, every kitchen is a little different, as are the types of chef jobs available. Generally speaking, these are some of the most common positions in the kitchen brigade system:
Meet the Key Players in the Brigade System
- Chef de Cuisine: Oversees all kitchen operations, menu planning, and ingredient selection.
- Sous Chef: Manages kitchen staff, scheduling, and acts as second-in-command.
- Commis Chef: Assists chefs de partie (head line cooks) and does the bulk of the cooking.
- Pâtissier: Creates desserts and manages pastry staff.
- Garde Manger: Prepares cold dishes and artistic food presentations.
- Entremetier: Focuses on vegetables, hot appetizers, and starches.
- Boucher: Butchers meats, manages meat inventory.
- Poissonnier: Handles and cooks all fish and seafood dishes.
- Saucier: Specializes in sauces, stews, and stocks.
- Aboyeur: Coordinates orders between the dining area and kitchen.
- Plongeur: Washes dishes and maintains kitchen cleanliness.
Chef de Cuisine (Executive Chef): The Leader of the Kitchen
To put it simply, the executive chef is in charge of the entire kitchen. Executive chefs—also known as chefs de cuisine or head chefs—prepare the menu, decide what ingredients to purchase and oversee the operation as a whole. They may act as kitchen expediters, meaning they help ensure that food coming out of the kitchen is correctly made and designated for the appropriate table. Executive chefs may also add finishing touches such as a drizzle of balsamic extract or a swirl of berry compote.
The Chef de Cuisine oversees the bustling kitchen with a blend of leadership and culinary expertise.
The executive chef is one of the most highly respected and coveted positions in the kitchen, which means it’s one of the harder statuses to achieve – and usually one of the highest paying positions. In order to occupy this station, you may need a wide array of culinary, communication, leadership, and business skills – many of which can be gained through a culinary education. Much responsibility falls on the shoulders of this role, but the reward can be fame when the restaurant gains acclaim.
Sous Chef (Deputy Chef): The Versatile Second-in-Command
The sous chef is second-in-command in the kitchen. They have a hand in just about every kitchen operation, including overseeing all of the other chefs in the kitchen, creating staff schedules, handling inventory management, enforcing safety standards, aiding in equipment maintenance and being ready to hop on any station as needed.
A sous chef must be able to weave in and out of practical tasks and leadership seamlessly – at one moment ordering out-of-stock ingredients and the next, expertly communicating with a team member about their punctuality. In many ways, the sous chef is responsible for supporting the head chef at all times, whatever form that takes. They play a crucial role in the kitchen and are heirs apparent to head chefs.
Garde Manger (Pantry Chef): Expert of the Cold Kitchen
The garde manger role is uniquely responsible for preparing chilled dishes like hors d’oeuvres, salads, charcuterie boards, caviars, and pâtés, to name a few. The person in this position must have a blend of culinary expertise, creativity in food arrangement, and expert food handling skills since their dishes must stay cold.
Patissier (Pastry Chef): Skilled in the Art of Desserts
The pastry chef is responsible for creating the dessert menu, helping to select ingredients and suppliers, overseeing pastry cooks and collaborating with the head chef on menu development.
Fine restaurants typically hire a pastry chef to run the dessert department. The person in this position may work independently or may be responsible for supervising a team of pastry cooks. Food presentation and intricate plating are often skills required or expected from pastry chefs.
The Patissier meticulously prepares chocolate mousse and other desserts, ensuring each swirl is perfect.
Saucier (Sauce Chef): The Sauce Expert
Don’t let the name fool you. While the saucier is indeed responsible for whipping up all the sauces needed for the restaurant’s various menu items, they also work on soups and stews, stocks and broths, gravies, and even the occasional pasta or dessert. They must possess the knowledge and skill to season sauces to perfection and ensure they’re just right consistency-wise.
Commis Chef (Line Cook): The Backbone of the Kitchen
Line cooks are the workers who do the bulk of the actual cooking. Many restaurants will have a head line cook for each station, also known as a chef de partie, who oversees apprentices for that station. Line cooks will typically need to have a host of culinary skills, including all the basic cooking techniques like grilling, sautéing, frying, roasting, and braising, as well as knowledge of flavors and seasonings, knife skills, and more.
Commis Chefs are the backbone of the kitchen, diligently prepping and cooking at their stations.
Additionally, line cooks and apprentices need to be team players, willing to jump in where and when needed. For this reason, many of them may have attended or could be currently attending culinary school – which can help them hone their practical culinary and business skills.
Line cooks and their apprentices are usually assigned to one or more of the following stations, either on a permanent or a rotation basis:
- Fry station.
- Grill station.
- Saute station.
- The cold-service station (in charge of salads, cold appetizers and sometimes soups).
- Pastry or dessert station.
There may be many more stations depending on the restaurant – including a soup station, a fish station, a sauce station, and a vegetable station.
Auguste Escoffier’s Legacy
Besides the brigade de cuisine, Auguste Escoffier left many other contributions to the culinary arts:
- He codified and documented recipes for the five mother sauces, known in French as sauces mères, from which many other sauce recipes were derived.
- He created peach Melba (pêche Melba) and Melba toast in honor of Australian singer Nellie Melba, as well as bombe Néro, baisers de Vierge, salad Réjane, and many other famous French dishes.
- He created the system of organization known as mise en place, which involves preparing one’s workspace with the tools and ingredients needed for things to run seamlessly in the kitchen.
Prep Cooks: The Culinary Foundation
Last but not least, prep cooks do a lot of the preliminary work, like peeling and chopping vegetables. Some restaurants will task line cook apprentices with prep tasks, while others staff designated prep cooks.
At the very least, having knowledge of mise en place – the organizational system that keeps the kitchen running smoothly – is pretty crucial for prep cooks. In fact, prep cooks’ sole job might be to arrange the ingredients and equipment that higher-level cooks and chefs need.
*Information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors, such as geographical region or previous experience.
While some culinary students are fortunate to find jobs as a line cook or even a sous chef right out of school, many others benefit from working as an apprentice or a prep cook to get a foot in the door at a reputable, fine-dining restaurant and move up the ranks.
Other Positions in the Brigade de Cuisine
Besides the chef jobs in the brigade, there are a few others that don’t necessarily include the same type of culinary work. Depending on the size of the kitchen and the speciality of the restaurant, you may also see these positions in action.
Boucher (Butcher): The Meat Craftsperson
The boucher, or butcher, is responsible for delivering high quality cuts of meat for the dishes being prepared by the brigade chefs. In days of old, this may have included slaughtering the animals, but today, most bouchers are cutting and grinding the meat to restaurant standards – trimming, slicing, and dressing until it’s up to par.
Bouchers may also be responsible for tracking inventory on the meat ingredients specifically and ordering when quantities are low. They might inspect incoming inventory for defects. And they certainly must keep their workspace and tools sanitized, as handling raw meat requires the utmost attention to cleanliness.
The Boucher expertly prepares poultry and other meats with precision and care.
Entremetier (Vegetable Chef): Head of the Vegetables
This chef is tasked with preparing all vegetable dishes, ranging from salads and appetizers to main courses. In busy, complex kitchens, this station may be split further into two roles: the Legumier, who handles, prepares, and cooks raw vegetable ingredients, and the Potager, primarily responsible for crafting soups. With the increasing popularity of plant-based dining, having an expert in all things vegetable is essential.
Poissonnier (Fish Chef): Captain of the Catch
Specializing in fish and seafood dishes, this chef handles everything from filleting to cooking. This role is crucial in kitchens that emphasize seafood. If a kitchen doesn’t have a dedicated saucier, this person may also be responsible for creating seafood stocks as well as accompanying sauces.
Aboyeur (Expediter): The Order Orchestrator
If you’ve ever had your food delivered to your table by someone other than your server, they could have very well been the Aboyeur. This person is responsible for ensuring that the correct food order makes its way from the kitchen to the correct table, and is placed in front of the correct patron.
Alternative terms for this position include Food Runner or Food Expeditor. This role includes finesse with timing to make sure that the entire course is delivered to the diners at the table at once, rather than in piecemeal fashion. Originally, the Aboyeur announced the orders to the kitchen, but these days most restaurants use advanced technology or ticketing systems for that task.
Seamless service: The Aboyeur ensures every dish meets perfection before making its way to the table.
Last but not least, a special shout-out to the Plongeur, or dishwashers, the unsung heroes of the kitchen. They keep everything clean and ensure the kitchen’s operations run smoothly.
Got Your Eye on a Role in the Kitchen Brigade?
If any or all of these roles appeal to you, consider launching a career in the culinary industry. The typical path of a culinarian involves working one’s way up through the ranks of the kitchen hierarchy. At each level in the brigade de cuisine, you acquire more knowledge, skills, and experience to help you succeed in the next role.
A foundational culinary education can go a long way in preparing you for that first rung of the ladder. Explore the culinary arts degree and diploma options available from Escoffier. Whether you earn your education online or on one of our campuses, you can invest in your future and help set yourself up for success as you work your way up the ranks.
Enjoyed this article? Try these next:
- How to Become a Chef: The Complete Guide
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- Culinary School Pros and Cons: How to Decide If It’s For You
This article was originally published on November 5, 2019, and has since been updated.
*Information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors, such as geographical region or previous experience.
