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What seperates a sous chef from a executive chef?

whats the difference in their responsibilities.

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Michael’s Answer

Hi Kendall:

The Executive Chef (also known as the Chef de Cuisine) is the Head Chef of the kitchen. He or she oversees the entire kitchen staff, the quality and frequency of the food prepared; creating the dishes on the menu; food inspection; maintaining food purchases and inventories and coordinating food deliveries; hiring and training personnel; budgeting, etc. The Executive Chef is fully responsible for all the operations within the kitchen from all aspects of food to the cleanliness of the facility.

The Sous Chef is the second in command of the kitchen to the Executive Chef. He or She is more hands-on, is more involved and manages a staff of assistant chefs, cooks, line preparers, food runners and other kitchen workers. The Sous Chef fully runs the kitchen in the absence of the Executive Chef.

Here is a link from www.CulinarySchools.org that explains the different types of Chefs in the kitchen:

https://www.culinaryschools.org/chef-types/context/api/listings/prefilter

Hope this information is helpful!
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Howard’s Answer

Both are titles for the person running the kitchen. Sous Chef means second Chef. When the Executive chef is not there the Sous chef is in charge.
Not all kitchens are big enough or have a large enough staff to have all of the positions in an organizational chart. The jobs depend on haw the management is structured and how many people you have on staff. The jobs should be defined by the job description for each person working in the business. I hope this helps you.
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Howard’s Answer

Sous Chef means second chef. That means you are the right hand of the executive chef. When he or she is not there you are in charge. That is a good position to work for. Because it will give you experience in organization, management and work skills you will need to become a chef.
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Amalya’s Answer

Sous chef spends more time for preparing the meals, while an executive chef mainly oversees the work of a sous chef. Hierarchically speaking, the executive chef has more power and authority than the sous chef. One more thing: Sous chefs have more responsibilities and things to do than the executive ones.
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Albert’s Answer

It really depends on the operation and the needs of the exec chef. In an independent restaurant (where I work) the sous could be doing anything from leading the line while the exec chef works on their administrative duties, helping with some of the admin duties, or doing all of the admin duties while the exec chef always stays in the kitchen. For me, I do anything that directly involves money (i.e. placing orders, scheduling my workforce) while I have my sous chef do the more tedious admin work like inventory counts. This gives me a good balance between being in the kitchen and office. However, a hotel operation might see a sous chef doing all of the administrative duties for a specific department while the exec chef oversees multiple departments.
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Keyston’s Answer

Well, just like how I oversee the maintenance company, in the culinary world, a sous chef supports the executive chef. The executive chef is like the leader, responsible for creating menus, managing the kitchen, and making big decisions. The sous chef assists, supervises the kitchen staff, and helps execute the chef's vision. It's kind of like how I support my wife's business as a supervisor.
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