What is an Executive Chef?

I was 12 the first time I took over a kitchen. Not a restaurant kitchen, just the one at home. But I remember the feeling of being in charge of a meal, making decisions about what goes in and when, and watching people eat something I made. That was over 30 years ago. The executive chef role is that same feeling, except the stakes are much higher and the kitchen is a lot bigger. An executive chef manages the menu, the team, the money, and the quality of every plate. If you have ever wondered what an executive chef does on a daily basis or how someone becomes an executive chef, this is the guide I wish existed when I was starting out. I wrote it because most of what you find online about the executive chef position reads like a job listing, and that does not tell the real story.

 

What an Executive Chef Actually Does

The short answer is everything. The long answer takes a while. You might hear the role called head chef, chief chef, or chef de cuisine depending on the restaurant. In most places, these all refer to the same person.

Most people picture a chef standing at a stove, tasting sauces and calling out orders. That is maybe 30% of the job on a good day. The rest is management, logistics, and paperwork. I know that sounds less exciting, but it is the truth. An executive chef creates and updates the menu, which means developing recipes, testing them, adjusting for cost, and making sure the team can reproduce each dish consistently. They hire cooks, fire cooks when it is necessary, build schedules, run training, and deal with personality conflicts in a small hot room where everyone is moving fast and tensions run high.

Then there is the money side. The executive chef manages food costs, negotiates with suppliers, tracks inventory, and figures out how to keep quality high without blowing the budget. I have spoken with restaurant owners who are surprised at how much of the role is financial. If you cannot read a P&L statement or understand food cost percentages, you will struggle in this position no matter how talented you are at cooking.

Food safety and sanitation are on the list too. Health inspections, proper storage, FIFO rotation, making sure everyone washes their hands. Not glamorous. But one bad health score can shut down a restaurant. The head chef is the last line of defense.

And then, yes, there is the actual cooking. Tasting food during service. Checking plate presentation. Jumping on the line when someone calls out sick or the kitchen gets slammed on a Saturday night. I have always believed that a chef who will not do the same work they assign to their team is not really leading. You have to be willing to get your hands dirty. That is not optional.

How the Title Works in Different Kitchens

In a standalone restaurant, executive chef and head chef usually refer to the same job. One person runs the show.

Larger operations are different. A hotel chain or restaurant group might separate the roles. The executive chef sits at the top and handles big picture decisions across multiple outlets. They design the menus, manage overall budgets, and oversee hiring. Below them, a head chef or chef de cuisine runs a specific kitchen day to day, making sure service goes smoothly and orders come out right.

I have heard people argue about which title is more prestigious. Honestly, it does not matter much. What matters is the work. Someone who runs a busy 80 seat restaurant solo is doing just as much (and often more) than someone with the executive chef title at a corporate operation where the cooking is mostly delegated. Titles are useful for job listings, but the kitchen does not care what is on your business card.

Getting to the Top of the Kitchen

There is no single path. That is the honest answer. But there are patterns.

Most people who reach this position started young. Not always in a professional kitchen. Some started at home, like I did. Others got their first restaurant job washing dishes or doing prep work after school. The common thread is years. Lots of them. The typical timeline is somewhere around 7 to 10 years from entry level to executive chef. I know chefs who did it in 5 and others who took 15. It depends on where you work, how fast you learn, and if the right opportunities show up at the right time.

Education

Culinary school is not mandatory. I want to be clear about that. Some of the best chefs I know never went. They learned everything on the job, in busy kitchens, from people who were better than them. But a formal education does help. It gives you a foundation in technique, food science, nutrition, and kitchen management that would take years to piece together otherwise. If you are considering this route, these are some of the best culinary schools in America and they produce graduates who are genuinely prepared for professional kitchens. A bachelor’s degree in culinary arts opens more doors at the corporate level, though plenty of executive chefs hold associate degrees or certificates instead.

The real education happens in the kitchen. School gives you the theory. Work gives you the instincts.

Working Up Through the Ranks

Line cook. Lead cook. Sous chef. Then, if you are ready, executive chef. That is the traditional ladder. Each step teaches something the previous one could not.

As a line cook, you learn to move fast, stay organized, and execute recipes with consistency. You are focused on your station and nothing else. As a lead cook, you start thinking about the bigger picture. You manage a section and begin mentoring newer cooks. The sous chef position is where real leadership starts. You are running service, handling schedules, managing inventory, and training staff. It is basically the executive chef role with training wheels. Most of the chefs who struggle at the top are the ones who skipped or rushed through the sous chef years. That step matters.

If you are just starting out and wondering where to begin, becoming an apprentice chef is one of the most practical first moves. You learn by doing, which is how most successful cooks got their start.

Working in Different Kitchens

This is advice I wish someone had given me earlier. Do not stay in one kitchen for your entire career. Fine dining teaches precision. Casual restaurants teach speed. Hotels teach scale. Catering teaches logistics. Each type of kitchen builds a different muscle, and the best executive chefs are the ones who have trained all of them.

The Money

Executive chef salaries in the United States generally fall between $70,000 and $110,000 a year. That is a wide range, and where you land depends on a lot of things. A head chef at a small independent restaurant in a mid size city might earn $55,000 to $65,000. A chef running multiple outlets for a luxury resort or hotel group can earn $120,000 to $150,000 or more.

New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami tend to pay more. Cost of living is higher in those cities, so the salary bump does not always translate to more money in your pocket. I have known chefs in smaller markets who live more comfortably than chefs making 30% more in a major city. It is worth thinking about.

Beyond salary, many chefs get bonuses, health benefits, and sometimes profit sharing or ownership stakes. A chef who co-owns the restaurant ties their income to how well the business does. Great years mean great money. Bad years mean you might be the last person to get paid. You can learn more about pay at different levels in this overview of average chef salaries.

The Part Nobody Talks About

The hours. Let me just say it plainly. This is not a 9 to 5 career. It is not even close. Most executive chefs work 50 to 60 hours a week. During holidays, special events, or if you are short staffed, it can be more. You will miss family dinners. Birthdays. Weekends. That is the trade off.

It is physically demanding too. Standing all day in a hot kitchen. Moving fast for 10 or 12 hours straight. Burns, cuts, sore feet, aching backs. The kitchen is not kind to the body. I have been cooking for over three decades and I feel it. The younger cooks bounce back quickly. Give it 20 years and you will understand what I mean.

I am not saying this to discourage anyone. I am saying it because you need to go in with open eyes. If cooking is just a job to you, this career will wear you down. If cooking is something you genuinely love, the long hours feel different. Still tiring. But different.

Where Executive Chefs Work

Restaurants are the obvious answer, but the role exists in a lot of places people do not think about. Hotels, resorts, cruise ships, corporate dining halls, hospitals, universities, country clubs, and private households all hire executive chefs. Some chefs oversee food programs at retirement communities. Others run kitchens for tech company campuses. The White House has one. The options are broader than most people realize.

Each setting comes with its own challenges. A restaurant chef has a fixed menu and regular service. A hotel chef might juggle a fine dining outlet, a casual cafe, room service, and banquets all at once. A catering chef works different events every week. The variety is one of the best things about the profession. If you get restless, there is always somewhere new to go.

What Happens After

Not every executive chef stays in the position forever. Some open their own restaurants. Others move into food and beverage director roles. Consulting, recipe development, food writing, teaching, content creation. The leadership and business skills you build as a head chef transfer to a lot of other paths. Understanding culinary arts at a deep level opens doors that go well beyond the kitchen. I built Panlasang Pinoy after years of cooking experience, and that same foundation is what makes the content work. The habits that make a great chef are the same habits that make a great entrepreneur, teacher, or creative professional.

More Culinary Career Resources

• What is a Sous Chef? – The second in command role and what it involves.
• How to Become an Apprentice Chef – A practical starting point for beginners.
• How to Become the Chef de Cuisine – The path to leading a full kitchen brigade.
• Sous Chef Training Overview – What training looks like for the second in command.
• How to Become a Personal Chef – An alternative career for chefs who prefer working with individual clients.
• How to Become a Saucier Chef – A specialized role that builds toward senior kitchen positions.

The executive chef position is not a title you apply for fresh out of school. It is the result of years spent cooking, learning, failing sometimes, and getting back at it. Every kitchen teaches you something. Every chef you work under shows you what to do or what not to do. Pay attention to both. Start where you are, cook as much as you can, and be honest about what you still need to learn. That is how it works. It has always been that way.