What Is A Sous Chef?

What makes a sous chef great? Or how about even good? What does that mean, "sous chef"? Who are they and why are they necessary? Where does the sous chef reside in the hierarchy? When do you say yes to becoming a sous chef? Can you become a Chef without first being a sous chef? Can you become a sous chef if you've never been a line cook?

Who writes the sous chef's job description? What are the sous chef's duties? When does a sous chef punch in, and will he ever punch out? Will the sous chef put out fires or will she start them?

Sous. What does it mean?

        What does it really mean?

When you are a sous chef you are Middle Management. You are between a rock and a hard place. You have a little power, but not all of it. You have a dash of authority, and maybe a pinch, but rarely an armloadful. Sometimes your chef will back you, and sometimes not. {But your job is to back your chef, no matter what. At least in front of the kitchen. What you discuss or fight about behind closed doors is on you, or the two of you.} The sous chef and chef are to look like a unified front. On everything and everywhere.

You work too many hours. It's a thankless position. You want to be a brother among cooks on the line but the truth is you can't always be their friend. In fact it's a good idea if you try not to make too many.

The sous chef is somewhere between chef du partie and chef de cuisine. It's a stepping stone. It tests your mettle. And every emotion you own.

The sous chef is the chef when she's absent. The sous chef is the chef when he's hungover from the night before. The sous chef is the seer of all things, taster of all mis en place, receptacle of all blame, babysitter, mother and father of all cooks, translator of all languages, orderer of all goods, trainer of all below and herder of all above in rank. The sous chef is therapist, dominatrix, Priest, coach, coxswain and Captain.

The concept is that the sous chef has been in your shoes, could do a better job at filling them than you, but can get you to be as good as her. The sous chef has an eye on the chef's job, but never lets on. That sous chef, he's good at being all things to all people.

        It's a hard position.

Being a sous chef has little to do with the title and all to do with what you make of it.

    Step the fuck up, if you're the sous chef.

Want to be a sous? Then show me you're the sous. Want my respect?

Earn It.

Cook your ass off. Organize your station better than I would. Stop whining. Turn problems into solutions. Take challenges and ride them one handed. The bull threw you? Get up and get back on. Ask for help when you need it. Rally support that's available to you. Work cleaner every day. Create systems and implement them. Learn stations you've never known.

Get out of your comfort zone. You love working saute but hate grill or pantry or pastry? Then get over there. Learn something new every day. Ask questions of those who you think know less than you, and those who know far more.

Being a sous chef is a verb. Conjugated. An action verb.

Manage like your life depends on it.

Because it does. I've seen kitchen coupes and they're not pretty.

Coax out all the best traits from your cooks and temper the not so good ones. Think every day about how you can better the kitchen. Still whining? Call yourself a line cook then. If you can't see beyond the space between your own eyebrows, you're not a sous chef.

A sous chef has eyes in the back of his head. She gets to the kitchen before anyone else and leaves last. He has lists upon lists and he's translated them all into Spanish too. A sous chef is the chef whether her chef backs her or not. Too scared to stand up to your chef? You're still a line cook.

        Middle Management Is Not For The Meek.

The sous chefs shoes are so large they need to be contracted out to a special cobbler. You own a notebook and you write everything down. Everyone's questions and suggestions start and end with you when you're the sous. She who is the sous has no friends. He who is the sous never rests.

In some restaurants the sous chef is the poor hack who will work all the thankless hours. The person who has no life anyway so what will a 90 hour week mean anyway? That sous chef is preparing your raw meat and seafood on the same cutting board. She comes to work hungover and he calls into work sick from the drunk tank. No one respects that sous chef, they just put up with said person.

There are sous chefs who sleep with someone to get the title. Or they've been working pantry for 10 years and it's time for a change. There are sous chefs who can't taste when the soup is burnt and their chefs expedite every night so it doesn't matter because everyone is asleep at the wheel.

But if you're a cook who wants to be someone one day

please

work somewhere where the sous chef is a verb in action. A graceful line cook. An efficient and supportive expeditor. A clean cook and a well versed gastronomist. An agile butcher and a humble dessert novice. A good communicator. A talented walk-in organizer. A person who can meet deadlines. A person who can do and think about dozens of things at the same time. A Juggler.

A sous chef can admit when he's wrong, and she can take flack for mistakes she didn't make.

A sous chef is building a stronger ego. Every day. Adding a stick to the nest.

For when she has to hold onto that heavy capital letter C. For when he has to truly step up and man the stoves and steer the ship. For when she has to keep the restaurant from hitting the rocks even though she knows every night will be a rocky ride.

    For our industry,

no matter how organized, how efficient, how passionate, how prepared, we are; how good at being listmakers, how many t's we cross and i's we dot, how we show up every day more prepared than the day before,

is full of inexplicable turbulence. Adrenaline, tears, sweat, fear, tears seep out of our pores. And then. We try and go to sleep.

And wake up. And do it again.

It's the game.

Can you play it?

I'm so tired of sous chefs who not only don't know what they're doing, but have no idea even what it means.

Sous. Under. Beneath. Second-In-Command.

You chef is absent? Step up. Your kitchen is dysfunctional? Try and help it out. Payroll is bouncing? Go to the labor board and collect pamphlets in Spanish and English. Know your rights too. The owner is sleeping with all the waiters who are filing sexual harassment suits? Do the right thing. The proteins are being stored at too warm of temperatures? Ice them down. There aren't enough stock pots? Go buy one and get paid back or don't.

    Remember: it's your job to solve problems, not just notice them.

No one in the kitchen knows how to manage worth a damn? Think back. Who was your most favorite grade school teacher? Which high school math teacher turned you on to geometry? Did you ever have a chef who you thought brought out the best in you? That chef appeared to have done it without working too hard. Magic hands. Psychic powers. Was mean, with love.

Conjure that person, those people. Learn from them and attempt to transmit. Consider yourself a vehicle for one very hard life lesson. You may have to crash into the same wall over and over to learn it, but it's there for each of us to learn, if we choose to.

The sous chef must also know the cuisine the chef is making. Even if said cuisine doesn't come naturally to sous chef. You don't have to love the dishes, but you better be able to like and taste and feel them because it will be your job to execute the chef's wishes down to a grain of salt when the chef walks away from the line, restaurant, kitchen.

Don't know anything about the chef's palate? Ask questions. Have no comprehension about why the chef has chosen to work within the confines of this cuisine? Ask questions. Want to know more about the ineffable why and not just the boring hows? Ask questions.

The chef wants you to learn more slowly? Go to a library. Make Google your friend. Buy cookbooks. Eat at other similar restaurants. Learn something for fucks sake. A good sous chef knows her place and he knows when the pool exceeds his height.

Know lineage. Who did that chef work for before? The sous chef must climb inside the portal of the chefs mind.

The sous chef must be both omniscient and naive. Smart and stupid. Egomaniacal and humble.

When you're the sous chef it's your job to support the whole kitchen. The pantry guy is in the weeds? Pick parsley. Dishwasher is down? Get out the toolbox. Dishwasher walked out? Roll up your sleeves.

If you want to be The Chef one day, being sous is your practice. If you want to own your own place one day, being sous is your practice. If your culinary education is sorely lacking in the sweet area, go in on your days off or an hour early and help the pastry chef out.

Favors are usually returned with favors.

Sous Chef.

Two small words. Monosyllabic. Innocuous. Mild mannered words. Well dressed, shirts tucked in. Good haircut, but not too expensive. Stands tall. Excellent posture. Easy voice & diction. Polite but not a doormat. Jazz club with a dress code. A-line skirt. Monogrammed stationery. Thank you notes and modest affect.

But Superman by night. Cat Woman after a blink of a quick change. A yes man and girl friday. Firefighter and single mom.

Sous Chef. You are invisible to the public. The chef's seamlessness and greatness is your pride. The kitchen's loyalty is your medal. The systems you leave behind are your gift.

Your integrity is yours to keep.

Comments

[Rich]

I hate you...

I love you...

I hate you...

I love you...

As I have commented before about your thought provoking posts...You give me things to think about myself, and hate about myself...and so I hate you.

But it gives me a reason to examine the things I have done/do...and so I love you.

Keep it up and do more of the same.

[Dave]

Well written, well said. Thank you. I was slightly moved. Now I head back to my little corner and to continue peeling these favas.

[Weston]

Being a Sous my self A good read as always but my favoriute lines

"...When you are a sous chef you are Middle Management. You are between a rock and a hard place. You have a little power, but not all of it. You have a dash of authority, and maybe a pinch, but rarely an armloadful. Sometimes your chef will back you, and sometimes not. {But your job is to back your chef, no matter what. At least in front of the kitchen. What you discuss or fight about behind closed doors is on you, or the two of you.} The sous chef and chef are to look like a unified front. On everything and everywhere...."

and

"...The sous chef is the chef when he's hungover from the night before..."

As always good points stuff to think on

[Bin]

Shuna, I haven't commented here before, but I have been lurking for a while. A recent graduate from college (history, of all things), I'm struggling to start on the path to chefdom.

I'm trying to start in my small town, but while I'm here with the only real friends I've ever had, my options for good restaurants, ones that are cooking for food and not for profit or gimmickry, are limited. Without any previous experience, I'm alternately pleading and waiting, hoping that someone is willing to make the space and take the chance so that I can show in action a determination that I'm unable to express through words.

For the time being, I'm doing my best to avoid bills and offers from turn-and-burn kitchens manned by shoemakers. By virtue of my lease, I'm committed to a year here, and with luck someone will take that chance in time. Please keep writing; it keeps me strong of will...

[melvis]

Wow. As usual, a brilliant post.

Well worded.

Please go on tour and preach to the masses.

Hell, I'll pay for an infomercial on the Food Channel if you would bring the soapbox.

Very Very Well Done.

AMEN

[cellobunny]

I think this post is the best job description of a sous chef I"ve read in awhile. Especially since the term mean so many different jobs at different places. I hope a cooking school picks this one to have students read so they have a better understanding of what steps they need to become a chef and really understand what it means to live up to the title rather than just have a title. Good explanation.

Cellobunny,

Thank you so much for reading. I learn so much from your comments as well. And what you think means a lot since you've been at this, strong and steady, for a long time.

Yes, isn't it amazing that very few explanations of this important title exist? ~ Shuna

[craig]

why do you not have a book out yet? seriously.

Craig, I f you can figure out how I can pay my rent & health insurance while I write a book, I'm all ears... ~ Shuna

[Evan Elliot]

Dang! Love those details, metaphors, short sentences, nouns and verbs. Oh, and insight. Thank you!

[kane]

After 14 hours of just that....

Thank You!

[Nathan]

Very nicely put.

[Joe Fish]

Shuna,
So much to say and well said as usual.

The only thing I might add is that the real purpose of the walk-in refrigerator (other than to have sex) is for the sous and chef to disagree. I once saw a sous and chef go into a walk-in together, only to have the sous emerge ten minutes later, get a knife and go back in.

They both came out smiling, but the skate was off the menu.

[Jon]

I love your blog. You tell it like it is and hold nothing back. As a at home cook with culinary aspirations you really give me great insights into the business. Now, if only I could win the lottery so I could afford to work for free to learn some real skills.

Thanks for opening my (and I am sure other's) eyes to the reality of life in the kitchen.

[chadzilla]

Not much I can add, Shuna.

That was quite a mouth-full.
I guess the bottom line is being humble... for a sous chef, and for a chef. Everyone's opinionated, but not fully educated.

Love food above all. But love life even more. A chef wants a sous chef to be better than him/her-self.

[chadzilla]

... wait, wait, wait...
I just thought of one...
"Being a sous chef means that the cooks, bar-back, and assistant servers will all drive better cars than you... even though you work far more hours than they do, and you have to answer for the shit that they screw up."
It's a sad reality. Did you ever think that those little embroidered letters on your dirty white jacket would cost so much of your soul?

[Randy]

Shuna there have been a couple of posts here that really moved me to the point of needing to respond. Having worked together some of them I just didnt feel comfortable losing my internet virginity for... but this one, and the "chefs that work the line" have moved me as close as any egotistical male chef will ever come to tears... it so emphasizes the CHEF's need to motivate... we will lay down on a bed of nails for you if you are a worthy chef, and I think any worthy chef is humble enough to roll up their sleeves as you say for another... inspiring writing, inspiring food keep up the fight shuna...

[Randy]

Shuna there have been a couple of posts here that really moved me to the point of needing to respond. Having worked together some of them I just didnt feel comfortable losing my internet virginity for... but this one, and the "chefs that work the line" have moved me as close as any egotistical male chef will ever come to tears... it so emphasizes the CHEF's need to motivate... we will lay down on a bed of nails for you if you are a worthy chef, and I think any worthy chef is humble enough to roll up their sleeves as you say for another... inspiring writing, inspiring food keep up the fight shuna...

[Richie]

A sous chef needs to be whatever the Chef isnt being, at any given time...the good cop when he's the bad cop...an ambassador when he's being a dictator. Rewards are few and far between, and usually come in the form of the cooks under the sous doing well.

You say it so much better than I do.

Thanks for writing this.

[Rusty]

Wow.

You know how hard it is to describe a "sous chef" position to people who ask what exactly it is that you do?

This sums it up in a very big nutshell.

You have given me new light in how I look at and do my daily job.

Saying "Thank you" would not even come close on how happy you made the rest of my day feel!

Looking forward to whatever else lurks in your culinary mindset!

[Dayna]

This is why I religiously check into your blog... and why I returned to a home kitchen. Truth hurts but at least it's not bullshit.

[Roberto N.]

You work up yet another masterful post, and the timing couldn't have been better. You give me something to mull over before walking into that next job.

[Tartelette]

I just got home and headed straight over here for a little soul fixing. I just emailed your post to the sous chef I worked with tonight. There is a big festival in town right now and he has been working his tail off(talk about 15 hours a day average) because the ex.chef is not pulling his weight anymore. He was at his witt's end until I pointed the obvious to him: everybody in the kitchen right now would walk over fire for him to make sure that things get off smoothly. Not because they need the money (well, not only) but because of the things he has done and decisions he has made lately. He needs to read this he was so done and depressed...this piece is brilliant. Thank you!

[H. Alexander Talbot]

I cannot tell you how important these words have been recently and how they are continuing to help me improve as a person and a cook. In context, do the right thing for a sous chef and even a line cook becomes even more important in the current world of become a chef as fast as possible. That is not the right thing. Also, trying to become a chef, have your own specials, create a name for yourself in another chefs kitchen is not doing the right thing. Mind you if you disagree with the chef, the environment etc, have a conversation. Shit or get off the pot. After the conversation you will know what to do, it is the doing which is difficult.

[kelly]

I think i need a beer now! Ive just been promoted to sous chef and im having a wk off first, after reading this i think i should just run and keep running!

Wish me luck.

[graham wright]

very interesting description. i'm not a chef or work in the industry but i've held a position similar in engineering. now i work for myself as a goldsmith. the years training and working in an environment constantly changing keeps the brain cells working and hungry for more. always thinking "whats my next step?" is a good way to stop the grass from growing on you. thanks for a great article

[robert hunt]

I think you just turned me on! Well said. Way to step the fuck up.