What is the Salary Expectation for Chefs?

---

Getting the Job Done

The chef is the glue that holds a kitchen together. The chef plans the menu, oversees the various kitchen stations and trains promising candidates for top cooking positions. The kitchen may have several chefs; the pastry chef, who will work in conjunction with the head chef to prepare delicious desserts that compliments the food menu, a sous chef, who handles the kitchen when the chef isn’t present, and an assistant chef, who also helps with the menu and prepares dishes that compliment the chef’s entrees.

The executive chef has the highest position and usually arrived after years of dedicated service. Depending on the quality of the restaurant or hospitality industry, the executive chef salary can be anywhere from $47,000 at the low end of the scale, to $97,000 at the high end. The executive chef must have qualifications at a management level. The executive chef is responsible for menu development, inventory, purchasing of supplies and cost control.

Specialized Skills

While chefs are genuinely known for a wide repertoire of recipes and knowledgeable techniques in food preparation, some chefs specialize in a particular field of the food industry. Pastry chefs may devote themselves entirely to the skills of producing exquisite desserts with eggs, milk, butter, sugar and flour. The pastry chef salary can begin at $35,000 and top at $51,000 a year.

Other chef specializations include a seafood chef or a sushi chef. Because of the special training required for handling seafood, seafood chefs often have their own special department or work in restaurants dealing specifically with seafood. Seafood and sushi chefs generally begin their careers with a modest $25,000 a year income, but with experience and a good reputation, a seafood chef salary can grow to $70,000 a year or more.

The Hospitable Chef

Chefs are in high demand both within the restaurant and hospitality industry. Hotels may feature lodges, bars or diners to compliment their services. Their chefs become a part of their hospitality network, catering to banquets and dinners sponsored by groups that include business conventions, local events and wedding parties. A chef in hospitality may circulate among the guests, making sure that all are satisfied with the services and addressing special complaints.

If the hospitality chef is serving an area that caters to tourism, the chef may be expected to know about the location. A hospitality chef may be asked for tips on where to go for the best entertainment, what recreational facilities are nearby or where to find local historical landmarks. The hospitality chef salary is within the range of other chefs, with the added bonus that the chef may be working in an exciting location, catering to an International crowd, and in the center of some very festive activities.

Although the restaurant business ebbs and flows with the public’s ability to afford dining out, reputable chefs are rarely threatened by economic shifts or migration trends. They become well established within the food industry and can usually change their location with ease. Chef positions are always available in areas that cater to tourism, and in big cities where dining out on a regular basis is the norm.