Introduction to the Food Production Department.

The Food Production Department is a crucial division within the hospitality and food service industry. It encompasses various roles involved in the preparation, cooking, and presentation of food. The department is responsible for ensuring the quality, taste, and safety of the food served to customers. It typically operates within the kitchen area of restaurants, hotels, catering companies, and other food establishments.

The Kitchen Hierarchy 

By order of authority, here’s the basic list. This order varies in some restaurants and kitchens. For example, the Pastry Chef will have quite a bit of value in a restaurant that’s famous for its desserts. Sometimes the kitchen hierarchy isn’t strictly followed by a restaurant kitchen at all, and many restaurant owners find their own systems to make sure the kitchen runs smoothly.

In any case, the usual kitchen hierarchy has given restaurant owners a kind of structure they can depend on while bringing on new talent. Here are all the chef positions that fall under the authority of the executive chef:

• Chef de Cuisine or the Head Chef is usually the one in charge of the menu and the kitchen in general in the absence of an executive chef position. In that case, the owner themself has a more managerial role in the restaurant and the Head Chef handles all food related things. In many cases, the terms Head Chef and Executive Chef are used interchangeably, but a lot of people like to differentiate between the roles.
• Sous Chef or the Deputy Chef answers to the Head Chef in all matters kitchen related and is more involved in the day to day affairs of the kitchen. If the Executive chef and the Head Chef are the top management in the kitchen, you could say that the sous chef  was middle management.
• Chef de Partie or Station Chefs are the people who prepare the food that goes out to the customers in a restaurant. There are multiple station chefs who are all in charge of a single station, each station being in charge of a certain food category. Station chefs are usually supervised by the specialist chefs, we’ll talk about them in a few minutes.
• Commis Chef or Junior Chefs are there to learn. Most commonly, they’re either culinary arts students hoping to gain some experience or inexperienced newcomers in the food industry.