Restaurant chefs are perhaps the most noticeable employees in any food establishment. The mere presence of a kitchen staff member, clothed in traditional chef “whites,” creates an aura of professionalism. This is especially true in fine dining establishments. Patrons expect that the higher prices they pay for meals at these upper scale eateries stem in large part from the expertise of the chefs who prepare them.

Hiring chefs for your establishment is no small concern. Licensed chefs today complete years of rigorous on the job training coupled with expensive formal training at costly schools. Most culinary school graduates don’t expect to stop at the sous chef level but plan to advance to First Chef and Executive Chef positions. If you must hire a chef for your restaurant or corporation, research some basic facts about this intriguing profession:

1. Aim high by choosing top restaurant chefs.

2. Discover what salaries restaurant chefs expect to earn.

3. Hire a personal chef for short or long-term use.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Identify the cream of the crop among restaurant chefs

If you're looking for the best chef that money can buy, consulting professional rankings is the easiest route to go.

I recommend: Chef2Chef ranks the 100 top chefs working in the United States. Food and Wine Magazine has been selecting the best new chefs of the year for the past twenty years. Find the results on its comprehensive website. Michelin Maps and Guides publishes the Michelin Guide, perhaps the world’s most famous ranking of restaurants and chefs. Contact Michelin Maps and Guides for their latest reports.

Find standard salary ranges for a restaurant chef

You'll need to decide how much compensation your operating budget can offer a chef.

I recommend: Pay Scale posts the salary survey for executive chefs on its comprehensive website. The survey bases the salaries on the chefs’ years of experience. All Culinary Schools has compensation ranges for executive chefs and executive pastry chefs, based on average reported earnings. Culinary Institutes provides a closer look at chefs’ salaries and breaks those salaries down according to the particular chef job—such as a sous chef, pastry chef and executive chef.

Find personal chefs through online databases

You may need to hire a chef for a single catering event or for your business.

I recommend: HireAChef.com lets you search for a personal chef or one-time chef by zip code. It also offers a hiring guide that suggests specific topics to address when you interview a prospective chef. American Personal & Private Chef Association also offers a searchable database to locate chefs by state. Customers who have used this Association gave it high marks for its ability to identify chefs who operate at the highest professional levels.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Chefs' salaries represent a considerable operating cost for any establishment. Before hiring a chef, make sure you've pinpointed exactly what role the chef should play, as this will determine his salary. For example, chefs who prepare foods, or sous chefs, make substantially less than executive chefs who can actually manage the entire kitchen.