2.3: Food Service Positions and Job Titles

Back of House

Efficient kitchens are well-organized kitchens. Most kitchens are organized into stations or sections, with each responsible for preparing different food or menu items. All the stations together form what is called the line. Usually, each station on the line has a separate name, but job titles often reflect the experience and the skills of the cook. This can be a bit confusing. For example, in larger establishments the positions of first cook, second cook, and third cook are common, but the skills and qualifications of people with these job titles can vary from restaurant to restaurant, and in some cases may be linked to salary structures within the collective agreement of a union. As well, many people call themselves a chef when they are in reality a cook in a restaurant or someone who has taken culinary training.

The traditional hierarchy of the kitchen is a system called the brigade, created in France in the 19th century by Auguste Escoffier. Although most modern restaurants do not follow the traditional brigade system to the letter, many of the positions in restaurants are still referred to using the French terminology. Read the full listing of job titles in the traditional brigade online.

Table 2 lists job titles from the brigade system that are still in common use and describes how they fit into the modern restaurant structure. Important titles to know are bolded.

Table 2. Kitchen positions

Traditional Title	Modern Alternatives	Duties
Chef, Chef de Cuisine	Kitchen manager	In charge of the whole kitchen
Sous-Chef, Executive Sous Chef	None	Second in command of the kitchen; supervises when the chef is absent
Chef de Partie	Section cook	In charge of a section or station
Entremetier	Vegetable station	Preparation of vegetables, starches, and accompaniments
Saucier	Sauce or sauté station	Preparation of sauces, hot appetizers, and finishing most entrées
Garde Manger	Salad station, cold kitchen	Preparation of cold kitchen items such as salads and cold appetizers
Tournant	Swing cook	Rotates between stations in the kitchen
Pâtissier	Pastry cook/Pastry chef	Preparation of desserts
Poissonier	Fish station	Preparation of fish and seafood
Grillardin	Grill cook	Preparation of grilled or broiled items
Cuisineur	Cook, Line cook	Preparation of a wide variety of foods
Commis	Junior cook	Preparation of a wide variety of foods

Front of House

A similar structure exists in the front of the house, with restaurant and dining room managers having their own teams of servers, hosts/hostesses, bussers, and bartenders to serve guests. The traditional brigade hierarchy also covered the front of house positions, and is still commonly used in France to this day, but only two have remained in common usage in Canada, namely maître d’hôtel (or maître d’ for short) and sommelier. Typical front of house positions and responsibilities are listed in Table 3.

Table 3. Front of house positions

Title	Alternatives	Duties
Maître d’/Maître d’Hotel	Dining room or restaurant manager	In charge of the front of the house
Sommelier	Wine steward	Responsible for maintaining wine lists and the ordering and service of wine
Server	Waiter/waitress	Takes orders, leads service
Busser	None	Sets and clears tables
Host/Hostess	None	Seats guests and often processes payment
Bartender	None	Prepares drinks and beverages
Expediter	Food runner	Brings food to the table from the kitchen