A Commis Chef is a junior Chef with little or no experience working in a professional kitchen. Most Chefs started in the Commis position before slowly working their way up the kitchen ranks.
In this article, we discuss the Commis Chef role, including Commis Chef’s responsibilities, requirements and everyday tasks and duties.
What Is a Commis Chef?
Commis Chefs do everything a Chef de Partie asks of them. This can include preparing ingredients, kitchen maintenance, restocking inventory, cleaning and sanitizing the kitchen.
While previous cooking experience is recommended to get a cooking job in this role, you can become a Commis Chef with little to no work experience. Instead, showcasing hard work and willingness to learn can be enough to get your culinary career started.
In most cases, restaurants are willing to provide culinary training to eager candidates who are willing to work hard and learn the craft hands-on.
Commis Chef Job Responsibilities
As already mentioned, Commis Chefs are Junior Chefs who do everything higher-up Chefs ask of them. They can be under the supervision of the Chef de Partie, the Sous Chef or even the Head Chef.
Some of the responsibilities of a Commis Chef include:
- Wash, chop and cut fruit, vegetables and meats
- Measure, mix and prepare ingredients, seasonings and sauces
- Take care of inventory and restock if necessary
- Take care of kitchen equipment
- Report problems to higher-up Chefs
- Get rid of spoiled items
- Make sure the kitchen is clean
- Watch Chefs work whenever possible to learn
- Assist with handing over plates to Kitchen Porters
Commis Chef Requirements
You don’t need a high level of formal education to become a Commis Chef. In fact, a high school diploma is the only thing you’ll need in most cases.
Some high-end establishments, however, may require a year or two of work experience in a kitchen role or at least a restaurant role.
To work and succeed as a Commis Chef, you’ll need a specific set of soft skills. For example, you’ll need to have good communication skills. Professional kitchens can be stressful to work in. As such, you might get yelled at by a Senior Chef whenever you make a mistake, and you’ll inevitably make mistakes when learning.
Use those opportunities to learn and improve. Remember to not take things personally. Make sure you’re always calm and communicate back in a clear and respectful manner. In most cases, senior Chefs will appreciate that you can perform under stress and may take a liking to you, helping you advance your culinary career.
In some states, you’ll also need to have a good understanding of food, health and safety regulations. There are Food Handling Certificates that you can acquire from the State Food Safety program.
Last but not least, you should be physically capable of lifting heavy items. After all, you’ll be responsible for restocking a lot of kitchen inventory. Also, you’ll be spending the majority of your work time on foot, so you need to be in decent physical shape to work as a Commis Chef.
Commis Chef Career Progression
Once you’ve paid your dues as a Commis Chef, you can get promoted to a Demi Chef de Partie. A Demi Chef de Partie is an assistant who mainly prepares food at their specific station. A Demi Chef de Partie can be responsible for preparing specific dishes under the supervision of the Chef de Partie.
If you’ve reached the rank of Demi Chef de Partie, the next step up is becoming a Chef de Partie. Also known as Station Chef or Line Cook, a Chef de Partie is in charge of a specific cooking station. In most kitchens, they’re also responsible for training the Commis and Demi Chef de Partie.
Depending on the type of kitchen, there can be several types of cooking stations. Examples of cooking stations include fry station, grill station, vegetable station, pastry station, sauce station and roast station.
After becoming a Chef de Partie, you can look forward to becoming a Sous Chef. Sous Chefs are second in command in commercial kitchens. They oversee all the stations and assist Head Chefs with menu planning and scheduling.
Once you’ve proven yourself a capable Sous Chef, you can look forward to becoming a Head Chef. Head Chefs are in charge of all kitchen operations. While their day-to-day tasks can vary based on where they work, their general responsibilities are the same.
As a Head Chef, you’ll be responsible for creating new menu items, quality-checking every dish that comes out of the kitchen and supervising and hiring all kitchen staff.
In most cases, you’ll also coordinate with ingredient suppliers, equipment vendors and even Restaurant Managers to ensure the restaurant is profitable.
If you do your job well enough, you might become an Executive Chef. Executive Chefs share most of the same responsibilities as Head Chefs, but they typically deal with the administrative and business side of running a kitchen (or multiple kitchens). They’re culinary “visionaries” of entire restaurant kitchen chains and are responsible for the creative directions of professional kitchens.
