chef de cuisine

noun

chef de cui·​sine ˌshef-də-kwē-ˈzēn 

plural chefs de cuisine ˌshef(s)-də-kwē-ˈzēn 

: a chef who manages a professional kitchen

… chefs need chefs de cuisine to run their kitchens, from hiring and firing to choosing between chives and chervil as the garnish for a new dish. And some do a great deal more than that.

—Julia Moskin

And the titles change with each restaurant. The top chef might be called an executive chef or chef de cuisine. The second in command might also be known as chef de cuisine (if there's an executive chef) …

—Phil Vettel

Tony Bilson, who has had a succession of artistically successful but financially rocky restaurants in Sydney, has his name on the door, but Manu Feildel, the young chef de cuisine from France, does the day-to-day cooking, and he is good.

—Harvey Steiman

compare executive chef

Examples of chef de cuisine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And so once again Hiyakawa is pausing service of its usual tasting menu to bring back a new izakaya menu from chef de cuisine Jamie Liu, who runs the kitchen, and chef Royce Appling, who oversees the sushi counter. — Connie Ogle july 30, Miami Herald, 30 July 2026

While every menu follows Thomas Keller’s philosophy, the culinary team led by Ara Jo, chef de cuisine, contributes personal influences that continue to evolve the restaurant's cuisine within Keller's framework. — Yuri Shima, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026

In its place is Sanwits, the group’s latest, a sandwich shop overseen by Eric Valdez, who was the chef de cuisine of Dhamaka before becoming the chef-partner of the Filipino restaurant Naks, the group’s other non-Indian outpost. — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 19 July 2026

The restaurant fills nightly for its contemporary takes on Shanghainese, Cantonese, and Sichuanese cuisine from chef de cuisine Elmo Han. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "head of the kitchen"

First Known Use

1798, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chef de cuisine

• acetylene
• adamantine
• adenosine
• amphetamine
• anthropocene
• apoprotein
• aquamarine
• arsphenamine
• azobenzene
• buprenorphine
• catecholamine
• chlorobenzene