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

Shaun King, chef de cuisine at Uchi’s Charlotte, North Carolina, location, notes that peas are frozen at peak ripeness, which preserves both sweetness and nutrients. —Amber Love Bond, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2026

Chef Shaun King, chef de cuisine at Uchibā Charlotte, expressed a similar sentiment. —Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 27 Jan. 2026

The Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta has hired a new chef de cuisine for its restaurants, Brasserie Margot and Bar Margot, according to a news release. —Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 10 Jan. 2026

The kitchen is headed by chef de cuisine Jackson Rouse, formerly of Bauer European Kitchen, Downtown. —Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 3 Dec. 2025

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
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• antipyrine
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• aquamarine
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• azobenzene
• buprenorphine
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