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

With a third-place finish in the vegetarian category, Cunningham Restaurant Group chef de cuisine Collin Hilton won’t make the trip to Arkansas to reclaim his WFC title. —Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 20 Oct. 2025

The dinner event features a four-course meal by executive chef Bryan Stuppy and chef de cuisine Alex Miranda. —Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2025

But the kitchen, overseen by Curtola along with the chef de cuisine Ben Zook, seems more interested in conjuring an authenticity of atmosphere than in adhering strictly to traditional recipes or preparations. —Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2025

Taylor Stark is its chef de cuisine. —Miguel Otárola, Denver Post, 15 Sep. 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
• adenosine
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• anthropocene
• antipyrine
• apomorphine
• apoprotein
• aquamarine
• arsphenamine
• azobenzene
• buprenorphine
• chlorobenzene