sous-chef

noun

ˈsü-ˌshef 

variants or sous chef

plural sous-chefs or sous chefs

: the top assistant in a professional kitchen

The typical restaurant kitchen is set up so the absence of the head chef is not felt in the dining room. It is the assistant, the sous-chef, who is usually in charge of production, with the head chef the administrator and creative force.

—Florence Fabricant

The relationship between chef and sous-chef can be a particularly intimate one, for instance, and it's nice to have someone with a similar background and world-view when you're going to spend almost every waking hour together.

—Anthony Bourdain

Examples of sous-chef in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The family of one of my sous-chefs is very involved in the creation of Japantown in San Francisco, and that’s just amazing to me. —Jessica Carbone, Saveur, 3 Apr. 2024

Dodin jumps in as a sous-chef, taking the time to teach a young girl, Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire), a potential apprentice with a perfect palate. —Katie Walsh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Feb. 2024

First, while a sous-chef was permitted to assist Baci with the prep work and cleaning the kitchen area, Baci herself had to do all the cooking. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 14 June 2023

Working as sous-chef at the Boonville Hotel in Anderson Valley, Krissy Scommegna observed a general principle of the restaurant. —Naoki Nitta, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Apr. 2023

Another person, identified as a sous-chef at Phillips Seafood, dived into the water and broken open a window to rescue the driver. —Lilly Price, Baltimore Sun, 22 Mar. 2023

The new head chef is Umberto Herrera, who has worked in the kitchen since Conti and Degan first opened La Ciccia; the sous-chef, Edilberto Martinez, is likewise a 17-year veteran. —Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Feb. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, short for sous-chef de cuisine "second in command of the kitchen"; sous "under," preposition and prefix, going back to Old French suz, soz, going back to Latin subtus "in a lower position, underneath, below," derivative of sub "under" with -tus as in intus "inside, within" — more at up entry 1, chief entry 3, cuisine

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above