The production of food is ultimately the responsibility of the Executive Chef. A brigade of staff assists the Chef and the scope of his work is largely determined by the number of restaurant outlets in the Hotel and the extent of Conference and Banqueting facilities.
The Executive Chef plays a vital role in the success of the operation and enjoys very close working relationships with all the Food and Beverage Department Managers as well as the other Hotel Executives.
An executive chef, also called the chef de cuisine or head cook, runs the kitchen in a restaurant, country club, and hotel or cruise ship. Most executive chefs manage a team of 10 or more kitchen workers. The duties of an executive chef include training staff, maintaining quality, assigning tasks, ordering supplies and planning meals.
Typically, an executive chef's day begins with menu planning. The menus must fit in with the budget allotted to the chef. The Executive or Head Chef is responsible for ordering any needed food and equipment for the kitchen. Executive chefs should make and keep good working relationships with vendors. A good head cook also keeps up with new trends in food as he or she must create new dishes and menus that are appealing to the clientele of the restaurant or other venue.
Once the dishes and menu are decided upon and any necessary supplies and equipment are ordered, the executive chef assigns tasks to his or her staff. A food preparation task may include cleaning and slicing poultry or washing and chopping vegetables. Some food is prepared and stored ahead of time to use in preparing each day's menu orders. A customer's menu order is commonly called a ticket. Executive chefs oversee the kitchen staff's preparation of the tickets going out to Guests to check that quality is maintained.