What is the role of a sous chef in a kitchen?

The role of a sous chef is primarily to assist the head chef and oversee kitchen operations. This position serves as a critical link between the head chef and the kitchen staff, often taking on various responsibilities that include managing staff performance, ensuring that food is prepared correctly and efficiently, and maintaining the quality and presentation of dishes. The sous chef typically steps in when the head chef is absent and may be involved in training new staff, scheduling shifts, and organizing kitchen workflow to maintain productivity.

While planning the menu, handling customer complaints, and managing inventory are important functions within a kitchen, these tasks are generally the responsibilities of other positions or may be secondary duties for the sous chef. The sous chef focuses more on the day-to-day operations of the kitchen rather than on direct customer interaction or stock management, although they may have some input in these areas as part of their support role.