A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term chef de cuisine, the director or head of a kitchen. Chefs can receive formal training from an institution, as well as by apprenticing with an experienced chef.
Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-Antoine Carême, one of the codifiers of French haute cuisine; Escoffier's achievement was to simplify and modernize Carême's elaborate and ornate style. In particular, he codified the recipes for the five mother sauces. Referred to by the French press as roi des cuisiniers et cuisinier des rois, Escoffier was a preeminent figure in London and Paris during the 1890s and the early part of the 20th century.
A sous-chef de cuisine, or simply sous-chef, is a chef who is "the second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef." Consequently, the sous-chef holds much responsibility in the kitchen, which can eventually lead to promotion to becoming the head chef. A sous-chef is employed by an institution that uses a commercial-grade kitchen, such as a restaurant, hotel, or cruise ship.
Christine Cushing is a Canadian celebrity chef and television program host. Her television debut took place in May 1998 when she was working at a small food company and a TV producer approached her, asking her to audition for one of his new shows. She hosted Christine Cushing Live and Dish It Out on Food Network Canada, and Fearless in the Kitchen on the Oprah Winfrey network in Canada.
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television is ultimately the primary way for a chef to become a celebrity, some have achieved this through success in the kitchen, cook book publications, and achieving awards such as Michelin stars, while others are home cooks who won competitions.
Paul Prudhomme, also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had formerly owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote 11 cookbooks.
James Tanner is an English chef and television personality, best known for co-owning the Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth and cooking on various TV programmes.
Brigade de cuisine is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels employing extensive staff, commonly referred to as "kitchen staff" in English-speaking countries.
Éric Frank Ripert is a French chef, author and television personality specializing in modern French cuisine and noted for his work with seafood.
Jun Tanaka is an American-born Japanese-British television chef, best known for presenting Channel 4's Cooking It as well as appearing in Saturday Kitchen on BBC One. He was the third Grand Champion of the American competitive cooking show, Chopped.
Simon Bryant is an Australian chef. Bryant featured alongside South Australian Maggie Beer on the ABC program The Cook and the Chef. The show aired more than 150 episodes over four years, attracting more than 600,000 viewers nationally per week.
A kitchen maid or kitchen girl is a young housemaid, or other junior female domestic worker.
Lisa Goodwin-Allen is a British chef best known for being executive chef of the Michelin-starred Northcote restaurant. She was also one of four winning chefs on season five of the BBC cooking show Great British Menu.
Note by Note cuisine is a style of cooking based on molecular gastronomy, created by Hervé This. Dishes are made using pure compounds instead of using animal or plant tissues. Hervé This said the cuisine is like "a painter using primary colours, or a musician composing electroacoustic music, wave by wave, using a computer".
Olia Hercules is a London-based Ukrainian chef, food writer and food stylist. In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine she initiated a programme of fundraising, for individuals and for UNICEF.
Georgios Evlampios (Akis) Petretzikis is a Greek celebrity chef. Born and raised in Thessaloniki, he started working on the family business when he was 16 years old. When he turned 18, he moved to Athens to study Accounting and Finance in the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. He also started studying in a culinary school. In 2006, he moved to the United Kingdom where he worked for 5 years. In 2010, he returned to Greece to take part in the competitive cooking show The Master Chef. Six months later he was named the 1st Greek Master Chef. He appeared in the morning show To Proino Mou from 2012 to 2014. From 2012 until 2014 he worked as a Head Chef in Michel Roux’s restaurant Avenue Bistro in the Metropolitan Hotel. In 2014, he started his own web cooking show on his YouTube channel, Kitchen Lab. He also started Akis’ Kitchen, an English-language web cooking show. Since 2014, he has hosted various cooking shows: Kan’ to opos o Akis, Istories apo ti lista, Mia valitsa gemati gefsis, Ready, Steady, Cook (2016–2017), and Kitchen Lab (2017–2019). Since 2015, he is collaborating with Fresh One Productions making recipes for Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube channel. He is one of the 15 official affiliates of the channel. Petretzikis is the CEO of Akis Petretzikis Ltd – a company that publishes cooking magazines and books, produces cooking shows, runs restaurants and an e-shop with various gifts and kitchen products, designed by himself.
Floyd Cardoz was an Indian-born American chef. He was born in Mumbai. He owned the New York City eatery Paowalla and was executive chef at Tabla, as well as victor on Top Chef Masters Season 3 in 2011. His New York restaurants were known for food melding Indian flavours and spices with western cuisine.
Dan Hong is an Australian chef, restaurateur and television host. He is the executive chef at a number of restaurants under the Merivale company.
