Hospitality & Services

Chef Resume Example (2026): Sample for Line Cooks, Sous Chefs and Head Chefs

By EZProCV Editorial Team · Updated

This chef resume example is for cooks moving up the line, sous chefs and head chefs in restaurants, hotels, catering and institutional kitchens. You get a complete sample resume, summaries for three levels, before-and-after bullets, the skills and keywords recruiters look for, and notes for applying in the UK, the Gulf and India.

A kitchen hires on evidence: how many covers you handle, how you control food cost, whether you can lead a brigade and keep a clean inspection record. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics describes chefs and head cooks as overseeing daily food preparation, planning menus, checking freshness and sanitation, ordering supplies and hiring and training staff, and notes that most have 5 years or more of related experience, often as a line cook (BLS).

BLS reports a median pay of $62,470 for chefs and head cooks in May 2025 and projects 7% employment growth from 2025 to 2035, with about 25,200 openings a year. Your resume should show you already do the job you want next.

Use this resume template — freeSee the example

Quick answer: A strong chef resume opens with a short summary naming your cuisine, kitchen type and level (line cook, sous chef, head chef). List roles in reverse order with bullets that show covers per service, food cost percentage, menu development, team size and inspection results. Add food safety certificates, culinary training and core skills such as menu costing, inventory and HACCP. One page is enough for most cooks.

Chef resume example

A complete, ATS-friendly example. Names and companies are fictional.

Sofia Romano

Sous Chef, Modern Italian and Seasonal Menus

Toronto, ON, Canada · sofia.romano@example.com · +1 555 0153 · instagram.com/sofiaromano.example

Summary

Sous chef with 9 years in high-volume and fine-dining kitchens, specializing in fresh pasta, whole-animal butchery and seasonal Italian menus. Run a brigade of 14 across 220–300 covers a night and own ordering, scheduling and food cost, which I brought from 34% to 28.5% in 18 months. Red Seal Cook with a spotless public health inspection record. Ready to step into a chef de cuisine role.

Experience

Sous Chef · Osteria Lume

Toronto, ON · Feb 2022 – Present

  • Lead a brigade of 14 cooks and dishwashers across 220–300 covers a night, keeping average ticket times under 14 minutes on weekend services.
  • Reduced food cost from 34% to 28.5% in 18 months through yield testing, a new par-level system and whole-animal butchery in-house.
  • Co-developed 4 seasonal menus a year with the chef de cuisine, including a pasta program that now accounts for 38% of food sales.
  • Maintained zero critical infractions across 9 public health inspections by running daily HACCP logs, temperature checks and allergen training.
  • Cut staff turnover in the kitchen from 6 departures to 2 a year by building station training guides and a clear promotion path for line cooks.

Chef de Partie, Grill and Pasta · Harbourfront Grand Hotel

Toronto, ON · May 2019 – Jan 2022

  • Ran grill and pasta stations for a 180-seat restaurant and banquets of up to 450 guests, plating 600+ dishes on peak event nights.
  • Trained 8 commis cooks on knife skills, station setup and recipe specs, 3 of whom were promoted to chef de partie.
  • Wrote standardized recipe cards with costing for 45 dishes, helping the hotel keep consistency across three shifts.
  • Reduced daily produce waste by about 20% by introducing first-in, first-out labeling and a shared prep list.

Line Cook · Fennel & Fig Bistro

Hamilton, ON · Aug 2017 – Apr 2019

  • Worked sauté, garde manger and brunch stations in a 90-seat bistro serving 250+ covers on weekends.
  • Prepared stocks, sauces and pastry components daily for the full menu, and covered the pastry station during staff absences.
  • Earned "Cook of the Quarter" twice for speed, consistency and station cleanliness.

Education

Diploma, Culinary Management, Lakeshore College of Applied Arts, Toronto, ON · 2017

Skills

Menu development and costing · Food cost control · Inventory, ordering and par levels · Kitchen brigade leadership · Staff scheduling and training · HACCP and food safety · Allergen management · Fresh pasta and Italian cuisine · Whole-animal butchery · Banquet and event production · Recipe standardization · Vendor relationships

Certifications

  • Red Seal Cook (Interprovincial Standard)
  • Food Handler Certification (Ontario)
  • WHMIS Training
  • First Aid and CPR

Languages

English (Fluent) · Italian (Native)

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Chef resume summary examples

Entry-level

Line cook with 2 years of experience on sauté and grill in a 120-seat casual restaurant serving 200+ covers on weekends. Culinary diploma graduate with a current food handler certificate, sharp knife skills and a reputation for keeping a clean, organized station during the rush. Eager to learn from a strong kitchen team and move toward chef de partie.

Mid-level

Sous chef with 9 years in high-volume and fine-dining kitchens. Lead a brigade of 14 across 220–300 covers a night, own ordering and scheduling, and cut food cost from 34% to 28.5%. Red Seal Cook with a clean inspection record and experience writing seasonal menus.

Senior

Executive chef with 15 years leading kitchens in restaurants and hotels, including a 3-outlet property with a $4.2M annual food budget and 40 culinary staff. Build menus, set food and labor cost targets, open new outlets and develop sous chefs into head chefs. Consistent record of profitable menus, strong reviews and clean audits.

Chef resume bullet points: weak vs strong

WeakStrong
Cooked food on the line.Ran the sauté station for 250+ covers on weekend nights, keeping ticket times under 12 minutes.
Responsible for ordering.Managed ordering for 6 vendors and set par levels that cut food cost from 34% to 28.5% in 18 months.
Helped make menus.Co-developed 4 seasonal menus a year, including a pasta program that now drives 38% of food sales.
Kept the kitchen clean.Ran daily HACCP, temperature and allergen logs, achieving zero critical infractions across 9 inspections.
Trained new staff.Trained 8 commis cooks on station setup and recipe specs; 3 were promoted to chef de partie within a year.
Worked banquets.Plated 600+ dishes on peak banquet nights for events of up to 450 guests with no service delays.

Skills for a chef resume

Hard skills

  • Menu planning and development
  • Recipe costing and food cost control
  • Inventory management and ordering
  • HACCP and food safety compliance
  • Allergen management
  • Knife skills and butchery
  • Sauces, stocks and baking basics
  • Banquet and catering production
  • Kitchen staff scheduling
  • Labor cost control
  • Plating and presentation
  • Recipe standardization

Soft skills

  • Leadership under pressure
  • Clear communication on the pass
  • Time management
  • Teamwork
  • Creativity
  • Physical stamina
  • Calm problem-solving

Tools and software

  • Kitchen display systems (KDS)
  • POS systems (Toast, Square, Lightspeed or similar)
  • Inventory and recipe costing software
  • Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets
  • Scheduling apps
  • Combi ovens and sous-vide equipment
  • Food safety logging apps

ATS keywords for chef resumes

Use the terms that appear in the job ad you're applying to — exactly as written — wherever they truthfully describe your experience. These come up most often for this role:

  • chef
  • sous chef
  • head chef
  • executive chef
  • chef de partie
  • line cook
  • menu development
  • food cost
  • recipe costing
  • inventory management
  • HACCP
  • food safety
  • ServSafe
  • food handler certificate
  • kitchen management
  • staff training
  • high-volume kitchen
  • fine dining
  • banquets
  • catering
  • allergen management
  • labor cost

How do you write a chef resume summary?

A chef summary should say four things in three or four lines:

  1. Level and years: line cook, chef de partie, sous chef, head chef or executive chef.
  2. Kitchen type and cuisine: fine dining, hotel banquets, high-volume casual, catering, healthcare or school food service.
  3. Scale: covers per service, number of outlets, brigade size, food budget.
  4. Proof: a food cost result, a menu success, inspection record or award.

Sous chef with 9 years in high-volume Italian kitchens. Lead a brigade of 14 across 300 covers a night and cut food cost from 34% to 28.5%. Red Seal Cook with a clean inspection record.

Keep adjectives to a minimum. "Passionate" means little to a hiring chef; covers, cost and consistency do.

What achievements should a chef put on a resume?

O*NET lists the core tasks of chefs and head cooks as monitoring sanitation, instructing cooks on preparation and presentation, supervising kitchen staff, ordering food and supplies, and inspecting equipment and work areas (O*NET). Turn each task into a result.

Task Measure it with
Running a station or the pass Covers per service, ticket times
Ordering and inventory Food cost %, waste reduction, vendor savings
Menu development Number of menus, dish sales mix, reviews
Leading staff Brigade size, turnover, promotions from your team
Food safety Inspection results, audit scores, zero critical findings
Events Guest counts, number of events, banquet revenue

Use your own kitchen numbers. If you don't have exact data, use honest ranges and be ready to explain them at a trial shift.

Which food safety certificates should a chef list?

List every current food safety credential with the issuing body. BLS notes that some states and localities require a food handler's certification, and that other certifications are optional but may lead to advancement.

  • US: a food handler card, and for supervisors a food protection manager certificate such as ServSafe Manager.
  • Canada: your provincial food handler certification and, if you hold it, the Red Seal Cook endorsement.
  • UK and Ireland: Food Hygiene and Safety certificate (Level 2 for cooks, Level 3 for supervisors).
  • Gulf: the food safety training your municipality requires, such as Dubai Municipality's Person in Charge (PIC) certification for supervisors.
  • India: FSSAI food safety supervisor training (FoSTaC) for supervisors.

Add allergen awareness, first aid and fire safety if you have them.

Should a chef include a portfolio or photos of dishes?

Not inside the resume. Photos of food break ATS parsing and take up space. Instead, add a link to a portfolio or a professional Instagram account in your header, and keep it to plated dishes and menus you actually created. Mention notable menus or events in a short Projects line if they matter for the role.

For Gulf hotels that ask for a profile photo, use EZProCV's optional photo field and keep it a professional headshot in chef whites.

How long should a chef resume be, and what format works?

One page for line cooks and chefs de partie; up to two pages for executive chefs with multi-outlet or pre-opening experience. Use a reverse-chronological format with these sections: Summary, Experience, Skills, Certifications, Education.

A clean single-column layout reads well on a phone, which is often how a busy head chef reviews applications between services. Pick a simple design from the EZProCV templates. If you are moving from the kitchen to front-of-house leadership, also see the operations manager resume example.

How a chef resume changes by country

US & Canada

Use "resume", one page and no photo. List your food handler card or ServSafe Manager certificate; in Canada add Red Seal status, which signals a national standard. Mention cuisine and covers early because many hiring chefs skim on a phone.

UK & Ireland

Use "CV" and UK kitchen titles (commis chef, chef de partie, sous chef, head chef). List your Level 2 or Level 3 Food Hygiene certificate, allergen training and any AA Rosette or guide recognition the kitchen holds, saying clearly it is the restaurant's award. See the UK CV format guide.

Gulf (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)

Hotel groups in the Gulf usually expect nationality, visa status, notice period and often a photo. Highlight hotel, banquet and multi-outlet experience, pre-openings and international cuisines, and list municipality food safety certification such as Dubai's PIC. See the UAE resume format and Qatar CV format guides.

India

Indian hotels and cloud kitchens look for a Bachelor's or diploma in Hotel Management or culinary arts, hotel-chain experience and FSSAI-related food safety training. Name the cuisines you specialize in (Indian regional, continental, pan-Asian, bakery) and the scale of the outlet. See the India CV format guide.

Common chef resume mistakes

  • Writing "passionate about food" instead of showing covers, cost control and menu results.
  • Leaving out food safety certificates or listing expired ones.
  • Not naming your cuisine or kitchen type, so a hotel can't tell if you have banquet experience.
  • Using job titles the reader doesn't recognize; use standard ones (line cook, chef de partie, sous chef) and the employer's title if they differ.
  • Pasting dish photos or a colorful design into the resume. Link a portfolio instead.
  • Unexplained gaps between seasonal jobs. Label them clearly, such as "Seasonal contract, May–Sep".

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Frequently asked questions

Lead with culinary school, a food handler certificate and any kitchen exposure: a dishwasher or prep job, catering events, volunteering in a community kitchen, or school hospitality courses. Show reliability, cleanliness and speed. Apply for commis, prep cook or line cook roles first. Our student resume example shows how to present part-time work.
A sous chef resume shows execution and team leadership on service: covers, ticket times, training and ordering. A head chef resume adds ownership of the business side: food and labor cost targets, menu strategy, hiring, budgets and supplier negotiations. Write the summary for the role you want and lead with matching results.
Yes, if they are real and relevant, but be precise about credit. Write "Sous chef at a restaurant awarded two AA Rosettes" rather than claiming the award yourself. Competition medals, published menus and media features you were part of can go in a short Awards line.
Not always, but a short one helps when applying to hotels, fine-dining restaurants or abroad. Mention the cuisine you cook, one result such as food cost or covers, and why the kitchen interests you. You can write it with the free EZProCV cover letter builder.
BLS lists business skills, communication, creativity, dexterity, leadership, physical stamina, a keen sense of taste and smell, and time management. On a resume, prove these with menu costing, team size, ticket times and consistency rather than listing them as single words.
Ten to fifteen years is usually enough. Older or short kitchen jobs can be grouped in one line, such as "Earlier roles: line cook positions in Hamilton, 2012–2016". Keep detail for the roles closest to the job you want.

Related resume examples

Sources

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