A cook in charge of one section of a kitchen, such as sauces, fish or pastry, usually supervising a small team under the sous-chef or head chef.
In a brigade kitchen, the work is split into sections, and a chef de partie, also called a section chef or line chef, runs one. Skills England’s apprenticeship standard names the pastry, larder, butchery, fish, sauce and vegetable sections, and describes a chef de partie who prepares, cooks and finishes complex dishes, supervises a small team, oversees deliveries, hygiene and waste, and helps the sous-chef and head chef refresh the menu. In a small kitchen, the chef de partie may be the only cook in the section.
Onisep, the French careers service, gives the ladder in a large kitchen: commis, first commis, demi-chef de partie, chef de partie, second and chef. A chef de partie answers for one section; the sous-chef, or second, is the kitchen’s second-in-command in the words of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, supervising the cooks and running the kitchen when the head chef is absent.
In job listings
Chef de partie is a standard title in hotel and resort kitchens, with demi-chef de partie, commis and assistant roles below it. Listings ask for running a station, coordinating its junior cooks, HACCP and hygiene, and stock and waste control. See current chef de partie roles.
