A chef who makes desserts, pastries, chocolates and other sweet work, either in a kitchen's pastry section or at the head of a pastry kitchen.
A pastry chef, or pâtissier, makes the sweet side of a menu. Skills England’s occupational map sets out the scope: doughs, batters, confectionery, chocolates, biscuits, pastes and pastry, decorative work in sugar, chocolate, nougatine and pastillage, and hot, cold and frozen desserts. It finds the role largely in the pastry sections of fine-dining restaurants and hotels, and in artisan patisseries. Onisep, the French careers service, adds viennoiserie such as brioches and croissants, and notes that in a restaurant the pâtissier takes instructions from the head pastry chef or the head chef.
The title covers more than one rank. Skills England gives chef de partie (pastry), chef pâtissier, pastry chef and senior pastry chef as titles for one occupation, and ESCO, the European Commission’s classification, uses chef de partie pâtisserie as the French for pastry chef: a section chef. ESCO’s head pastry chef, also called executive pastry chef, manages the pastry staff.
In job listings
Hotel pastry kitchens have their own ladder, from pastry intern and commis through demi-chef de partie and chef de partie to pastry sous-chef, pastry chef and executive pastry chef. Listings mention desserts for restaurants, events and banquets, breads, recipe development, mise en place and hygiene. See current pastry roles.
