4 Best Restaurant Resume Examples and Templates for 2026
5 Best Chef Resume Examples and Templates for 2026
By Andrew Stoner
, Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner
Last Updated:
June 23, 2026
Tip !
A clean credentials block and a covers-per-service number near the top are what get chef resumes past a thirty-second manager scan; specific food cost percentages are what make them readable enough to advance to a stage.
Featured Example
Why this resume works
- Numbers tied to the bottom line: Cutting food cost from 34% to 28.6% and lifting average check by $14 shows the kind of impact owners actually care about.
- Promotions tell the story: Two stage progressions on one resume make the candidate look reliable without needing to say so.
- Covers and brigade size give scale: 180-220 covers and a brigade of 7 tells a reader exactly what kind of kitchen this person can handle.
Commis Example
The commis resume is for cooks one to two years in, often fresh out of culinary school or a stage. It needs to prove knife skills, station prep speed, and that you can hold mise en place through a full service without falling behind.
Why this resume works
- Honest about experience level: The candidate doesn’t oversell, but shows steady work and a real externship in a respected kitchen.
- Specific prep numbers: 18-22 prep items and 40 lb of fish per week tell the chef this cook understands volume, not just recipes.
- Shows curiosity beyond the shift: Self-led tasting notebook signals a cook who wants to learn rather than just clock in.
Chef de Partie Example
The chef de partie resume is for cooks running a station solo, usually three to five years on the line. It needs to show the stations you own (sauté, grill, garde manger), covers per service, and the menu items you execute from prep through plate.
Why this resume works
- Stations and covers are specific: Naming saute and fish stations plus 240-310 weekend covers tells a chef exactly what this cook can run.
- Stepped up without the title: Covering 14 sous chef shifts shows trust from leadership and readiness for the next role.
- Trained the cooks below them: Promoting two commis cooks shows leadership traits chefs look for before promoting someone to sous.
Sous Chef Example
The sous chef resume is for second-in-command kitchen leaders managing schedules, ordering, and line execution under the executive. It needs to prove brigade size led, food cost and labor percentages held, and the dishes or specials you developed and rolled out.
Why this resume works
- Big single-event revenue number: $48,500 from one 12-course event proves this sous chef can run a high-stakes service that actually makes money.
- Industry recognition shows up: The Michelin recommended listing is a credibility marker no buzzword can replace.
- Balanced front-of-stove and back-office skills: Labor cost, scheduling, and menu writing show the candidate can do the unglamorous work that sous chefs are actually hired for.
Executive Chef Example
The executive chef resume is for kitchen leaders owning menu, P&L, and the full brigade across one or more concepts. It needs to lead with covers, food cost percentage, labor percentage, and revenue growth tied to menus you launched.
Why this resume works
- Revenue and headcount give real scale: $9.4M in F&B revenue and a brigade of 34 instantly tell an owner what level this candidate operates at.
- Cut turnover with a real plan: Dropping turnover from 71% to 42% shows the candidate fixed a hard people problem, not just cooked good food.
- Award and rating credibility: Forbes 4-star recognition is a specific, verifiable outcome that proves senior-level culinary judgment.
Text Version Chef
Camille Beaumont-Ortiz
Asheville, NC | (828) 555-0119 | [email protected] | linkedin.com/in/camillebeaumontortiz
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Chef with 12 years of progressive kitchen experience from commis through sous chef, now leading a 60-seat farm-to-table restaurant. Strong on seasonal menu writing, food cost control, and building brigades that stay. Opened one restaurant from build-out, ran a tasting menu program for 4 years, and have been featured twice in regional food press.
EXPERIENCE
Chef de Cuisine
Foxglove Hollow | Asheville, NC | 2022-Present
- Lead all culinary operations for a 60-seat seasonal restaurant doing 140-180 covers Wednesday through Saturday.
- Write a new menu every 6 weeks built around two partner farms within 30 miles of the restaurant.
- Hold food cost at 29.4% on a menu where 70% of produce is local and price-volatile.
- Manage brigade of 9 cooks and 2 dishwashers, including weekly one-on-ones with each cook.
- Featured in Garden & Gun and Asheville Made magazine in 2023 as part of a regional chef profile.
Sous Chef
Quillberry Tavern | Greenville, SC | 2019-2022
- Ran weekday dinner service for a 110-seat gastropub doing $4.3M in annual sales.
- Co-managed a brigade of 12 with the executive chef, owning scheduling and the weekly inventory.
- Launched a Sunday roast program that grew Sunday revenue by 38% over its first 6 months.
- Trained 3 line cooks who were later promoted to chef de partie roles inside the same group.
Chef de Partie, Pasta
Cantina Salvatori | Atlanta, GA | 2017-2019
- Owned in-house pasta program at a 90-seat trattoria, producing 6 fresh shapes daily.
- Cut pasta prep time by about 22% by reorganizing extruder workflow and prep par sheets.
- Plated 70-110 pasta covers per night across saute and pasta-finishing stations.
- Helped develop two limited-run tasting menus tied to white truffle and tomato seasons.
Line Cook
Heron’s Crossing Restaurant | Savannah, GA | 2015-2017
- Worked grill, saute, and pantry across a two-year run in a coastal Southern restaurant.
- Promoted from prep cook to line within 7 months.
- Built fluency in low-country technique, including shrimp and grits at scale and whole-fish presentations.
Commis Cook
Rosewater Bistro | Charlotte, NC | 2013-2015
- Started as morning prep at a 70-seat French bistro and rotated through pastry and garde manger.
- Completed in-house training on the 5 mother sauces and basic patisserie.
- Selected for a 2-week stage at a Michelin one-star restaurant in Lyon, France in 2014.
EDUCATION
- A.A.S. in Culinary Arts, Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte, 2013
- Certified Sous Chef (CSC), American Culinary Federation, 2020
- ServSafe Manager Certification, current through 2026
SKILLS
- Seasonal menu development
- Farm and vendor sourcing
- Food cost and yield analysis
- Pasta and bread programs
- Whole-animal butchery
- Tasting menu execution
- Brigade hiring and scheduling
- Cook training and mentorship
- Toast POS and MarginEdge
- HACCP and ServSafe compliance
- Press and chef-collaboration events
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How to Write a Chef Resume
01 Open with a profile that names your kitchen scope
Your profile should state your years on the line, the venue type you’ve cooked in (fine dining, hotel, banquet, country club, fast-casual), and the cuisine or station you’re known for.
Name covers per service and brigade size in the same paragraph. A sous chef at a 220-cover bistro reads differently than a sous chef at a 60-seat tasting room, and executive chefs want that scope before the bullets. Close with the menu work you own: seasonal rotations, tasting menus, or banquet pivots.
02 Quantify covers, cost, and pace
Chef work runs on volume and margin, so lean on scope numbers rather than vague phrases.
Strong bullets name covers per service, average ticket times, brigade size, food cost percentage, and labor percentage. A bullet that reads ‘ran sauté for 180 covers a night, held tickets under nine minutes’ beats ‘responsible for sauté station’ every time. If you don’t have exact percentages, use ranges or volume language: cases of produce per week, prep lists for 12-station banquets, 40-cook brigade across two services.
03 Group the work into stations, menu, and cost
Bundle bullets under three or four categories so a chef de cuisine can scan them in seconds.
Use station execution (sauté, grill, pastry, garde manger, butchery), menu development (seasonal changes, specials, tasting menus, allergen substitutions), cost control (food cost, waste tracking, vendor negotiation, inventory), and team leadership (hiring, scheduling, training, line discipline). Order the categories by what the posting weights most. A hotel banquet role wants volume and consistency; a chef-driven concept wants menu and sourcing.
04 Put food safety credentials on page one
Executive chefs and owners need to see ServSafe Manager, allergen training, and any state or county food handler card before they read your bullets.
Put a small credentials block under your profile with the certification name, issuing body, and expiration year. If you hold a culinary degree (CIA, Johnson and Wales, ICE) or an ACF certification (CC, CSC, CCC, CEC), list it there too. Tools like Toast, Resy, BlueCart, and MarginEdge belong in a skills strip near the credentials so the resume clears keyword scans early.
05 What to cut from your chef resume
Drop short stages over five years old, banquet halls you covered for one shift, and any line that reads ‘passionate about food.’
Cut the objective statement and any generic phrasing about teamwork or fast-paced environments. Replace them with a covers number, a food cost figure, or a menu launch. If your resume runs past two pages and you’re under executive chef, trim early prep cook roles to a single line and let your last two positions carry the weight.
Most Popular Skills on Chef Resumes for 2026
ATS filters catch more chef resumes than ever in 2026. The skills below come from our user-built chef resumes. Station and cuisine terms clear the first cut, and leadership language around brigade and pace decides whether the resume advances.
Executive chefs and owners weight hard skills like food cost control and ServSafe up top, then read soft skills as evidence behind your bullets. Match the list below against the posting, and use soft skills to frame, not replace, your numbers.
| Soft Skills | % of resumes with this skill |
|---|---|
| Leadership | 78% |
| Time management | 65% |
| Communication | 41% |
| Creativity | 35% |
| Attention to detail | 27% |
And here are the top hard skills showing up most often.
| Hard Skills | % of resumes with this skill |
|---|---|
| Food safety and HACCP | 75% |
| Menu development | 53% |
| Knife skills | 41% |
| Kitchen management | 38% |
| Food presentation | 25% |
Must Have on a Chef Resume
These are the must-haves hiring teams look for when scanning a chef resume.
Food Handler Certifications
Most operators expect food safety credentials before they read your bullets, and many states or counties require them by law. List each one with the issuing body and the expiration year so executive chefs and owners can verify at a glance.
- ServSafe Food Handler (for entry-level and commis roles)
- ServSafe Manager (required for sous chef and above at most operators)
- ServSafe Allergens (expected in fine dining and any allergen-heavy program)
- HACCP certification (hotels, hospitals, schools, sous vide and cook-chill programs)
- State or county food handler card (check your local health department for current requirements)
POS Systems Familiarity
Executive chefs and owners read POS and back-of-house software as a shortcut for how you’ll be useful on the line. Name the systems you’ve actually used, and pair them with what you did in each one.
- Toast POS
- Square for Restaurants
- Resy and OpenTable
- MarginEdge
- BlueCart
- Restaurant365
- Compeat
Niche Keywords for ATS Checkers
Executive chefs and owners scan for the station, cuisine, and venue terms that match the posting. Group the keywords below by sub-niche and pull the three or four that fit your actual experience.
| Niche | Keywords ATS scans for |
|---|---|
| Fine dining and tasting menu | tasting menu, plated service, seasonal menu development, chef de partie |
| Hotel and banquet | banquet service, high-volume production, plated banquets, room service |
| Pastry and bakery | pastry chef, viennoiserie, plated desserts, wedding cake production |
| Kitchen leadership | sous chef, executive chef, brigade management, kitchen scheduling |
| Cost and operations | food cost control, labor cost percentage, inventory management, vendor negotiation |
Shift Availability on a Chef Resume
Hospitality hiring weighs availability alongside skill, so flag yours plainly. One line under your profile or in the header is enough.
Make availability easy to find
State the shifts and days you can cover and any constraints up front. Examples: ‘Available nights, weekends, and holidays’ or ‘Open availability, including doubles and overnight prep.’
If you’re moving markets, name the city and your start date. Executive chefs and owners screen for availability before they call, and burying it costs interviews.
- Available nights, weekends, and holidays
- Open to doubles and overnight prep shifts
- Available for banquet and event-driven scheduling
- Relocating to [city] on [date], open to a stage during the visit
Culinary Arts Credentials That Get You the Job
Beyond your state or county food handler card, the certifications below tell executive chefs and owners how prepared you are to run a kitchen safely, control cost, and lead a brigade. List the certifying body and the year earned or current expiration for each item.
- ServSafe Manager Certification: The baseline food safety credential most operators expect from sous chef level up; list it with the expiration year visible.
- American Culinary Federation Certified Executive Chef (CEC): Signals senior-level kitchen leadership and is recognized at hotels, clubs, and resorts hiring at the executive tier.
- HACCP Certification: Shows you can build and audit a food safety plan, which matters for hotels, hospitals, and any operation under regulator review.
- Court of Master Sommeliers Introductory or WSET Level 2: Useful for chefs working in tasting-menu, wine-driven, or hotel programs where pairings and cellar coordination sit on your plate.
Latest BLS Statistics for Chefs
For chefs, the spread between the entry-tier floor and the top-decile ceiling is wide, and it tracks more to venue type and brigade scope than to years on the line.
That spread tells you the move from line cook pay to executive chef pay runs through fine dining, hotels, clubs, and multi-unit concepts more than through tenure alone. Lead your resume with the venue type, covers per service, and food cost ownership that map you to the band you’re targeting.
Where you stand
Entry tier
$36,000 to $60,990 At the entry tier, your resume needs to show ServSafe, station prep speed, and the stations you've covered solo during full services.Mid band
$60,990 to $96,030 At the mid band, lead with covers per service, the stations you own, menu items you execute, and food cost percentage held.Top decile
$96,030+ At the top decile, your resume needs to show brigade size led, food and labor percentages, menu launches, and revenue tied to concepts you ran.Top-paying states
| # | State | Avg. Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $81,200 |
| 2 | Rhode Island | $79,160 |
| 3 | North Dakota | $76,630 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | $74,000 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | $71,330 |
| 6 | Washington | $69,800 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $69,660 |
| 8 | California | $66,780 |
| 9 | Delaware | $65,290 |
| 10 | Wyoming | $64,790 |
Highest-employment states
| # | State | Workers | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 26,500 | $66,780 |
| 2 | Florida | 17,170 | $59,580 |
| 3 | Texas | 16,550 | $51,050 |
| 4 | New York | 15,420 | $64,300 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 7,060 | $59,630 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does a strong chef resume look like in 2026?
A strong chef resume opens with a profile that names venue type, covers per service, and cuisine. It groups bullets by station, menu, cost, and team, and puts ServSafe and any ACF certification in a credentials block on page one. Numbers carry the weight: covers, food cost percentage, labor percentage, brigade size, and ticket times.
How do you describe chef duties on a resume?
Skip 'responsible for' phrasing and lead with verbs tied to the station and the volume. Write 'ran grill station for 160 covers a night, held ticket times under eight minutes' instead of 'cooked on the grill.' Pair each duty with a scope number: covers, prep volume, brigade size, or food cost outcome.
How should a pastry chef resume differ from a savory chef resume?
A pastry chef resume should lead with the program scope: bread, viennoiserie, plated desserts, banquet production, or wedding cakes. Name daily and weekly output (loaves, plated covers, cakes per week) and the equipment you've run, like deck ovens, sheeters, and tempering machines. List allergen substitution work and any wholesale or pastry-program P&L you've owned.
Should you put your Instagram on a chef resume?
Yes, if the account shows your plating, menus, or food photography and is current. Put it next to your email in the header, not in the body. Skip it if the feed is personal, dormant, or mixed; a stale account hurts more than no account.
What resume template should a chef use?
For a chef, an ATS-friendly template is the safest pick, because it puts your certifications and experience where a hiring manager scans first. A basic template is a solid alternative. Whichever you choose, keep the formatting clean and easy to parse: clear section headings, a standard font, and no graphics a parser can choke on.
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Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach
Andrew Stoner is an executive career coach and resume writer with 17 years of experience as a hiring manager and operations leader at two Fortune 500 Financial Services companies, and as the career services director at two major university business schools.
