14 May 2023 · Head Chef
A chef de partie runs one section of the kitchen and is the most-listed chef job in the UK. The role, the pay and a job description template you can adapt.
A chef de partie is the chef in charge of one section of a professional kitchen. The phrase is French for "chef of the group", where the group, or partie, is the section: sauce, grill, fish, larder, pastry. In UK kitchens the role is usually shortened to CDP, and job adverts also call it a section chef or station chef. The plural is chefs de partie.
It is the most common chef job in the country and, most years, the most-listed role on Only Chefs. If you ate in a restaurant tonight, a chef de partie cooked most of your plate.
Above the commis chef, below the sous chef. The chef de partie owns their section through prep and service, has one or two commis chefs working under them on a busy station, and reports to the sous chef on the pass. Our sous chef guide sets out the whole brigade.
Larger brigades grade the role:
The traditional titles still turn up: saucier (sauces and meat), poissonnier (fish), garde manger (larder and cold starters), entremetier (vegetables), pâtissier (pastry), grillardin (grill). Most UK kitchens just say "you're on larder tonight".
The CDP writes and works through the prep list for their section before service: stocks, sauces, butchery, portioning, garnishes. Good mise en place is most of the job.
Cooks every dish from their section to the head chef's spec, at the speed the pass needs, and talks to the other sections so plates land together.
Labels and dates, fridge temperatures, allergen notes and a clean section at the end of the night. The food safety paperwork for the station belongs to the CDP.
Commis chefs learn more from their CDP than from anyone else. Showing a commis how to break down a chicken properly is part of the role, not an extra.
From the Only Chefs chef de partie salary guide, built from UK job adverts:
Hourly adverts are common at this level: roughly £13 to £15 an hour outside London and £14 to £17 in London, before tronc. Pay has risen faster for CDPs than for most other kitchen roles since 2021, because they are the hardest chefs to find.
Typically 40 to 48 hours over five days. Some restaurants still run split shifts. Hotels, contract caterers and most pub groups now advertise straight shifts, and a growing number offer four-day weeks to attract CDPs. Ask about the rota pattern in the interview and get it written into the offer.
Most CDPs come up through a commis chef role over one to three years. The structured route is catering college (Level 2 or 3 Professional Cookery), or a Commis Chef Level 2 apprenticeship followed by the Chef de Partie Level 3 apprenticeship, both of which are paid. Career changers do it too: an experienced home cook who takes a kitchen porter or commis job in a kitchen that trains can be running a section within 18 months.
Already a commis? Our guide to moving from commis to chef de partie covers how to get the step up, and standing out in CDP applications covers the CV. If you are starting from the beginning, read what a commis chef does first.
"Shef duh par-TEE".
It is a mid-level role: a fully qualified chef who runs a section, but below sous chef and head chef.
Mostly geography. "Line cook" is the American term for the same job, and a few UK casual dining chains use it. UK brigades say chef de partie.
A junior CDP, between commis and chef de partie. It usually means running a simpler section with the sous chef keeping an eye on you.
Chefs de partie are the hardest chefs to recruit, so the advert has to do some work. Say what the section is, what the rota is and what the pay is. Here is a template to adapt.
Chef de Partie, [venue name], [town]. Add the section if it is fixed ("Pastry Chef de Partie") and the pattern if it sells ("4-day week", "no split shifts").
Two or three sentences on the venue, the style of food, the size of the brigade and who the head chef is. Chefs look the head chef up.
Always list a salary or hourly rate. Adverts without one get far fewer applications. State the hours, the rota pattern, how tronc works, holiday, meals on duty and pension, plus anything else you offer: a training budget, staff discount, accommodation, a share of the tips. Finish with how to apply and how quickly you will respond.
Use our chef de partie interview questions once the applications arrive, and post the job free on Only Chefs.
Browse chef de partie jobs across the UK or chef de partie jobs in London.