Pay Attention
Determining chefs’ value goes beyond salary considerations.
By Kristina Buchthal, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 12/1/2005
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Chefs’ compensation can be as wide-ranging as the menus they create.
The average salary for a chef at a midscale full-service restaurant is $50,000, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association. Chefs at small bistros might earn half that while a few big names can make hundreds of thousands of dollars, in addition to bonuses, book deals and ownership interests in the restaurants where they work. Jean-Georges Vongerichten reportedly earns $6 million a year and Mario Batali $2 million.
“One property will pay $40,000 for [a position] and another will offer $70,000 for the same thing,” says Eden Slegr, president of Global Hospitality Inc., a hospitality executive search firm in Pasadena, Calif.
While most restaurants are hesitant to discuss their chefs’ compensation, the culinary chief at many operations is key to maintaining its branding, customers and income.
Chain-restaurant chefs generally earn more than peers at comparable independents, but the increase often comes with some restrictions.
While chain chefs use their culinary skills to create saleable specials, they also must adhere to menu guidelines so items are consistent across locations.
“The ideal chain candidate is someone who has a strong culinary background, who understands cooking from scratch but can work within the confines of a structured corporate menu,” says Carol Felsenthal, management and chef recruiter for Dallas-based Brinker International’s Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurants. A good Maggiano’s chef “is a little older, not looking to set the world on fire,” she says.
The chain employs one executive chef and two or three sous-chefs at each location. Chefs are required to choose specials off a company-approved list. Each year, Maggiano’s designates four or five chefs as food development chefs responsible for new specials and menu items.
“We take the best ideas and tweak them so they are in keeping with Maggiano’s menu, they cost-out well and can be produced en masse,” Felsenthal says.
At Orlando-based Darden Restaurants’ Seasons 52, chefs always are on duty to ensure that entrées and other items meet the restaurant’s healthful-dining specifications, says Clifford Pleau, director of culinary development.
Darden’s newest concept, which soon will open its fifth location, Seasons 52 focuses on healthful foods made from seasonal ingredients. “What’s on a restaurant’s menu is the promise of the brand, and a chef’s job is to maintain the integrity of that brand,” Pleau says. “The degree to which they do that is the degree to which we’ll be successful.”
To that end, Pleau looks for typos in résumés, a tell-tale sign that a chef doesn’t pay attention to detail. “If you worked for a famous chef but you don’t spell his name right, chances are you didn’t learn his technique either.”
Bells and Whistles
Restaurants and foodservice providers often look for more than culinary creativity in a chef. Many want managers who are able to supervise a large staff, especially important in noncommercial foodservice, where chefs may oversee catering, multiple dining halls and hundreds of employees.
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“We look more at their personality and demeanor than we do at culinary skills,” says Don Miller, a healthcare-center foodservice consultant and executive recruiter in Bonita, Calif. “It doesn’t do any good to have a chef who can cook if he doesn’t have the criteria to be a wonderful, nurturing boss. Detecting whether a chef is the right person for the job is very, very tricky.”
Maggiano’s chefs also must have strong management skills, Felsenthal says. They’re responsible for overseeing a staff of 100 back-of-the-house employees, including food runners and dish washers. “We need a manager as much as a chef,” she says.
Seasons 52’s Pleau says any chef he hires must show passion for the job, good demeanor and a sincere smile during the interview process—signs that the chef will work well on a team, including with the restaurant’s servers.
“Chefs have a key role in motivating the serving staff, because servers are their sales force,” Pleau says. “As a chef, they’re my marketing people. If they sell my food right, I don’t have to worry about the bills.”
Other foodservice providers recruit chefs who are registered dietitians. More qualifications often lead to higher salary, says Sharon Cox, director of food and nutrition services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and president of New York City-based National Society for Healthcare Food Service Management.
Chefs who have college degrees also fetch higher salaries, Cox says. A chef who might otherwise earn $35,000 or $45,000 could start at $50,000 with a bachelor’s degree, she explains.
“We see more chefs who have double certification: registered dietitians and certified chefs,” Cox says. “And the higher end of the pay scale is for chefs who have prestigious culinary training.”
The Price of Fame
While many chef positions pay between $40,000 and $80,000 a year, jobs that pay $150,000 or more are few. Those salaries are limited to executive chefs for major corporate-owned chains and for chefs who oversee large foodservice operations, casino venues or upscale independent restaurants.
There’s also a trend toward compensating chefs through a combination of salary, bonus and ownership stake in the restaurant, says Clark Wolf, a New York-based consultant.
“That means they are responsible for the top line as well as the bottom line,” Wolf says. “Not only are they responsible for putting butts in the seats, but also for making sure something gets to the bank.”
High-profile positions also have the potential of netting chefs lucrative book deals and product endorsements, he adds.
For books, chefs earn a wide range of compensation, from a $25,000 advance to hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties. Endorsements can yield $20,000 or more.
A chef who makes $200,000 a year could easily supplement that with $50,000 in other fees, Wolf says. The median salary of corporate executive chefs is $99,000 a year. And the average annual bonus for the job is $9,985, according to data from the Hospitality Compensation Exchange.
But ownership interests can be a flawed method of compensation if the restaurant is unsuccessful, Wolf says. “Remember, a percent of nothing is still nothing.”
Some high-paying jobs can be found in unusual places, such as chef at a corporate dining room, small elite restaurant or private residence.
“We’ve placed a person with $120,000 in salary and they’re serving 50 people a day” at a high-end resort in the Southwest, Slegr says. “There are properties out there who want the best of the best, and they’re willing to pay for it.”
Money Mix
Chef salaries vary widely across positions and regions of the country. Often, East Coast and West Coast jobs offer the highest compensation. Some recent annual salaries advertised on www.hcareers.com, Hospitality Careers Online’s Web site:
- Executive banquet chef, large hotel, Memphis, Tenn.: $45,000 to $55,000
- Executive chef, national upscale-casual restaurant chain, Dallas: $60,000 to $75,000
- Executive chef, luxury resort and spa, Florida: $75,000 to $80,000
- Executive chef, hotel, Huntington Beach, Calif.: $38,000 to $43,000
- Sous-chef, national restaurant chain, Columbus, Ohio: $35,000 to $55,000
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