Sous Chef

Sous Chef Interview Questions

A Sous Chef is responsible for planning and managing food preparation in restaurant kitchens. Known as the assistant to the head chef or the head chef’s second in command, these skilled individuals perform a range of duties including planning menus, training new staff, and recording inventory.

Your top hire may have a formal apprenticeship under their belts, or professional chef accreditation and plenty of years working as a line or prep cook. Sous Chefs assist the Executive Chef with training new hires and filing administrative paperwork. 

Keep an eye out for candidates who are:

• Strong leaders
• Budget-minded 
• Creative
• Cool under pressure
• Resourceful 
• Strong educators 
  

Top tip: Hire candidates willing to grow by making sure their personal career goals align with your company's mission.

Sous Chef interview questions

• Describe a time you went above and beyond to please a customer. Why is customer service critical to your job? 
• What advice would you give to a cook starting out on the line? 
• How do you help bring food and labor costs in line?
• What are your career goals? How do you see this role fitting into your overall career objective?  
• What would you do if you caught a coworker violating food safety standards? How do you handle this? 
• How would you rate yourself as a mentor? What cooking techniques have you taught other line cooks? What is their response to your style of teaching? 
• How much experience do you have with multicultural or multilingual teams?  How do you overcome language barriers? 
• Have you ever had to discipline a coworker? What approach did you take? Did it improve their behavior? What steps do you take to ensure your staff is on top of this? 
• How would you control the quality of food that is being sent out to customers?
• What would you do if there was an emergency in the kitchen? 
• Describe a time a customer sent food back to the kitchen while you were in charge. What was the issue and how did you resolve it? 
• Do you allow ingredient substitutions in your kitchen? 
• How have you accommodated special diets, such as a gluten-free diet? Do you ensure these needs are met on the menu?