Kitchen Brigade (also known as Brigade de Cuisine) was developed by Auguste Escoffier in the late 19th century. It’s a hierarchical system of kitchen organisation. The kitchen is divided into roles, each with a clear chain of command. There’s the Executive Chef, Sous Chef, Chef de Partie, Commis Chef and more. Each role has its own duties and areas of responsibility, making the kitchen a well-oiled machine.
The Kitchen Brigade is key to hospitality because it ensures efficiency, quality and consistency in food preparation and service. By defining roles and responsibilities it minimises confusion and maximises productivity in a busy kitchen. It allows for clear communication, task delegation and quality control. It also provides a clear career path for kitchen staff, so they can develop their skills and be professional in the industry.
So let’s say you’re the Head Chef in a busy restaurant and dinner service is in full swing. Your Sous Chef tells you the fish station is behind on orders. Thanks to the Kitchen Brigade you can quickly tell the Garde Manger (cold food chef) to help the Poissonnier (fish chef) with prep work and at the same time ask the Saucier (sauce chef) to plate up the finished dishes. This quick task re-allocation, made possible by the structure of the Kitchen Brigade, means all orders are completed on time without compromising quality.'