Approx. duration: 18 months
Start Date: Anytime
Attendance: One day a week at the Ipswich Campus
Entry requirements: Entry onto the Apprenticeship is subject to a thorough initial assessment to clarify course suitability. You may be required to come in and undertake an interview or assessment. Entry onto the apprenticeship is subject to 4 GCSEs including Maths and English 9-4/A*-C or a commitment to undertake Level 2 Maths and English. Apprentices need to be employed for a minimum of 30 hours a week and have a contract of employment.
On-programme learning:
- Chef de Partie Standard
- English and Maths (if required) Level 2.
End-point assessment: Delivery by City and Guilds
Progression: Senior production Chef or management courses
Course Summary: Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes designed around the need of both the Apprentice and their employer.
The broad purpose of the chef de partie is to prepare, cook and finish complex dishes while overseeing a section of the kitchen, which could be the pastry, larder, butchery, fish, sauce or vegetable section of the kitchen.
A chef de partie will oversee and supervise team members with receiving, storing, preparing, cooking and finishing of a range of food items to support the kitchen in providing the culinary offer. A chef de partie will contribute and help the sous chef and head chef to review and refresh new dishes and menus.
Chef de parties are responsible for ensuring their team and themselves maintain high standards of personal, and food hygiene and oversee the receiving and correct storage of deliveries. They oversee and monitor the quality and safety of food, whilst maximising yield and quality ensuring that waste is minimised. By meeting the required operational standards, chef de parties will deliver the customer experience, leading to desired revenue and profit margins thereby increasing business performance and competitiveness within the market. In their daily work, an Apprentice in this occupation interacts with a team (brigade) of chefs, the wider team including front of house staff, suppliers and customers.
A chef de partie will organise a small team to produce cook and finish a range of food items. If they work in a smaller establishment, they will take responsibility for producing cooking and finishing a range of complex food items required for each service for a particular section. Chef de parties may work unsociable hours including early mornings, late evenings, weekends and holidays. An Apprentice in this occupation will be responsible for overseeing, monitoring and supervising a specific section of the kitchen. This type of chef usually manages a small team of workers, which they must keep organised so that dishes go out on time and the work area remains clean and orderly. However, in smaller kitchens a chef de partie may work independently as the only person in their section. The chef de partie reports to a senior chef (such as sous chef, head chef, chef patron depending on the hierarchy of the establishment) and has a very important role in any kitchen.