Course Description
HMV0171 – Chef and Head Cook is a Postsecondary Adult Vocational (PSAV) clock-hour course in the Hospitality and Tourism program area, aligned with the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) Curriculum Framework for Commercial Foods and Culinary Arts (CIP 12.0508). The course is the culinary leadership capstone within Florida's PSAV culinary program sequence, building on foundational and production-line training (HMV0100, HMV0170) to prepare students for sous chef, chef de cuisine, and head cook responsibilities.
Students develop competencies in kitchen leadership, menu development, recipe standardization and costing, advanced production techniques, station management, food and labor cost control at the kitchen-management level, and the supervisory practices required to run a professional kitchen. Coursework integrates classroom instruction, extensive teaching-kitchen production at advanced and high-volume scale, and supervisory practicum experience.
HMV0171 is offered at approximately 36 Florida technical colleges as the culinary leadership capstone module. Successful program completion supports preparation for the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Certified Sous Chef (CSC) credential.
Learning Outcomes
Required Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Apply kitchen leadership and supervisory practices, including station leadership, expediting, training of new cooks, and managing multiple stations during service.
- Develop and standardize professional recipes, including ingredient specifications, yields, costing, and preparation procedures suitable for kitchen consistency.
- Apply menu development principles, including menu balance, seasonality, ingredient utilization, dietary accommodation, and contemporary trends.
- Apply food cost control at the kitchen leadership level, including yield testing, recipe costing, food cost percentage management, addressing variance, and managing waste.
- Apply kitchen labor management, including production scheduling, par lists, prep lists, and managing kitchen staff productivity.
- Execute advanced production techniques, including charcuterie, advanced butchery, advanced saucework, complex protein cookery, advanced vegetable preparations, and contemporary plating.
- Plan and execute banquet, catering, and special-event production, including high-volume execution, action stations, and chef's tables.
- Apply active managerial control of food safety at the supervisory level, including HACCP plan development, sanitation training of kitchen staff, and managing inspections.
- Apply kitchen workflow design, including line layout, equipment placement, and prep schedules that support efficient production.
- Apply purchasing and receiving practices at the kitchen leadership level, including specifications, vendor relationships, market awareness, and quality verification.
- Demonstrate professional kitchen leadership behaviors, including motivating and developing kitchen staff, managing under pressure, building kitchen culture, and ethical leadership.
Optional Outcomes
- Complete a supervisory externship in a restaurant or institutional foodservice operation.
- Earn the ACF Certified Sous Chef (CSC) credential (when work experience and education requirements are met).
- Apply international cuisine leadership in specialty cuisine programs.
- Apply special diet menu engineering, including allergy-aware menus, plant-based menus, and dietary religious accommodations at the menu-development level.
- Apply basic restaurant concept development as preparation for entrepreneurship.
Major Topics
Required Topics
- Kitchen Leadership and Supervision: Roles of sous chef, chef de cuisine, executive chef; leadership styles in the kitchen; managing the brigade; managing during service; coaching and developing cooks.
- Recipe Standardization and Development: Professional recipe format; ingredient specifications; yield testing; recipe costing; portion-cost analysis; documenting kitchen recipes for consistency.
- Menu Development and Engineering: Menu balance; seasonality; ingredient utilization (cross-utilization, whole-animal/whole-vegetable use); menu mix analysis; menu redesign for cost and contribution.
- Food Cost Management: Standard cost; actual cost; variance analysis; tracking and addressing waste, theft, over-portioning; meeting target food cost percentages.
- Kitchen Labor Management: Production scheduling; pre-service prep lists and pars; productivity standards (covers per labor hour); managing kitchen labor cost percentage.
- Advanced Cooking Techniques: Charcuterie (curing, forcemeat, sausage, terrine, pâté at an introductory professional level); advanced butchery (whole-animal breakdown where included); advanced sauces; sous vide and modernist techniques (where included); restaurant-quality protein cookery.
- Banquet, Catering, and Special-Event Production: High-volume execution; production timing for events; buffet design and food-safety; action stations; carving stations; chef's tables.
- Active Managerial Control of Food Safety: Developing and implementing the kitchen HACCP plan; training cooks in food-safety practices; managing health inspections; corrective action; sanitation systems and discipline.
- Kitchen Workflow Design: Line layout; station setup; equipment positioning; prep schedules; managing the back-of-house space.
- Purchasing and Receiving for Kitchen Leadership: Vendor relationships; specifications; market quotation; receiving discipline; rejecting substandard product; managing inventory at the kitchen-leadership level.
- Plating and Presentation Leadership: Establishing plating standards; quality control across stations and shifts; consistency under volume; developing house plating standards.
- Professional Ethics and Leadership Practice: Building positive kitchen culture; managing harassment-free kitchens; supporting kitchen staff well-being; mentoring; ethical sourcing decisions.
Optional Topics
- Supervisory Externship: Sous chef shadow or supervisory practicum experience.
- Restaurant Concept Development: Concept ideation; menu-to-concept fit; basic concept feasibility for aspiring chef-owners.
- International Cuisine Leadership: Specialty cuisine techniques and traditions led at the kitchen-leadership level.
- Special Diet Menu Engineering: Allergen-aware menus; plant-based menus; religious dietary accommodations at the menu-development level.
- Sustainable Sourcing and Food Systems: Farm-to-table at the chef leadership level; sustainable seafood (Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch); local-supplier relationships.
Resources & Tools
- Common Texts: The Professional Chef (Culinary Institute of America), On Cooking (Labensky/Hause/Martel), Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen (CIA), Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (Ruhlman/Polcyn)
- Lab Equipment: Commercial kitchen with full à la carte production capability; banquet/high-volume production capability; advanced equipment (sous vide, smokers, advanced refrigeration) where institutional resources allow
- Reference Standards: FDA Food Code; Florida DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants requirements; ACF Certified Sous Chef (CSC) competency standards; ACF Education Foundation accreditation standards
- Online and Multimedia Resources: ACF educator content; ChefSteps; Rouxbe; Culinary Institute of America video resources
- Professional Organizations: American Culinary Federation (ACF); World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS); Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA); James Beard Foundation
Career Pathways
HMV0171 prepares students for kitchen leadership roles:
- Sous Chef — Second-in-command of a kitchen; the most common immediate career destination after culinary leadership training.
- Chef de Cuisine — Leader of a single kitchen within a larger operation (e.g., a hotel or resort with multiple outlets).
- Head Cook — Lead cook in independent restaurants and smaller operations.
- Executive Chef (SOC 35-1011) — Top kitchen leadership role; typically requires significant experience beyond initial culinary education plus advanced credentialing.
- Banquet Chef / Catering Chef — Hotel and resort banquet leadership; off-site catering leadership.
- Restaurant Owner / Chef-Owner — With additional business preparation, entrepreneurship in restaurant ownership.
- Cruise Line Sous Chef / Chef — Florida-based cruise industry leadership roles.
- Culinary Educator — With teaching credentials and culinary leadership experience, instructor roles in technical college and culinary school programs.
Florida's vast hospitality and tourism economy — encompassing restaurants, hotels, resorts, theme parks, and cruise lines — sustains exceptionally strong demand for kitchen leadership. Major employers include Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, the major cruise lines, hotel brands (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental), and Florida's diverse independent restaurant scene including James Beard Award–winning concepts in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Sarasota.
Special Information
Position in the Program Sequence
HMV0171 is the culinary leadership capstone of the Florida PSAV culinary program sequence, typically taken late in the program after foundational courses (HMV0100 Food Preparation, HMV0170 Cook Restaurant) and often alongside or after the management capstone (HMV0126 Food Service Manager). Hours count toward total program completion.
Certification Preparation
Content of HMV0171 directly supports the American Culinary Federation Certified Sous Chef (CSC) credential. The CSC requires three years of culinary work experience and a high-school diploma; education beyond the minimum reduces the required work experience. Many graduates pursue the CSC after accumulating the required work experience. The next ACF credential level — Certified Chef de Cuisine (CCC) and Certified Executive Chef (CEC) — builds on CSC.
Externship
Many Florida programs include a supervisory externship in this course or as a separate practicum, providing students with shadowing or junior-supervisor experience under a working sous chef or chef de cuisine. The externship is essential for translating classroom leadership content into operational reality.
Articulation
Florida technical college PSAV culinary programs articulate to Florida college Culinary Management, Restaurant Management, or Hospitality and Tourism Management A.S. degree programs at participating institutions. Students should consult the receiving institution for specific articulation credit awards. Some students continue into bachelor's degrees in Hospitality Management at UCF, FIU, USF, FSU, and Florida Gulf Coast University, particularly those targeting executive-chef and food-and-beverage director career paths.
Career Sustainability
Kitchen leadership roles compound the demands of cook work — long hours, night/weekend/holiday operation, high pressure, and substantial responsibility for staff, food cost, and food safety. Programs introduce students to professional habits supporting long-term career sustainability, including delegation, work-life management, mental and physical health, and ongoing professional development through ACF and brand-specific continuing education.