Also called: Cold Kitchen Chef, Pantry Chef
Runs the cold kitchen: salads, charcuterie, terrines, cheese, and decorative platters.
You cure meats, build pâtés, slice charcuterie boards, and carve ice or fruit for buffets. In hotels you might set up a cold display for 500 wedding guests. It is a classic French brigade position many people have never heard of.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. Culinary school or kitchen experience.
Ways in: Trade school, 2-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Culinary Arts.
Growing about average.
Low risk for 10 years. Platters and charcuterie are artful, hands-on work; AI may help plan menus but not plate them.
Age 16+. One way to start: Apply as a pantry (cold station) cook at restaurants; the salad station is where many cooks start
Classes: Culinary arts CTE, Art, Foods & Nutrition class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 35-2014.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.