Pastry kitchen brigade

The brigade system, or brigade de cuisine, is a structured kitchen hierarchy with clear roles and reporting lines. The Culinary Institute of America says it was formalized in the 19th century by Georges-Auguste Escoffier and still shapes professional kitchens, though many now use a leaner version.

At the top sit the executive chef, who sets direction for menus, standards and budgets, and the chef de cuisine, who runs daily operations. Below is the sous chef, second in command. Station chefs, called chefs de partie, lead specific areas, and one of those stations is the pâtissier, or pastry chef. Commis chefs, the junior cooks, assist the station chefs.

Many modern kitchens combine titles, and classical brigades still operate in fine-dining restaurants, large hotels, cruise ships and institutional kitchens. In pastry, the structure is often compressed into a smaller team under a pastry chef.