In most professional kitchens, there is a chain of command which goes from executive chef to head chef to sous chef and finally to a station cook or chef de partie, otherwise known as a line cook. A line cook prepares a limited number of food items according to the orders of a supervising sous chef. This may involve working at a meat station, a garnish station, a fry station, a cold salad station or a number of other compartmentalized food prep areas. A professional line cook should know how to work each station in the kitchen, including prep work and coordination with other stations and the head chef.

A line cook is usually responsible for setting up his or her station in accordance with a master menu. If the master menu includes lobster tails, for example, the line cook or one of his or her employees will make sure enough tails are thawed, prepped and stored to handle any potential demand during service. Each station has its own particular needs, and it is up to the line cook to make sure all of the sauces, garnishes, and other complements have all been prepared and stored properly. A line cook may have to work alone during food service, or he or she may have a few employees to share the workload.

Because communication is vital during food service, a line cook must be able to work well with other line cooks while simultaneously preparing quality food and handling complaints from customers or wait staff. A good line cook should be able to work consistently under extreme pressure, since he or she is ultimately held responsible for the quality of the food leaving the station. The ability to coordinate several different orders at the same time is also a good skill for a line cook to possess.

Because a busy professional kitchen can be a grueling physical and mental challenge, a line cook must also be able to keep his or her emotions in check while receiving criticism from a superior or correcting a food problem. Many head chefs and sous chefs value consistency over creativity, so a line cook should also strive to be a team player while preparing the same dishes in the same way for years. Professional culinary training is highly recommended in order to become a line cook, but a promising kitchen staffer can also receive on-the-job training in order to master each station.

It is not unusual for an experienced line cook to remain in that same position for years, since promotions to sous chef or executive chef are often rare events and the average salary of an experienced line cook or station chef can be surprisingly competitive with other occupations. A line cook in a large restaurant can hire his or her own staff to perform routine prep work, allowing him or her the opportunity to work with superiors on new menu ideas, new cooking techniques or other executive-level projects.