commis

American  

[kaw-mee, kuh-mee] / kɔˈmi, kəˈmi /

noun

French.

plural

commis

1. an assistant, especially to a chef.

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commis British  

/ ˈkɒmɪ, ˈkɒmɪs /

noun

1. an agent or deputy

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adjective

1. (of a waiter or chef) apprentice

Etymology

Origin of commis

C16 (meaning: deputy): from French, from commettre to employ, _commit

Example Sentences

At 19, he came to the U.S. as a commis chef, the term for an entry-level cook—he says he was the “salad guy”—at Union League Cafe in New Haven, Conn. He also DJ’d hip-hop music, earning $200 an hour.

From The Wall Street Journal

The sale of each box of 12 includes a one-year membership in the Foundation at the commis level, which allows access to recipes and cooking videos with Mr. Pépin and other chefs.

From New York Times

Most high-end kitchens follow the brigade system, created by the 19th-century French chef Georges Auguste Escoffier, which lays out a formal path from commis, or junior chef, to line cook and eventually to executive chef, with cooks mastering skills at each new station before moving on.

From New York Times

After spending several years working in music, in public relations and band management, he discovered his true calling at the Australian chef Skye Gyngell’s London restaurant, Spring, where he began as a commis in 2015.

From New York Times

With her director of photography, Andrew Commis, Murphy creates a visually cohesive world filled with lambent images that almost but not quite feel as if they had been caught on the fly.

From New York Times