RESUME EXAMPLE · HOSPITALITY AND FOOD SERVICE
Line cook resume example, from prep cook to lead line cook
A chef reviewing a line cook resume wants concrete answers: which stations you’ve worked (grill, saute, fry, garde manger, pastry), for how many covers, in what kind of kitchen and at what level. “Passionate about food” tells them nothing; “lead line cook on the seafood station, 180 covers a night” tells them almost everything.
Food safety is the second filter. Keeping temperature logs, labeling and dating product, rotating stock FIFO and preventing allergen cross-contact are daily tasks worth naming, along with your food handler card or ServSafe Manager certification. Add the techniques and equipment you know, from sous vide to the combi oven, and whether you’ve written recipe cards or costed dishes: it shows you can take responsibility for food cost.
Line cook resume example
Marcus Reyes
Lead line cook with 7 years in seafood and hotel kitchens
Seattle, WA · marcus@example.com
Professional summary
Line cook with seven years of experience in high-volume seafood restaurants and a full-service hotel, now leading the seafood and raw bar station. Skilled in fish butchery, crudo and ceviche, stocks and sauces, cooking to recipe specs and controlling waste and product rotation. Responsible for the station’s temperature logs, shellfish tags and allergen chart. Trained four prep cooks and trusted to cover for the sous chef on days off. Looking to grow into a junior sous chef role in a high-volume kitchen.
Experience
Saltline Fish House · Seattle, WA
- Lead the seafood and raw bar station on services of up to 180 covers, supervising two prep cooks.
- Reorganized station prep and line setup to cut ticket times on crudo and ceviche during the lunch rush.
- Wrote recipe cards and plate costs for six dishes on the new menu with the executive chef.
- Log seafood deliveries, shellfish tags and cooler temperatures for the station’s food safety records.
Sound View Grand Hotel · Bellevue, WA
- Cooked on the saute station for the hotel restaurant and for banquets of up to 300 guests.
- Prepared stocks, mother sauces and sides for breakfast, lunch buffets and room service.
- Adapted dishes for guests with food allergies, celiac disease or vegan diets using the hotel’s allergen matrix.
- Ran the station’s weekly inventory and rotated product first in, first out (FIFO).
Shilshole Ceviche Bar · Seattle, WA
- Cleaned and portioned fish, cut vegetables and prepared the daily bases for the cold station.
- Helped every station with prep and covered the line during weekend lunch rushes.
- Kept the walk-in cooler and dry storage clean and organized according to the kitchen’s cleaning schedule.
Education
Rainier Valley Community College
Skills
Languages
English · Native Spanish · Fluent
Certifications
- ServSafe Food Protection Manager (2025)
- Washington State Food Worker Card (2025)
- Sous vide cooking workshop (16 hours)
Line cook resume summary: 3 examples
Your summary is the first thing a recruiter reads. Pick the one closest to your situation and rework it until it sounds like you. You will find more formulas in our resume summary guide.
Recent culinary arts graduate with a four-month externship on the cold station of a busy brunch restaurant. Able to set up a station, follow recipe cards, cut and portion with solid knife skills and keep the work area clean during service. Food handler card and allergen awareness training completed. Looking for a first prep cook or line cook job on a team that rotates cooks through every station.
Line cook with five years in Italian and New American restaurants, rotating through grill, saute and sides on services of up to 120 covers. Clean, organized and consistent under pressure, cooking every plate to spec and rotating product FIFO. Trained in food safety and in the allergen procedures for every dish on the menu. Looking to grow as a lead line cook in a seasonal, scratch kitchen.
Sous chef with ten years in professional kitchens, the last three running a crew of eight in a hotel with a full-service restaurant and banquets. Experienced in recipe costing, vendor orders, food cost control, scheduling and overseeing food safety logs and allergen documentation. Helped develop two seasonal menus. Looking to lead production in a high-volume kitchen with demanding service.
How to describe your experience as a line cook
Start each bullet with an action verb and, whenever you can, add the result. Use these lines as a starting point: swap in your own details and delete anything you have not done.
- Ran the [station] station on services of up to [number] covers with no delays at the pass.
- Cut station waste by [number]% by matching daily prep to reservation forecasts.
- Wrote recipe cards and plate costs for [number] dishes on the seasonal menu.
- Introduced day-dot labels with prep and use-by dates for everything in the walk-in.
- Adapted menu items for guests with allergies and intolerances while preventing cross-contact.
- Trained [number] prep cooks in knife cuts, stocks and station organization.
- Organized banquet production for up to [number] guests, timing each course with the front of house.
- Kept temperature and cooling logs current, with no critical violations in [number] health inspections.
- Created [number] specials that the chef added to the regular menu.
- Worked with seafood vendors on the quality and sizing of incoming product.
Skills for a line cook resume
Hard skills
- Grill, saute, fry and flat-top
- Sous vide and blast chilling
- Combi oven
- Knife skills, fish and meat butchery
- Stocks, sauces and sides
- Basic pastry and baking
- Recipe cards and plate costing
- Inventory, ordering and waste control
- HACCP principles and food safety logs
- Allergen control and cross-contact prevention
- Banquet and high-volume production
- FIFO product rotation
Soft skills
- Speed without losing precision
- Clean-as-you-go discipline
- Stamina for long, hot shifts
- Clear communication on the line
- Respect for the kitchen chain of command
- Creativity with specials
- Picking up new recipes quickly
Only list skills you can back up with an example from your experience. More ideas in our guide to resume skills.
Common keywords in line cook job postings
These terms show up often in job postings for this role. If they truly describe you, use them with the same wording as the posting so both the recruiter and the applicant tracking system (ATS) can find them.
Tips for your line cook resume
Name your station and your place in the kitchen
Executive chef, sous chef, lead line cook, line cook, prep cook: every kitchen labels roles a little differently, but your title shows how much responsibility you had. Put it in each job title, add the station (“Line Cook, Grill”) and your volume in covers. If you’ve rotated through several stations, say so: versatility is a big plus in kitchens with small crews, where you may work grill one night and saute the next.
Prove you take food safety seriously
Beyond your food handler card, name the tasks you actually do: temperature and cooling logs, labeling and dating, FIFO rotation, cleaning and sanitizing schedules, shellfish tags. The FDA recognizes nine major food allergens, and knowing how to prevent cross-contact is a strong selling point. Rules for food handler cards and certified food protection managers vary by state and county, so check your local requirements. Mention these tasks in your experience and in your resume skills.
Use numbers for volume and cost on your line cook resume
Covers per night, guests at banquets, dishes on the menu, cooks you trained or waste you cut: a chef can check these with one phone call, and they carry more weight than any adjective. If you don’t have exact figures, use honest ranges (“services of 80 to 120 covers”) and don’t claim results that belong to the whole kitchen.
Show your food if you’re applying to a chef-driven kitchen
For chef-driven restaurants or lead roles, being able to show what you’ve cooked helps you get invited to a stage, the tryout shift many kitchens use before hiring. Mi Resumen has a projects section where you can describe menus or specials you’ve developed, and you can publish your resume as a personal website at yourname.miresumen.com. Don’t present team creations as your own without saying so.
Adapt your resume to each type of kitchen
A hotel values volume and buffets; a chef-driven restaurant values technique and creativity; hospitals, schools and corporate dining value menu planning, special diets and consistency. Reorder your experience and skills for each one and adjust your professional summary to match.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between a line cook resume and a prep cook resume?
A prep cook resume focuses on prep work, cleanliness, basic knife cuts and the ability to learn fast. A line cook resume adds ownership of a station during service, volume and responsibility for recipe specs or ordering. If you’re in between, use your real title and highlight the higher-level tasks you already handle, such as covering a station on busy nights.
Do I need a food handler card or ServSafe certification to work as a line cook?
It depends on your state and county. Some require a food handler card for anyone who handles food, and many also require at least one certified food protection manager on staff, a credential you can earn with an exam such as ServSafe Manager. Even where it isn’t required, it reassures employers. List each certificate with the year issued and its expiration date.
Does culinary school help if I have no kitchen experience?
Yes, and it’s worth detailing. A culinary arts certificate or associate degree, or a high school culinary program such as ProStart, usually includes an externship or lab hours you can describe as experience: the kitchen, the station, the hours and what you cooked. See our guide to a resume with no experience to organize it.
Should I list the type of cuisine I specialize in?
Yes, in your headline or summary: Italian, Mexican, Japanese, seafood, barbecue, pastry, institutional. It helps a chef see the fit at a glance. If you’re applying to a different style of kitchen, don’t box yourself in: highlight transferable techniques and how quickly you pick up new recipes.
Do I need a cover letter for a line cook job?
For most line cook jobs, a strong resume and a short, professional message are enough. For chef-driven restaurants, lead roles or a career change into cooking, a brief cover letter that names the restaurant and its food can set you apart. Our cover letter guide explains how to keep it short.