Chef Appreciation Week

The week began with a family and a cause. In 2013, Donald and Lisa Crutch, through the Chefs Against Cancer division of the National Pink Tie Organization, co-founded Chef Appreciation Week to honor and recognize everyone serving in the culinary industry. The idea was straightforward: the people who dedicate their lives to feeding others deserve a dedicated moment of thanks, and a whole week felt about right.

In 2018, Compass Group USA partnered with the Crutch family to celebrate the week across its cafes and restaurants nationally, giving the observance a powerful new stage. Then, when Donald Crutch passed away unexpectedly in 2019, Compass pledged to carry on his legacy with a commitment to launch a worldwide Chef Appreciation Week campaign. Today the week is celebrated across more than 30 nations globally, a tribute that grew from one family’s gratitude into a worldwide thank-you note.

What do chefs actually do that deserves a week? Ask the official celebration site, which puts it this way: the chefs craft moments that matter, elevating food and hospitality at the world’s biggest events. Whether inspiring students, offering comfort, fueling recovery, supporting seniors, or uniting fans on game day, behind every meal is a connection worth remembering. Chefs do not just cook. They mark the moments of our lives with flavor.

The week follows a simple rhythm: the third Monday-to-Friday stretch of September. In 2026 the celebration ran September 14 through 18, and in 2027 it lands on September 13 through 17. Five days, one for each workday, to notice the people who so often work while everyone else is celebrating. If you eat out that week, look toward the kitchen. That applause you hear might be for you to join.

The official motto says it all: see a chef, thank a chef. The week suggests three easy gestures, and none of them cost a thing. Write a handwritten note to a chef who made a meal memorable. Give a shoutout on social media with the hashtags #ChefAppreciationWeek and #ChefLife. Or simply look a chef in the eye and say the magic words: that was delicious, chef. Every gesture matters, and no one deserves it more than the culinary teams behind the pass.

Consider what a chef’s week actually looks like. The hours are long and the heat is real, the pressure of a full dining room does not pause, and the work happens on nights, weekends, and holidays while everyone else is relaxing. Chefs feed us on our birthdays, our anniversaries, our first dates, and our hardest days. They remember how we like our steak and they make the soup that tastes like somebody cares. A week of thanks is the least we can do.

The week is not only for restaurant chefs, either. Think about the chefs in your own life: the school cafeteria cook who knows every kid’s name, the hospital kitchen team fueling recovery one tray at a time, the senior-living cooks who make dinner feel like home, the food truck operator who has never missed a lunch rush. Culinary professionals serve everywhere, and the week belongs to all of them.

Communities can get in on the gratitude too. Dine at a locally owned restaurant during the week and tip generously. Thank the whole brigade, not just your server, because the dishwasher and the prep cook are part of the magic. Schools can invite a chef to talk to students about the craft. Offices can cater lunch from a favorite local spot and send the thank-you note as a team. Gratitude scales beautifully.

From September 13 through September 17, 2027, make appreciation visible. Write the note, post the shoutout, say the words. Chefs spend their careers making other people’s days better, often without a word of thanks. This is the week we say it back, loudly, warmly, and with full hearts. See a chef, thank a chef, and mean it with every single happy bite you have ever loved, truly.

The Compass chefs at the heart of the modern celebration describe their work with genuine pride. They talk about working in the world’s most exhilarating kitchens, about endless creativity and real camaraderie, and about a shared passion for influencing something bigger than any single plate. Whether they are inspiring students in a school cafeteria or feeding tens of thousands of fans on game day, they see themselves as part of one connected craft, and the week is their moment to be celebrated as such.

The celebrations themselves are as joyful as the cause is sincere. In past years, Compass chefs around the world have taken on playful challenges, including a global pass the bread video that stitched together kitchens across continents, and local cafes have run their own tributes, from special menus to walls of thank-you notes. The format is flexible by design: any kitchen, anywhere, can join in with whatever gesture fits, because gratitude does not need a script.

It is worth remembering the roots. The week was co-founded through the Chefs Against Cancer division of the National Pink Tie Organization, an origin that ties celebration to service from the very start. The founders wanted to honor everyone serving in the culinary industry for three things: their dedication, their love of food, and their willingness to serve their community. More than a decade later, with the week now spanning 30 plus nations, that founding spirit still seasons everything the week touches.

Think about the meals that have marked your own life. The birthday cake that made a child feel like royalty. The anniversary dinner where the lighting seemed to conspire with the menu. The soup someone brought when words were not enough. Behind every one of those meals stood a cook who chose this craft, and this week is the moment to tell them what it meant. A handwritten note costs nothing and says everything: I noticed, I remember, and I am grateful.

THE STORY BEHIND CHEF APPRECIATION WEEK

📆 The 2013 Founding
Donald and Lisa Crutch of the National Pink Tie Organization’s Chefs Against Cancer division co-founded the week in 2013.

❤️ The 2019 Pledge
After Donald Crutch passed away unexpectedly in 2019, Compass Group pledged a worldwide campaign to carry on his legacy.

🌟 Thirty Plus Nations
What began with one family is now celebrated across more than 30 nations around the globe.

🍴 That Was Delicious, Chef
The week’s signature gestures: a handwritten note, a social shoutout, or simply telling a chef the meal was delicious.

👥 The September Week
The celebration runs the third Monday-to-Friday week of September each year.

WAYS TO CELEBRATE

💬 Write a thank-you note
Leave a handwritten note for the chef behind your favorite meal, at home or out, and tell them exactly what made it special.

📷 Shout out your chef
Post a photo of a memorable dish with #ChefAppreciationWeek and tag the chef or restaurant that made it.

🏫 Dine local and tip well
Celebrate the week by dining at a local restaurant and tipping generously, and thank the whole kitchen crew, not just your server.

Celebrate Chef Appreciation Week

From September 13 through September 17, 2027, turn gratitude into a habit. Thank the chef behind your favorite meal, celebrate the kitchen crews who feed your community, and remember that behind every great dish is a person who chose to serve. See a chef, thank a chef.