Before the (male) chef became a chef, he was…

Before the (male) chef….

   
….became a chef,

he was an archimageiros (chief- cook).

An archimageiros in restaurants, often based in fine hotels,

or an archimageiros on a ship….



…. an artist in the kitchens of the rich.

He was  a mageiros in Byzantine inns (pandoheia)



 and in  Graeco-Roman taverns.

He was an excellent cook in the kitchen of the rich,

in Greece

in Rome

where Greek cookery stood in high regard and an archimageiros could rise to great heights of civic importance
“the conquered thus conquered the conquerors”.

During the Hellenistic and Classical periods, a mageiros was a high- skilled cook*, a culinary specialist, a butcher and a tradesman (demiourgos).**

Of course, he was an artist in the kithchen of the rich.

But before a mageiros became a mageiros, he was a priest
responsible for  slaughtering, roasting and dispersal of sacrificial meat.