厨师(chú shī) - chef/cook in Mandarin

厨师 (chúshī) is a "chef" or professional "cook". 厨 (chú) relates to the kitchen, as in 厨房 (chúfáng), "kitchen", and 师 (shī) means "master, skilled person", the same 师 (shī) that appears in 老师 (lǎoshī), "teacher", and 工程师 (gōngchéngshī), "engineer": it marks someone as qualified at a trade.

厨师 (chúshī) is the neutral, professional word for anyone who cooks for a living, from a street food stall to a fine dining kitchen; it does not carry the gendered connotations that "chef" sometimes picks up in English. The measure word for people, 位 (wèi), the polite classifier, or 个 (gè), the general one, both work: 一位厨师 (yī wèi chúshī) is the more respectful phrasing.

Do not confuse 厨师 (chúshī) with 厨房 (chúfáng), "kitchen": one is the person, the other the room.