Average salaries there -- $85,000 a year for a chef and $14 an hour for line cooks, the people who make the food that gets sent out to diners -- are the highest in the country, according to a recent salary survey by StarChefs.com.ixteen years later, he is making $140,000 plus a percentage of the profits of a restaurant group and is executive chef at its award-winning Alize restaurant in Las Vegas. His success is a result of talent and hard work -- and his move to Nevada didn't hurt, either.