They are digging up the road outside our house so our street is Fermé for two days. But, noticing that I could still sneak in and our if I was careful,I scooted off this morning to do some shopping and boldly drove back to the door to unload it.
As I was doing this I heard “Chef ! Chef! ” from one of the workmen, telling me I couldn’t stop there. I then explained I was just unloading the shopping and would be gone in a sec- he was fine with that.

But the thing that was on my mind as I drove away was : How in hell did he know I was a chef?

And then of course the answer hit me.

We use chef exclusively in English to indicate a cook where as here it is just used as a manager.
The workman was basically calling me Boss, just as an Irish workman would have.