Am chef de cafea.

No. Chef in this sentence is a different word.

• chef = mood, desire, feeling like something
• șef = boss
• English chef = cook

So Am chef de cafea uses chef in the sense of I feel like / I’m in the mood for.

A very important detail:

• chef is pronounced with k at the start
• șef is pronounced with sh

Because Romanian uses the expression a avea chef de — literally to have desire/mood for.

So:

• am = I have
• chef de = feel like / be in the mood for

This is different from English, which usually says I feel like coffee, not I have mood for coffee.

Because chef normally takes the preposition de when it is followed by a noun.

So the pattern is:

• a avea chef de + noun

Examples:

• Am chef de cafea.
• Am chef de muzică.
• Am chef de vacanță.

In English, you usually would not translate de word for word. It is just part of the Romanian pattern.

Yes, it is understandable and natural enough, especially in casual speech.

But many Romanians would also say:

• Am poftă de cafea.
• Mi-e poftă de cafea.
• Aș bea o cafea.

There is a small nuance:

• chef = a broader feeling like something / being in the mood
• poftă = more of a craving, especially for food or drink

So for coffee, poftă is often very common. But Am chef de cafea still works.

Because here cafea is being used in a general sense: coffee as a substance or type of thing.

So:

• Am chef de cafea = I feel like coffee

If you want to emphasize one coffee / a cup of coffee, Romanian often prefers a different structure, for example:

• Am chef să beau o cafea.
• Aș bea o cafea.

So the version without the article sounds more general and idiomatic here.

Yes, very often it is used with actions too.

With nouns:

• Am chef de cafea.

With actions, Romanian usually uses:

• a avea chef să + verb

Examples:

• Am chef să ies. = I feel like going out.
• Am chef să dorm. = I feel like sleeping.
• Am chef să citesc. = I feel like reading.

So the sentence you have is one common pattern, but not the only one.

Negative:

• Nu am chef de cafea.
• very commonly in speech: N-am chef de cafea.

Question:

• Ai chef de cafea? = Do you feel like coffee?
• Ai chef să bei o cafea? = Do you feel like having a coffee?

So the structure stays the same; you just change the verb form or add negation.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

am kef de ka-FE-a

A few key points:

• chef sounds like kef, not like English chef
• cafea has the stress on the last part: ca-FE-a

A rough IPA version is: /am kef de kaˈfe̯a/

It is mostly everyday, conversational Romanian.

You can absolutely use it in normal speech, but it sounds casual rather than formal. In more neutral wording, especially if you want to sound a bit more standard, you might also hear:

• Aș dori o cafea. = I would like a coffee.
• Aș bea o cafea. = I’d have a coffee.

So Am chef de cafea is good for relaxed, natural conversation.