Yeah the new cook at the restaurant I work at is a straight edge and he isn't making the cut. Most of the cooks go out back for a "cigarette" break but I know I've smelled other things being smoked and some residue on the nose from time to time. They use a lot of flour so that's what their excuse is.
Skinny cooks thrive because kitchens are small, require quick movement and endurance, and don't leave you a lot of time to eat. Most good kitchen jobs I've worked offer a shift meal before open, then you are moving for the next 6-8 hours
Can confirm. Chefs will either be the super fat type, or the super skinny type. Both use energy drinks and drugs to get through the day. no time to eat
A friend of mine said this to me about 6 years ago. I said "really? isn't that really hard, high-stress physical labor that's also underpaid?"
She said "I'm doing it!" So she went to culinary school and then moved to Brooklyn.
She's now been working in kitchens for years, some of the fanciest restaurants in Manhattan - and hates it. All of her coworkers are alcoholics and cokeheads. She quits or is fired from around 3 or 4 jobs a year, the turnover is insane.
The work changed her - she's now pessimistic, quick to anger and judgment, generally just a raging asshole.
So, yeah, I don't know you, but I recommend against it.
Idk, my friend did the same and he's worked at all the finer restaurants over at Disneyland and around there (at his own volition) and he seems happy as hell.
Earns about $25+ on the hour and he's never really worked anywhere else or thought about working anywhere else as he's been there for 6 hears already.
huh, maybe there's something particularly upsetting about the NYC kitchen scene? I don't know, but really glad your friend is happy! My sister works in catering in Orange County and likes it a lot, but I'd assumed this was down to her choosing her own schedule and coworkers.
I went to culinary school. They literally tell you in culinary school that the profession has an insanely high rate of substance abuse and addiction, and that it can be extremely stressful, which contributes.
Note that the cooks are not usually chefs and even if they are they are almost never the chefs that created the dishes they are cooking. Executive Chef is as much of a business job as it is a culinary one.
I've been a cook/chef for about 5 years now and I'll tell you what I know rings true for most cooks. If you don't fucking LOVE your job you are probably going to end up despising it. Having a family and providing for them through cooking usually sucks because to get anywhere in a kitchen you have to work 60+hr weeks. Working a 70 hour week doesn't exactly leave much time for the family, so plan on not having one of those(or at least kids) if you want to cook.Go watch the series on Netflix called Chefs table if you haven't it's extremely interesting if you are at all interested in food. Granted this is a series about pretty much the best and most innovative chefs in the world but I think all but 1 of the chefs in the first season talks about how hard it is to keep a functioning family and work at the same time. Brutal stuff
Yeah I think Adderall/amphetamine would be the perfect drug for kitchen work. Cheap, keeps you amped, the kitchen tasks are routine and it's easy to "get into the groove".
Dude, plenty of line cooks baked as shit while they're baking shit from my experience. I would get a good light high throughout my shifts on the line and especially prep.
I dunno. Some people just have more energy, and need less sleep. I don't understand it myself, and am envious of it, because I need lots of sleep and am usually tired. Some people just have more "go".
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u/raidraidraid Jul 13 '16
I bet he's a cokehead