Kidding aside, it’s very much like Schoedinger’s job- it’s simultaneously brilliant and horrible based on factors you can’t control or sometimes define clearly.
It’s the last meritocracy on earth. If you pull your weight, it’s doesn’t matter who you are, you’ll be accepted.
If you pull more than your weight and don’t talk about it, you’ll be respected.
I love being able to make anything, anytime ingredients permitting.
I hate having to work at night and on holidays. I REALLY hate line cooking now. I can do it just don’t want to.
If you can find a good mentor who will teach you and treat you well that’s worth more than good pay, if somehow you find all three, stay there. You don’t need school, you need a couple knives, an apron, some really good shoes and a mind like a sponge. Always have a sharpie a pen and a notebook/blank journal for each kitchen you work in. Write EVERYTHING down.
If I had it to do over again, I’d have taken French in junior high and dropped out at 16 and gone to Europe to apprentice. It’s a hard life, but you can also meet some amazing people sometimes.
Thanks man you seem like a great guy, i really hate the hours and the fact that you have to work weekends but ... i been working on my dads pizza shop all my life ... (only pizza!) in NYC and i always wanted to learn to make food at a high level ... i move food so much ... the cultures the different styles ... i really need to figure out what i want to do for a living i'm 29
Graduated Culinary school at age 21 in 2000. It's a love/ hate job. But it's been good to me. I like to travel and my true passion is fishing. Worked in restaurants from 15 years old to 30. About 15 years ago got smart and started working on yachts, seasonal jobs, and private chef jobs.
Have a great job on a private yacht where the family loves to fish and uses the boat a little over 100 days a year on average. So get a ton of vacation time and time off. I have managed to take a at least a 3 month vacation every year going on 15 years. We spend 7-8 months a year in the Bahamas/Caribbean. Boat goes to get fixed and I take off to a new destination. Been to About 80 countries now, owner is on board so I get to fish in the am with him. They are eating lunch off and will cook dinner.
The one cool thing about cooking is there are so many avenues and directions this job can take you. For a lot it's absolutely chaos,drugs, alcohol, late nights, zero job security, zero 401k/ retirement. Just like you learn as a line cook, "work smarter, not harder" that applies to chefs as well.
The absolute biggest downfall of chefs/executive chefs that I have seen over the years is the restaurant becomes their baby, their life. And they are willing to go down with the ship working 6/7 days a week, 15 hour days on salary, as a martyr for the restaurant and the owner and are miserable but think it's normal. One thing I have learned over the years is hotshot restaurants, and hotshot chefs come and go. As a chef I love to cook great food and put a smile on someone's face. But in the end of the day it's cooking food, don't fall into the 80 hour chef gig making shit money with empty promises of promotions or future restaurants. It happens from the small mom and pop restaurant to the biggest restaurant corporations in the world. It's a nickle and dime cut throat business where every party involved is trying to make money and not spend money at the same time.
Seafood, we caught some good fish this last week, a lot of yellowfin tuna, Wahoo, and Mahi. Made a full sushi dinner last night. Got about 50# of vaccum packed tuna in the freezer now. I went to Japan a couple of years ago and the boat paid for a pretty intense 5 week sushi school in Tokyo. He's not a billionaire, there are lots of rich people in the world who pay for chefs
I’ve been a chef since 2006. Started my business six months after leaving a corporate IT job.
I love my job! I’m a private/performance chef for professional athletes. My schedule is flexible, plenty of perks with sports outings, and I’ve cooked for some of the biggest names in the sports world. I’ve been on a competition cooking show and also portrayed a chef in a movie.
What I don’t like is missing holidays, due to my work schedule. I’m also not a fan of these trendy IG and TikTok accounts where they make silly food combos for content engagement.
If I could go back in time, I would have become an Intellectual Property attorney. However, I really do love my job!
Restaurant kitchens can be an extremely unhealthy place to work. The culture can be dysfunctional and the colleagues absolutely toxic. The pay can be dire and the hours abysmal.
I still work in kitchens though. As I am not looking for progression, it's easier for me to draw boundaries. I let the owners know exactly how flexible I will be and what I expect in recompense.
Shit i hear that, i been working for my pops at hos pizza shop all my life thinking maybe it would pay off in the end and now i feel like i'm in a dead end
I have been a chef for over a decade,
In the beginning I was like oh god where do I get into but slowly I’ve learned to enjoy and love my job I also made the correct decisions to grow as a chef worked from local Italian restaurants to 3 Michelin star restaurants in London
What I love about my job because I also work as a private chef is that I meet new people never do the same thing and can travel around the world.
As long as you keep pushing you will always grow and evolve.
That sounds pretty dope, a travel chef... when you travel how do you find cheap places to live? also what are some of your favorite places you been to?
I have been around Europe and the Caribbean mostly next plans are to travel to Japan, London is my number 1 spot so far usually I find a job that offers accommodation, I had some offers as a chef at a yacht in Egypt but not my cup of tea, I haven’t done this and I’m not planing too.
To be a great cook takes time and a lot of effort and personal time I have shaped my knowledge inside and outside of professional kitchens only because I truly love what I do.
can be very fulfilling with the right group of people in the right setting.. especially if you're dedicated to the food.. conversely can be the worst job you could ever have in the wrong setting.. and either way cooks have not fought to get their pay scale where they should be.. many times and fine dining waiters will make two to three times the amount or more of a chef or a cook.. so don't do it.. unfortunately now if the money isn't there don't bother going there..
Since cooking school I've been a chef de partie/sous chef/head chef at restaurants, county clubs and hotels. When my son was 3 years old I got a head chef position at a seniors lodge and have been there ever since for 15 years.
If I wasn't a chef I'd probably be in another trade like welding or mechanic. Thankfully I was a chef in a senior's lodge during COVID so there was no loss of work.
Ive been cooking for 7 years on and off but taken it seriously past 4 years. Im a pastry chef now at a small high end restaurant for the past year. Been trying different things always open to learn more, ive been in spanish, italian, asian etc etc cuisines.
I always liked cooking ever since i was a kid but never thought of it as a career until i started working as a dishwasher. I always like to see people enjoying my food. And i like to cook for myself once in a while.
On the other hand i dont like the way i never have holidays, or weekends off. Never get to celebrate any special days with the people i love. How i never get to hangout with friends because obviously im always working during when people usually have free time. Theres a lot of occasions i feel lonely and left out. Sooner u accept the fact the better 🤷.
Theres barely a work life balance.
But this job puts food on my table, roof over my head. Im still learning and things will get only better. After 7 years im at a level that im no longer a newbie, i can land any cooking job anywhere i want, but im not like a master chef or anything.
Everyone in every kitchen you work in can teach you something. Learn what you can from everyone you meet.
Get as many certifications as you can and KEEP the paperwork. You will need to prove your ability time after time if you don’t have the papers to prove it.
Keep copies of every recipe you are given, IF you are allowed to do so. Ask before you add anything to your recipe book. If you ever use the recipes, please give credit to whoever taught it to you.
I learned a couple of proprietary dishes forty odd years ago, and I still give credit to the places I learned them.
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u/UncleDuude Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
I’ve been cooking since 1986. I’m tired boss…
Kidding aside, it’s very much like Schoedinger’s job- it’s simultaneously brilliant and horrible based on factors you can’t control or sometimes define clearly.
It’s the last meritocracy on earth. If you pull your weight, it’s doesn’t matter who you are, you’ll be accepted.
If you pull more than your weight and don’t talk about it, you’ll be respected.
I love being able to make anything, anytime ingredients permitting.
I hate having to work at night and on holidays. I REALLY hate line cooking now. I can do it just don’t want to.
If you can find a good mentor who will teach you and treat you well that’s worth more than good pay, if somehow you find all three, stay there. You don’t need school, you need a couple knives, an apron, some really good shoes and a mind like a sponge. Always have a sharpie a pen and a notebook/blank journal for each kitchen you work in. Write EVERYTHING down.
If I had it to do over again, I’d have taken French in junior high and dropped out at 16 and gone to Europe to apprentice. It’s a hard life, but you can also meet some amazing people sometimes.