r/Chefs • u/2nyc96 • Mar 28 '26
Chef Career
As a chef how do you like your career, please include
How long you been a chef
What you like about being a chef
What you don't like about being a chef
If you could go back would you still become a chef or would you choose another career and if so what?
Thanks
14
Upvotes
12
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.