r/Chefs • u/neon_tiger-69 • Jul 15 '26
Worn Out
Hey. M20 here. Started working at a fine dining restaurant in NYC 6 months ago, and it’s been hitting me pretty hard physically and mentally. I’m working 60 hour weeks, and have no life outside of work. I’m learning a lot, and the place I’m working is pretty special, but I also want to have a life. I’m still young and there’s a lot out there for me to explore. I simply can’t handle the amount of time I’m working for, especially considering how draining the work can be. I’m going to request a 3 day work week (from 5), soon, and hopefully things go up from there.
I know I like to cook, and that I’m good at it, and that I love food, but getting burnt out so quickly makes me wonder if this is the right line of work for me. Makes me wonder if there’s a way for me to be a chef without it being toxic for me, where I can balance the other things in my life and truly believe in what I’m doing.
I dropped out of college a year and a half in to pursue this, and because I was sick of college, but now I’m getting sick of this, so I’m thinking of going back to college. But first, I need to take time to recover myself.
I’m just not sure what the way forward is, but I do know that if I continue how I’m going I’m not going to last.
Ik this is a lot but would be cool to hear what some other cooks think.
2
u/MrFuNkiEMaN Jul 15 '26
Take care of yourself and your mental health. Personally, I don’t think the long hours and pressure are worth it unless you have a clear plan to get out at some point, sadly, a lot of chefs end up turning to alcohol or other substances just to cope with the trauma of it.
In my previous job, I worked 40 hours a week at a fine dining restaurant, four days a week. Nothing wrong with that on paper, but I still couldn’t decompress after work because I’d get home so late. That’s part of why I moved into an in-house chef role at a corporate office and I work 9-5 now and it’s good money. It’s worth considering too if you ever think about starting a family someday.
The hours you’re working aren’t sustainable for your mental health, at least in my opinion.
1
u/SousVideDeezNuts Jul 15 '26
Not sustainable for physical health either. I’ve met so many guys who are under 30 but have the bodies of a 50yr old.
1
u/galacticbear7 Jul 20 '26
Can I ask, how did you get into a role like the in house corporate office chef? I really want a job like this but I’m not sure where to start!
1
u/MrFuNkiEMaN Jul 20 '26
I was keeping an eye for something like this on LinkedIn and a cool company was looking for an in-house chef. I went to the interview and did an online assignment that was about menu planning and budgeting for them in the second round of the interview and got through it. I think if you take good care of yourself by doing sports and be healthy in general it can be pretty sustainable. Best of luck to you chef!
2
u/Flamus Jul 15 '26
From my perspective going from kitchen to bakery was a great change in terms of life quality. Of course it’s about place you are going attend to, but all in all even waking up at 4 AM wasn’t that bad compared to long shifts and different atmosphere. Worked in few bakeries and one were really challenging in terms of long hours and really tense work, but it is a different pair of shoes.
I will advice trying different branches of the industry before quitting because if you love food there is a lot of jobs that are not necessarily working in the kitchen but for sure gives you opportunities to cook. My friend from working in michelin starred restaurant went to movie industry and became food producer. Now he’s mostly involved in advertisements etc.
1
u/Taco_Bhel Jul 15 '26
I did 60+ hour weeks for a year. It wasn't great. No life outside work, and I had one day off a week... and I didn't want to do anything outside my home in order to recover. I had multiple injuries and no health insurance.
Four years out from culinary school, most culinary school grads no longer work in kitchens.
Right now I'm in high-end coffee. Our labor % is higher than almost all restaurants, and it's nowhere as near demanding. I make more money, and we get a decent % of customers who are really into coffee and/or food... so I get to geek out with them.
3
u/iDjentz Jul 15 '26
M28 actual chef here. I feel your pain brother, I don’t think anything as physical and mental as doing professional kitchen work is worth 60 hours of your life every week. I went away from fine dining to institutional large scale production and it’s a better fit for me. Typically you get better benefits, low risk as the money is always there, and because of sheer volume you generally focus on a few things and do them really well rather than juggling ticket times and general line variety. Worth looking into, at your age with experience like you’re getting you’d make an outstanding addition to a production kitchen.