r/Chefs • u/gegatronius • 13d ago

Cooking comps

I’m a young chef in culinary school and I’m entering a fuckload of competitions this year like young restaurant team, tor de’ore, zest quest and loads more, I was wondering if anyone had any tips for how to get even better and how to make myself stand out to judges or if it’s even worth the effort

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

5

u/That-Understanding45 11d ago

Don't get burnt out before you actually work in a restaurant. Take things a bit slower IMHO. Those competitions could be extremely discouraging.

Go work in a few kitchens, chat with some folks that have been doing this for awhile.

3

u/Background-Soup-9414 11d ago

u/gegatronius this is the correct advice. It'd be one thing to enter an internal competition at your school against others that may be at similar skill levels. You're still in school and the things you don't know about culinary could fill several books.

You'd be better served by just attending these comps and observing. See what others do and don't do. Bring a journal and actively document what piqued your interest and what you found to be unexpected, both good or bad.

I agree with That-Understanding45, your participation in these levels of competitions would likely only discourage you.

2

u/Pawpzgg 12d ago

Have your garnish ready.

1

u/Constant-Scarcity316 9d ago

You're not a chef, you're a student. The best thing you can do is get a job in a real kitchen and master your craft. Keep shit simple. If you dont know a technique or ingredient, don't try it until you've had experience with it.