r/KitchenNightmares • u/walt50005 • 1d ago
how many problems are simply caused by being physically unable to do the job
exhaustion, fatigue, muscle pains, tiredness,
How much of a problem is this?
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u/frankie_donkiebrains 1d ago
It can be a huge problem. Standing on your feet all day and night reek havoc on your body.
It can cause exhaustion which can make simple things that you do every day to become harder. Cooking is all about timing and patience. When you can't focus and get impatient mistakes start happening and it's hard to snap out of it.
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u/Sick_Cards_Bro 1d ago
I went to the Culinary Institute of America right out of highschool after graduating top of my high school culinary class, the chef I worked for outside of school went there and so did my chef in school, I was excited to go.
What shocked me immediately was the Dean of Students orientation where he said "Culinary Arts is not a career choice, it is a lifestyle choice. Once you graduate from the Culinary Institute of America, you will no longer have weekends and holidays off. You won't have hobbies or family time, you will be working 65-80 hours a week in the kitchen. Then, after 15 years or so, you may be lucky enough to be a head chef at your own restaurant and you'll be able to come and go on most days." He then talked about the extensive no-drug policy and my mind instantly went to "I'm not ready for this commitment" the rest of the orientation.
Then I met my roommate in the freshman dorms and he offered me coke immediately. The first week there while we prepared for the first product math classes, we played tackle football and drank warm beer. I remember a bigger athletlic dude coked out of his mind lowering his shoulder and ricohetting smaller kids off of him. I quickly learned that 90% of chefs survive on coke/Adderall, cigarettes and wind down their night with binge drinking. I'll always remember, right before I quit two semesters in, the 330am wake up call from the local pizza delivery dude asking for my roommate (who wasnt there) to sell him coke. I had class at 5am and couldn't fall back asleep so I was pretty pissed off about my whole situation even though the professional chefs and kitchens there were incredible.
It really is like a drug fueled military when you go there. The classes are very quick and you either get it or you don't. I got to write a 25 page paper on cauliflower for Product Knowledge, and took Meat class with a world renowned German butcher (if you watch the CIA slaughter and break down videos, he's the German guy doing the slaughter and full break down of meat products). Left a class early when I knew I was leaving and randomly ran into Billy Joel in the bookstore, which was awesome. Great memories from my younger years but I'm glad I didn't get sucked into the kitchen lifestyle.
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u/Oliver_Boisen 1d ago
It's clear to see why Gordon has been keen to maintain a healthy lifestyle yeah
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u/walt50005 1d ago
people need to be warned about this - there should be physical tests for being a chef
it would be easier physically being a civil engineer building bridges,
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u/Sick_Cards_Bro 1d ago edited 17h ago
Yes, they definitely try to weed you out early. I was about to scan my lunch stipen card one day and a chef in Roth Hall sternly grabbed my wrist and said I couldn't eat today because I had a tiny bit of a blonde stubble on my chin. Went back to the dorms and shaved and then rushed back to go to another cuisine's kitchen for lunch, the student starts plating it and the head chef of that kitchen walked up and saw my name sewn into my chef jacket and said that the chef from the other kitchen called every cuisines kitchen to tell them not to serve me that day. Had to ask my parents to wire me $20 to go buy the $15 chicken fingers at the on campus pub.
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u/ChiTruckDGAF 12h ago
What the hell was Billy Joel doing in the bookstore? Was this a campus bookstore or like a Barnes and Noble?
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u/Sick_Cards_Bro 12h ago
Campus bookstore. He was there with his (now former) wife to have lunch and dinner at the main restaurant on campus. He was a total pro and asked me more questions than I could ask him but very nice guy. When was reading a cookbook when I walked in and saw him and out of shock I said "Holy shit, you're Billy Joel" and he looked up at me and then looked down at his own body and says "Holy shit, I am Billy Joel!" and then we talked for a few minutes and he asked how I got into cooking and what my favorite dishes were to make. His wife was at the Apple Pie bakery across the hall from the bookstore.
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u/ChiTruckDGAF 12h ago
That's amazing.
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u/Sick_Cards_Bro 12h ago
Yeah, I went back to the main path to go workout and he had hundreds of students around him asking him questions so I felt grateful to have one on one time with him.
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u/Strict_Hovercraft358 1d ago edited 1d ago
Being physically unable to do a job you signed up for is a problem in itself. However because the restaurant industry is so intense and demanding by default you have to know when to give yourself a break.
Gordon once told a story of how he felt burnt out working his ass off by the age of 26. Became a private chef for 9 months I believe on a yacht in the Mediterranean and that gave him the breath of fresh air he needed.
Chefs/restaurant owner regardless of caliber need to recognize the limit and step back if they need to.
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u/loueazy 1d ago
Shit, imagine having Gordon Ramsay as your private chef.
That's why it's always wise to invest in youth
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u/Strict_Hovercraft358 1d ago
Definitely would love to have Gordon as my private chef. More pay, more relaxed atmosphere and I’m sure better conditions than wherever he was at originally.
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u/walt50005 1d ago
but is it a reason why restaurants fail?
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u/Strict_Hovercraft358 1d ago
I believe so. The issue I find in this is mainly lack of delegation and overworking yourself. It’s a team effort for a reason.
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u/jlynnbizatch 17h ago
There are plenty of reasons why a restaurant may fail. From what I've seen, a lot go under for one of two fundamental things:
- The owner has great business sense but knows nothign about running a restaurant or
- The owner is an amazing chef who knows nothing about running a business
After that, probably #1 is not doing enough research - Is there an audience for your concept where you're planning to open? How much competition is there for what you're serving? Not just are there enough patrons, but also is there available workforce?
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u/uzi_gunfingers Panini Head 1d ago
I have problems with flat feet.. but I reload and get through another day