/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>9460817
awful bait

>>9460822
tell me how it isn't true. i'll wait.

>>9460817
>>9460825
Did 10 years BOH and you're pretty much right, except the McDonalds shit. We eat for free and make whatever we want, son. But yeah, chefs and cooks are treated like human waste, unless they're also the owner/operator of the establishment. And even at higher-end places they will treat you badly. Sure there are good kitchens but most of them are run by lifers who are bitter about it instead of loving it; the passion is gone from them completely and it shows. So they drag your ass through the busted glass of their lives till you become like them, or worse. I got out, and now I'm poor doing something else, but I'm my own boss at least.

BOH is awesome; I wouldn't trade my time for the world, but it destroyed my sanity to several measures. Even people who can handle massive levels of stress can and will crack, and it's not something you should do for a living unless you have no choice, playing back into what I already said, or you're the lucky one that got an investor or your own joint, again, referring back to my own commentary. Or, you can stick with it if you love drugs and loose server pussy and STDs and mama drama. Then have at it.

>>9460868
>you can stick with it if you love drugs and loose server pussy
is this really true? do waitresses really fall for chefs that easy or are you retards just memeing it all the time?

>>9460891
please respond

>>9460891
They don't "fall" for chefs. They think they're as tired and pissed off after work as we are, and are ready to get liquored up and grudge fuck their coworkers for stress relief.

>>9460998
so basically waitresses only pity fuck chefs?

>>9461027
I got from it that you're both pissed off and hate your jobs that it's enough in common to warrant a quick fuck.

>>9461027
You read what you wanted to read into that story, anon.

I always feel bad for the cooks anywhere cause that doesn't seem like a job you can slack on. You gotta be busting ass, efficient, and good. I'm sure they don't get paid enough, god bless them. I'll stick to labor and desk jobs.

Wow you can prepare food? Amazing. Can you also breathe oxygen and walk upright?

I had a comfy cooking job in California but after 3 years I wasn't learning anything, so I asked myself what's important to me. I decided to move to a food city and picked Portland OR. And I must of had 5 jobs not lasting more than 3-4 months or weeks each. With standard practices of starting cooks at minimum wage, wage theft by not giving workers breaks, long hours, fucking servers make twice as much money. A couple of places I worked at had commissary kitchens, so I felt like I wasnt a cook but working on an assembly line. Food was good of course but since my time here my love of food is outweighed by my hatred for the service industry. Maybe you'll get lucky but you will have to sacrifice so much for the chef life to pay off. Honestly if you want to work with food start your own small food business, otherwise fuck working in a kitchen.

>>9460817
it's the most cooked professional choice lol

>>9460817
Is this really the American chef experience? They deserve it from what I see on kitchen nightmares US.

>>9460817
>seriously and without any trolling
>cucked
>cuckoldry
>cucks
>go fuck yourself

>>9460868
>>9462054
Starting to regret enrolling in a Culinary Arts diploma desu. Got 2 years left, I'll finish at 21 and I can either join up with Vatel or find a job.

Might as well start my own lil burger stall.

>>9462054
That's all standard practice pretty well everywhere BOH. I've been a cook for 4 years and I've literally never taken a break at work, even if I'm working a 16hr shift. And even in really fine dining restaurants where the skill required and the workload and stress level are insane, you're not making much more than minimum wage. Hell one place i worked, rather than paying us overtime after the required number of hours in a day, would get us to clock out and keep working.

>>9462452
I have a pretty cool culinary program at my college that is pretty cheap but has a pretty big building for itself. Classes are like 80 bucks each, I like doing it for fun and learn new things but I wouldn't consider it a career.

>>9462452
Top kek, my wife became an RN is less than 16 months and with her MD she'll make $60ish an hour.

LeBlue costs like $45k and takes two years so you can get a job MAYBE making 30k a year working 60+ hours a week. Most chefs are fucking idiots who think a salary is a good idea in the kitchen industry...it's not.

>tfw want to become a cook but not so sure now after reading threads like this

I just got a dishwashing job and want to make my way up some day to cooking

>>9462537
>Not working your way up from dish washer to food prep to line cook and so on and so forth
A chef I'm friends with who has catered multiple governor's balls and runs a very respected restaurant in the capital straight up told me cooking schools are a waste and this is a young man's game.

>>9462576
>>9462537
>>9462499
Yeah, been reading AFTER I joined up for the program. Apparently, chefs all over hate hiring culinary students cuz they have this higher sense of self/higher ego. I can see it too whenever I watch shows like Eat Street or Carnival Eats where trained-chefs sound like bitchy mofos.

>>9462573
>Just started as a dishey

Unless you got some prior industry experience your looking at at least a year of dish before moving up to prep cook let alone anything on the line.

>>9460817
Been a chef for 7 years, 8 in November. And yeah being a chef it is easy to end up cucked. But if you're smart and don't drink the "you must work 15 hours a day for fuck all money because food is your passion" flavored cool aid then you can make it just fine. There are a bunch of ways to make the profession work in your favor once you have a decent skill set.

>>9460817
>go fuck yourself pathetic cucks
LOL you got cucked and didn't you? Or are you a waiter that fucked something up and got torn apart? Oh well, better you than me.

>>9462537
>LeBlue
For people with too much money
>salary is a good idea in the kitchen industry...it's not.
unless you're at the top earning 150k+ salary in hospo is only mildly better than prison time.

>>9460817
Replace cook with any highly creative, competitive work. Artists are cucks, craftsmen are cooks, writers, etc.

>>9462636
I know, I'm willing to put in my time though.
I also have the option of working at a chain and being trained as prep right away. Right now I'm working at a gastro pub, but there aren't any openings for prep any time soon.

>>9462019
Oh yeah, I forgot restaurants don't exist.

>>9460817
>is there more cucked professional choice than being chef?
>now keep in mind, i am not meaning this in a sexual way
stop using that word then

>>9460817
>learn a skill that I can use in my day to day life
>something that anybody on earth will appreciate and respect
>never have to worry about not having a job because everyone is always eating
>plenty of potential for opening your own business
>prep work is calm and relaxing
>cook work is challenging and engaging
>get to make people happy every day

>>9462821
Not everyone ends up happy though.

>>9462821
>automation happens
>robots will be able to cook anything

>>9461027

No it's because they're slags you stupid virgin

>>9462821
The part you missed is that you didn't have to make a profession out of it and could have just kept it as a hobby. Even worse if you paid for culinary school. Most people end up hating hobbies they turn into jobs.

>>9462849
epic meme and quality implications my friend

>>9462839
>robots will be able to cook anything

I don't think we have much to worry about right now.

I beseech any working chef or sous chef to take the hours they work and multiply it by $15, then compare that to your phoned in salary paycheck.

Get back to me.

>>9462054
>Portland

>>9463780
Portland has some great food, but ironically it's mostly in strip clubs. Go figure. They also have TONS of homeless people, so if you're working there you're basically working shoulder to shoulder with a pile of junkies.

they love food and they're good at cooking so it's their lot in life whether they're some rock star chef with a show or a celebrated restaurant or some nobody. there are some people who just have to cook to survive, it's their destiny whether they like it or not.

>>9460817
unfortunately you're basically right. I quit cooking to be a software developer. I only cook for fun now.

>>9463780
Idk dude, the best souvlaki I ever had was from a literal hole in the wall in Portland, OR (it was a window in a wall but you could see the vertical spit and the fat greasy greek cutting slices off of it) in the skid row area. You stood on the sidewalk and ate it. To top it off, some guy came along offering to sell us weed, "try it first to see if you like it." Good times. I have nothing but fond memories of Portland.

>>9462645
>waiter
head dishwasher. Fuck chefs

>>9463843
same.

used to work in a higher class italian restaurant. 11 hours a day, only sunday off, they pay was far below standard and touching a pan was out of the question because that was "real chef" business. did all the shitty work, always super tired.

being a chef is a shit job, getting there is humiliating and unsatisfying. the pay is always terrible, the working hours are bullshit and you have to compete with a shit ton of other people because it's one of the most basic jobs a human being can do and earn a living off. it's not worth it at all unless you own a place, have a good concept or decent location with lots of passing-by and regular customers, good quality food and standards you and your staff can live up to, also preferably waters who aren't on coke or speed

professional chef here. why does so many waitresses want to fuck me? anyone else also experienced this?

>>9460817
Yeah yeah yeahhhh, but where can drug users go for employments?

>tfw would love to be chef
>dont want to deal with the bitter druggie asshole bullies that fill most kitchens
>dont want to be yelled at
>dont want shit thrown at me

I could easily be a chef if it wasnt for the co-workers.

>tfw no restaurant to hire me just to do prep work by myself and leave before the others show up

>>9462497
>would get us to clock out and keep working.

Document every extra hour you work, gather some proof and witnesses (they'll have turn over so this shouldn't be difficult) then when you quit you can sue for up to 3 years of backpay in burgerland.

What about becoming a personal chef?

Or working in catering?

I have a little experience in food service, but I know I can't handle working in a kitchen.

>>9464472
or people who just want to be able to come to work high or drunk. so long as you do your job and do it well then you can get away with murder

>>9464688
catering is just as bad or worse than restaurant work if it's a good company then they'll be busy as shit. send out three different lunches for fifty people each, then do plated service for a thousand people that evening. been there done that

>>9464465
because as a chef you have the bad boy thing goin on, and on top of that they know you're employed

>>9462645

This. I work seven hours a day (except for Tuesdays which are 13 hours), five days a week (six if I want to get some extra OT but it's entirely at my discretion). This is the third kitchen that I've run and I make about $50,000 with the option to pick up extra cash for doing catering gigs for our parent company. It isn't a ton of money but I live in a city with a low cost of living and being single with no kids I'm quite comfortable. Being a chef is like any trade, there are good gigs and bad gigs and plenty of money to be made but you have to make yourself worth it and keep moving till you find what you want.

>>9464718

Working catering gigs is easy. Prepping catering gigs is balls.

>>9462827
>amerilards

>>9464050
you probably weren't very good.

been working in kitchens 14 years, im almost 30. parts of it suck, it is long hours and my feet do hurt, it's hot and sweaty. my girlfriend makes more money than i do and she's 22. when i drank i drank too much, but i don't anymore.

but it's also awesome. ive eaten more caviar than russian oligarchs, had my share of 7/8/9/10 out of 10 waitresses hostess bartenders, not to mention there is not a chick on earth that won't fuck me after i make her dinner. i can say literally anything i want, hr is a joke, i taste cool stuff, cooking is fun and pretty to watch.

the whole kitchen confidential top chef it's all booze and yelling is pretty overblown. almost nobody yells and screams, any chef i know who is any good is training for a marathon or a century and eats pretty healthy. it takes dedication but it's not the 20 hr days six days a week, even at the top of the food chain.

i don't make a shitload of money but i can afford a nice cozy apt in manhattan, have time to lift and train bjj, go to work, make some thing cool and tasty, flirt with guests, get six hours of sleep. i view the money i don't make as a tax i pay to enjoy my life and my work. and for now, it's worth it

if you can't handle a 10-12 workday you're kind of a pussy bros

>>9466796
will you hire me to peel potatoes I gave up on the dream 4 years ago but now I need money

>>9466838
sure. don't need potatoes peeled but will probably need a new dishwasher, unlike most kitchens we treat our dishwashers like human beings

>>9460817
Why do people love using the word cuck so much nowadays?

>>9466899
Why?

Was a cook for five years.
The only people who can make it long term in a kitchen are either total misfits or people who have absolutely no regard for their own well-being, often both.

Also there's that universal thing that if your hobby becomes a job then most of the time you'll stop enjoying it.

>>9462827
Man, that person tipped way too much by about $15.86

I cant imagine why anyone would choose to do food service.
For tens of thousands of years, preparing food was done exclusively by women, while men were left to pursue loftier goals. Men do not belong in the kitchen at all.

>>9466938
Probably because good dishwashers are ridiculously hard to come by and treating them decently helps you keep them around/ keeps them giving a shit about their job

>>9466975
what do you do faggot

>>9466909

pimple faced lard asses on /pol/ made it popular

>>9460817
cooking isn't hard. anyone can learn how to do it in like a week. the job sucks because it's easy to learn. that's how every trade is OP, sorry.

>>9463759

Of course, the standard "dollar•hour" unit.

>>9466796
>if you can't handle a 10-12 workday you're kind of a pussy bros
Youre right lets just go back to the 19th century where workers were essentially indentured slaves. Additionally every piece of credible economic data in the world disagrees with you, ofc you are american so all you can think of is muh hardwork, muh dedication.

>>9468136
>ofc you are american so all you can think of is muh hardwork, muh dedication.
Better than being a yuro whose highest possible aspiration is not doing shit.

>>9462636
>>9462747
>a year in the dish pit

What? I did <4 months in the pit before I made it to prep at my first job

Kitchens have a rotating cast of characters and somebody is always on their way out. Just make sure that the chef knows you're interested in moving up and you'll be there in no time.

Dish isn't hard once you know how to organize and consolidate your work, just tedious. That's why it's the entry level position. Figure out how to work smarter and you'll be there in no time

>>9463759
My take home is much more than that because I get paid hourly with overtime at 55 hours a week or so, and I'm making more than $15 an hour

So uh

>>9466957
>often both
that hit a little close to home, anon

>>9467548
I'm confused. Are you implying that making x amount of dollars per hour isn't a standard practice? Because that IS pretty standard

>>9468223
I think I was in my first dish pit for about 3 months when the pastry chef came over and said "my prep guy just got fired, you're working for me now."

>>9462747
Protip, get your dish section sorted, neat, cleaned up. Go and ask someone if they need a hand with anything.

It might be something menial. It might be grabbing something from a coolroom, whatever. Build trust and relations. Don't just expect to be put on prep one day without making the effort.

>>9469199
why are 99% of dishwashers mexican?

>>9462019
>this fuckin guy
you wouldn't last a minute in a kitchen
it's very hard work for no pay.

>>9462452
you fucked up.
Get out while you can. You're still very young.
You fell for the food network meme.

>>9462617
I never hire culinary students. I hire experienced cooks. The worst cooks I've ever worked with were "chefs". They're terrible, and they're all uppity and narcissistic.

>>9462747
Don't work at a chain, anon.
The worst places I worked were chains. Although, one of them was one of the busiest restaurants in Canada and it made me a better cook. The manager was like Ramsey on hells kitchen though.

Moderate thread hijacking:

How the fuck do I get hired in this industry? I applied at 3 local taphouses to do fucking garnish prep (frying onion rings, caramelizing onions for burgers, etc) and they say I don't have any experience but it's like literally what do I do to get my foot in the door at a place like this.

No this isn't any kind of high end place.

>>9463937
>head dishwasher

>>9470696
apply as a dishwasher
although, there are a lot of managers like me who don't hire anyone with no experience.

>>9470713
Is this another classic case of "need experience to get job" and "need job to get experience"?

[spoiler] Yes I know I'm generalizing

>>9468266
No, he's an autistic first year stem student who is playing dumb that when you said $15 you didn't implicitly mean $15/hour because $/hr * hr = $ but $ * hr = $hr

>>9470631
I wouldn't know about that, as I'm Australian. Most of my dishies have been either Czech/Russian/Estonian, Korean and rarely fellow Aussies.

>>9470819
do you have experience with croatian dishwashers or kitchen workers in general? how are they? i've got a couple applying for the job at my restaurant but i always went with greeks as they were good.

>>9460891
Pretty much, Waitresses in catering are real hot. They look 20 and you wouldn't suspect a thing until she casually mentions she has kids.

>>9466796
Honestly, you sound like an insufferable faggot. The fact you have to low key brag about being a pussy slaying chef on 4chan to justify your shit job is amazing and interesting.

>>9468157
excuse me my highest aspiration is earning the respect of my family
I'm not there yet

>>9460868
>>9460891
>>9460998
>>9461044
>Worked in a kitchen for a little over a year while on a break from school
>Never fucked any of the qt servers
>Lost virginity to call girl two years later

In all fairness, the other cooks didn't get any action and they would harass the fuck out of the girls. They actually had respect for me because I never would hit on them (odd time I told them I like their hairstyle or how they did their makeup, which they found sweet)

>>9464512
Think of it like prison, if you get treated like a bitch, and don't stand up for yourself, they'll just be more cruel to you. If they tell, yell back

>>9462821
>>get to make people happy every day
HAAAAAAAAAAH

Customers are the most selfish, ignorant, self absorbed and angry pieces of shit in existence

>>9470715
Yes. Basically, don't expect to get a job cooking unless you got a degree. Either work in fast food or submit to dishwashing

>>9473492
But, chefs can also be customers in other restaurants.

>>9473504
And those are usually the worst customers.

>>9462537
>implying getting your MD is easy
>...however RN isn't a bad choice

Got mixed signals here anon

>>9462537
>Most chefs are fucking idiots who think a salary is a good idea in the kitchen industry.

No one thinks Salary is a good idea except owners and managers who can use it to work their employee's more and pay them less.

>>9468136
I get my 40 hours a week Monday through Thursday and have a 3 day weekend. It's awesome

>>9468136
>>9473554
Yeah my dad does the 10 hr 4 day week schedule some summers, it's really a young man's thing though. Blows the old guy out. He's retiring in 2 years though, he's good and ready to go back to working part time

Every chef I've ever met has been a pathetic little faggot always whining and talking bout how they've got the most stressful job in the world. Fucking faggots I spit in their general direction when they're walking away from me, anyone who works in a kitchen is worthless "human" garbage

>>9473603
k

>>9460817
I got a degree in the french culinary institute of NY ( It's called International Culinary Center now, since it teach other courses besides french)

It costed 48K for a 9 month program.

Straight out of FCI I got a job in a restaurant owned by a VERY famous chef.

If you have not worked in a NYC kitchen, you've not experienced hell on earth. Especially around the holiday season.

The restaurant I work on average did over 500 covers a night during November to December.

The stress for me got so bad that I started nose bleeding daily, that's when I knew I had to quit.

Not sure about it being cucked, but the wages are so low because restaurants can just hire illegal immigrants to staff the line, they can't bargain for higher wages because they are illegal.

It's been a over a year now since my "retirement" and I am running my own online business. Still trying to pay the loan for the completely useless FCI degree.

Regret is a companion for me, from wasting so much money on such a useless degree.

Can't speak for chefs or cooks, but I work as a baker and it is fucking awesome. I may not make a ton of money, but I am well paid for my field in my town, I work for an awesome boss, I make incredible French pastry every day I work, and most of the money I do make goes to my hobbies and buying shit I want.

It's taken me ten years to get here, but I've loved most of it, and I never could sit in an office, I'd blow my brains out.

>>9473680
>baker

1/3rd chemistry and mathematics, 1/3rd decoration, 1/3rd waiting for yeast to do all the work

>>9473670
Serves you right for being a dumb faggot

>>9466796
10-12 workdays, lol I'm 19 and used to work 2 jobs and could handle 13 hour days. I could handle it, but fuck that I rather have free time and be poor lol.

>>9462827
>Compliments don't pay my tuition
Neither does unskilled work you whore

>>9473700
>baking
>maths
congrats you can fathom how to use a fraction. you genius.

>>9473700
>I never could sit in an office, I'd blow my brains out.
most people that say this lack the foresight/imagination to understand that "sitting in an office" can mean a vast number of things. I "sit in an office" but use an esoteric skillset that requires analytical, critical, and imaginative abilities every single day, and it's interesting as hell.

Cooking is my hobby, and I probably make 3x what I would had I decided to pursue it as a career.

>>9473422
>They actually had respect for me because I never would hit on them (odd time I told them I like their hairstyle or how they did their makeup, which they found sweet)
Wow

>>9460817
>go to work high
>eat whatever the fuck I want anytime
>bantz with the boys
>praise from clients almost daily
>attract pussy with food

I don't know about other countries, but in France, being a cook is pretty dope.

>>9460817
Thats so funny, that was one of my stories.
Working my dick off at a 4 star restaurant in NYC many years ago. Sitting in a McDonalds at 1 am eating a rotten cold hamburger in Columbus circle saying WTF what a life, what am I doing! I just fed the best foods in the world under extreme stress, hoping I have the rent money when and if I was going to get paid, and then had to commute via cabs and trains to get home, which was a boat in the dead of winter only to wake up and do it all over again in 8 hours! I tell ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN...DO NOT GO INTO THIS STUPID BUSINESS.

>>9466796
>if you can't handle a 10-12 workday you're kind of a pussy bros
I can handle it, I choose not to. Where I am is short on chefs so I just keep moving on to better paying jobs with more flexable hours. Currently on 42 hours a a week, do it in 3 days, 4 day weekends on 70k a year. Don't drink the cool aid, just move on to a better job.

32 years as a Chef in some of the finest restaurants in the US, and today collecting FOOD ASSISTANCE from the state....$45 a week to live on. I have feed over 250 thousand people...
no pension, no 401k, no insurance, no nothing but a ulcer. Here is another note, in the 30+ years of writing menus, it has come down to Hamburgers & Tacos. That is all people can afford or want to spend their money on. The new "Fine Dinning" restaurants are steak houses. Piece of meat on a plate. A potato on another plate...$250 a person! fahgettaboutit!~

>>9473907
>proportions to decide mixtures
>linear algebra to use your ingredients in the best way possible
>calculating your costs and profits if you own a restaurant
math is relevant in everything you do in your life.

>>9474254
you're working these hours cooking?

Been BOH for 11 years now starting at 18. And I've been an exec for 4 years a sous for several years line cook started as a bright eyed bushy tales dishwasher. No school....but coming into 30 years old with 2 kids. I'm going back to school this winter for a HVAC degree. Cooking is long hours no pay terrible if any benefits...you work your ass off you surrounded by drunks and drug addicts which was cool when I was like 23....but anyway I loved my time as a chef. I actually got to spend a few years traveling being a chef for musicians that were on tour some big ass names too like The Who...John Melloncamp..but other than that it's a soul crushing Industry after some years

>>9472798
Nah, sorry mate. Good luck, though.

>>9474616
I'm with you, bro. I never stepped up to chef, but did my years going from dish to line. It's one of those jobs everyone should do for just long enough to learn how to cook and learn what entitled shits people can be, but definitely get out before it's too late to gain another marketable skill. I see these 40- and 50- year old guys in the grocery, and you can tell they're divorced because they're just buying a stack of hungry man dinners and shit.

>>9460817
If you want an easy job, go become a public servant.

Hell, even policing is way easier than being a chef.

>>9462537
>than 16 months and with her MD

enjoy your divorce

writing menus right now
king of the beach summer '18
get fucked losers

>>9474821
Should be pretty solid divorce since she makes more money than me. I'll enjoy that.

>>9476355
Uh oh, I think this is the point /pol/tards come in and call you a cuck.

>>9474916
If your menu doesn't have chicken parmigiana it's not a real menu.

>>9473422
>They actually had respect for me

Alright, who wants to tell him....

>>9473670
I'm three years into my computer science degree at a public uni in a metro area.

I haven't even managed to rack up that much debt yet.

Do people not take 5 minutes to consult google before making large life decisions or???