Advice for an apprentice chef starting out

[Anonymous No.11257892]

If there are any actual cooks or chefs remaining on /ck/ I'd appreciate some advice or tips you've gained from your experience in the industry

[Anonymous No.11257897]

>>11257892
Find a more lucrative profession.

[Anonymous No.11257917]

Only ever work corporate jobs for experience and something to put on a resume. If you actually want to grow and rise through the ranks in the industry you will have a much easier time doing it in small family owned restaurants rather than corporations

[Anonymous No.11257934]

>>11257897
no

[Anonymous No.11257936]

>>11257917
Ding ding ding

Corporations will make you hate to cook, mom and pop's is where it's at. Gained more general cooking experience working with other people interested in cooking rather than those who are only seeking their next paycheck to blow.

t. 6 years cooking professionally

[Anonymous No.11258426]

Everyone thinks they know everything, they have big egos. Some will try to genuinely try to help you while others will just be showing off.

[Anonymous No.11258453]

I've been working on a line for a year and a half now. I started washing dishes, but i know that I want to be on a line for the rest of my life. When I finally outgrow my current line job should I expect to go back to washing dishes when I apply at a more competitive job?

[Anonymous No.11258456]

>>11258453
>but i know that I want to be on a line for the rest of my life.
thats what they all say

[Anonymous No.11258496]

>>11257897
There aren't many of those desu, unless you already have a stem degree

[Anonymous No.11258500]

keep the status queue and outlast the other people who fuck up.

[Anonymous No.11258509]

>>11258500
>status queue
no wonder you have to work in a kitchen being this retarded

[Anonymous No.11258515]

>>11258509
it was a play on words that likely involves uptight fucks like you getting fired or quitting while I just chop onions.

[Anonymous No.11258522]

>>11258453
Depending where you at, line cook jobs are usually pretty easy to come by as long as you have experience

[Anonymous No.11258570]

Save money. Move to a major city. Line up as many stages as you possibly can. Try to find a chef who’s food impresses you and who talks straight to you. Never put in less than a year at serious restaurant. Five to ten years in burn out and become a delivery driver.

[Anonymous No.11258585]

Don't start doing cocaine

[Anonymous No.11258606]

Keep a hobby, stay away from drugs and excessive alcohol, and don't try to date outside the industry. Have an ambition (I wanna open my own joint, run an x resturaunt, become an exec chef at y resturaunt) and work towards it. Have an exit strategy into a 9 to 5, ideally something food-related, with like a distributor or something. Don't become an angry cunt who thinks they know everything. Don't work for corporate houses unless you're literally starving to death. Spend money on a great pair of well-fitting shoes before you spend money on great knives.

[Anonymous No.11259779]

>>11257892
Be prepared for:
Alcoholism
Drug use/abuse
Divorce(s)
Heart problems
Bad knees
Loss of parts of at least one finger
Back problems

"But anon," you say, "cooking is my passion." Setting aside the fact that the "my passion" memery needs to be eradicated from existence, it may well be something you enjoy. Until you get nine 8-tops walking into the kitchen at the same time on the day that half your line cooks are out with the Irish flu. This will also be the day that your DMO gets deported and your head wait decides to leave her abusive husband, leaving you short everywhere. You will barely manage to eke out those tickets. You will survive the night. But then you'll go home and get shithouse drunk, or go out with the rest of the guys and drink until closing because of industry discounts. You'll wake up an hour before your shift, hungover AF and do the same stupid thing over and over and over. You 'passion' is gone and you're just another cook who moonlights as an alcoholic.

Don't go into the industry. It is awful.

[quiche !!T2UdrWkLSWB No.11261437]

>>11257892
go hard
ask yourself what you want, what would stop you (death, poverty, exhaustion or w/ever)
and don't stop till you get where you want, or to what stops you

[Anonymous No.11261443]

>Voluntarily going into the food and service industry

Oh no, oh no no no...

look at this dude....

[Anonymous No.11261462]

>>11257892
If you're serious, be humble, and learn how to work well with your peers. Some might have ill temper, some might be alcoholics, and many will be smokers. This is food, after all, and even nice restaurants hire seedy help if they get the job done. If it's a newer restaurant, be careful, and the second they're late with a paycheck or you notice bad business, start looking for a new job ASAP.
>>11261443
This and hair styling are the "you either 100% make it, or you're a fucking peon for life" of industries. I'd much rather do something where ending up on the lower end of the pay spectrum still means I am comfortable.

[Anonymous No.11261549]

>>11257892
I started out as a Dishwasher at 14, now I own my own joint at 28.

This is not the case with everyone, not even 99% of all staff. If you want to enjoy working as a chef or cook aim at being a sous chef, you have lots of delegation power, and really only have your head yelling at you.

Not all corporate kitchens are built the same, if you are entering a low end chain (Applebee's, Chili's, etc.) be prepared to open bags and microwaves and work long shitty hours for little pay, and definitely don't call yourself a chef. Find an established restaurant (not some Mom & Pop place that some anons are suggesting) and work your way up from the bottom. Show up early, leave late and always be positive.

[Anonymous No.11261628]

>>11261549
>Show up early, leave late and always be positive.

Some of the best life/career advice I've ever seen. You'd be surprised at the number of people who have no concept of this.

[Anonymous No.11262397]

>>11258606
This honestly

[Anonymous No.11262925]

work your ass off.
serious. if you have a shit work ethic and bad attitude, you WILL NOT LAST.

[Anonymous No.11262948]

What's your discipline? It'll be easier to give advice if you let us know which country/state you live in, and what cuisine you plan study.

My discipline is traditional Japanese (haute cuisine), but I have experience on both sides of the Pacific, so I might be able to help.

The most important thing is to establish a goal. For starters, a trade certification might be a good idea, but it would be better to have a longer term goal like owning a business. It's true that you don't need to go to culinary school (I didn't) nor do you require a journeyman to be a "chef" in most cases, but being part of an accredited group will help you getting more connection in the industry and give you cred if you decide to leave the restaurant business but stay in the food industry.

Another reason why I suggest accreditation is because for someone like you, who needs to ask the internet for direction, going to school or registering for a trade program will give you much more security and direction than crossing your fingers and hope to wash dishes at a national level restaurant.

cont.

[Anonymous No.11262953]

>>11262948
cont.
Also, having a goal will help you keep focused through your training. I went through corporal punishment and kitchen drama (inevitable when you spend 16-18 hours 5-6 days a week in a cramped kitchen with the same dozen people) for almost my entire working life, but reading countless books, magazines, and watching YouTube videos about chefs really helped inspire me to not quit.

You do need to be passionate about cooking, too. If you're in it for critical acclaim, money, or anything else besides the craft, you're going to be in for a huge disappointment. Here's my anecdote: my first serious job in the industry was in a mid-sized kitchen of a dozen cooks on the line. There were 4 ex-chefs (real, top position chefs) who worked "reduced" days of 12 hour shifts 5 days a week as kitchen helpers. They were paid roughly $70-80k in USD when they were still chefs, but they were all over 60, which is the retirement age in Japan, so they were pretty much forced to quit, or accept a reduced salary at nearly half of what it was previously. They were doing a lot of the "manual labor" jobs like scrubbing dishware (80+ varieties, weekly rotation) and expediting, so that young apprentices like us were able to spend more time learning the "core" cuisine. Not once did I sense any bitterness from them, and they did seem to have some pride in helping our generation go through our training. These people are expected to permanently retire at around 75 years.

Now on the top of the kitchen ladder, there was another "past retirement aged" executive chef who earned, honestly, nearly $105k USD. His job was to come in for 8 hours and sit on a chair to supervise the kitchen, and occasionally scold at the sous chef. He still wanted to start his own kitchen, so he quit his well-paying job to open his own restaurant in the suburbs and serve food the way he envisioned. He still runs that place with his wife to this day, for probably much less money and less time-off.
cont.

[Anonymous No.11262973]

get a real job faggot

[Anonymous No.11262975]

>>11262953

cont.

Obviously, my anecdotes are on the extreme end, but even in North America, you really need the training, accreditation, and connections to even coming close to having a "balanced" work life. Working at national level chain restaurants or major hotels in executive positions are probably the most desirable in the industry, but with enough passion and creativity, you can do anything.

There's just no security that white collar professionals have, so you will end up working a mediocre position for maximum OT if you don't make your way to the top.

FYI, I have a basic accreditation in Japan as a professional cook, but I'm still training for my 10 year accreditation as a "specialist."

cont.

[Anonymous No.11262993]

Former chef here that worked in a nice hotel chain for years running the kitchen for the restaurant and our huge banquet halls.

For the love of god, get yourself a real job that isnt cooking. Cook with passion at home for friends/family, and maybe even start your own catering service where you feed private gatherings with top notch food that have no problem paying good prices for good quality.

Working yourself to the bone all day every day in a restaurant/hotel kitchen making somebody else rich with your skills is only feeding the beast thats slowly killing you on the inside.

[Anonymous No.11263004]

>>11262975

cont.

Other small tips for becoming a professional cook...

1. Have good record keeping skills, and be comfortable doing mental calculations. Every chef I worked under had an acute awareness of the food cost of every single ingredient and every hour of labor, down to the gram and minute.

2. Know how to sharpen your knives. It used to be semi-optional especially in Western cuisines, but more and more chefs are sharpening their own knives. If you ever hope to be a social media star, sharpen your own knives. And ideally, know how to sand/shave your cutting board. In Japanese cooking, we sharpen and polish our knives everyday.

3. Have a good understanding, if not obsession, in food safety. I score 100% everytime I re-certify for my personal food safety cert, and your customers should expect no less. Just watching something like Kitchen Nightmares should motivate you. Even if it doesn't mean much in some jurisdictions, health boards are going to be increasingly scrutinizing (due to public demand).

4. Don't start smoking if you can help it.

5. If you quit a restaurant, don't "quit in style." The restaurant industry is a small world, and if you're a bum cook you'll cook at greasy spoons for the rest of your life.

6. Always keep yourself inspired.

Good luck :)

[Anonymous No.11263070]

>>11262948
>My discipline is traditional Japanese (haute cuisine)
you put raw fish on lumps of cold rice

[Anonymous No.11263105]

>>11263070

This post is a good example of how misrepresented Japanese cuisine is.

I'm not a sushi chef. I practice traditional cuisine, where we serve a minimum of 10 courses on at least 20 different dishware per customer.

Comparing kaiseki to sushi is like comparing Italian haute cuisine to pizza.

I mean, I don't come you for having this misconception, all these YouTube "foodie" channels give the average viewer an impression that Japanese cuisine = sushi. This couldnt be further from the truth.

The arguably most respected chef in Japan, Mr. Murata Yoshihiro, owner of multiple Michelin starred restaurants in both Tokyo and Kyoto, never served edomae style sushi.

[Anonymous No.11263107]

>>11263105

>I don't come you

I apologise, I meant "I don't blame you"

[Anonymous No.11263143]

>>11258500
This. Don't rock the boat.

[Anonymous No.11263152]

>>11263105
Are you a nip or some white weeb?

[Anonymous No.11263192]

>>11262973

I think cooking is an honest job...

>>11263152

I'm not a full nip, and I'm definitely not a week.

[Anonymous No.11263197]

>>11261628
How dare people not want to work for free

[Anonymous No.11263206]

>>11263192
So how did you end up cooking for those slant-eyed dog-eating yellow zipperhead-gooks and apparently move to jap land?

[Anonymous No.11263216]

>>11263197

I disagree. If a classical musician practice outside of rehearsal time, is it considered "working for free?"

I do understand your point though. If you're working at a local restaurant, you don't really need to do more than you're asked of.

But if you ever want to compete for spots at the national level, you absolutely need to give yourself every advantage to move up the ladder. This is the same for every industry, with the possible exception of public sector or "progressive" non-profits.

[Anonymous No.11263226]

>>11263197
There are plenty of industries where you won't work (much) for free, but this isn't one of them. If you want to move up in a higher tier restaurant, expect like 25% minimum of your hours worked to be unpaid.

[Anonymous No.11263235]

>>11259779

The situation you described is nothing compared to SHTF situations in other jobs... at least we're not getting shot in the streets.

>>11263206

Why do you want to know? There are plenty of snowflake weebs on YouTube that talk about this.

[Anonymous No.11263243]

>>11263235
Found your story quite intriguing, that's why. So why not tell the rest?

[Anonymous No.11263245]

>>11258515
>I meant to say that, y-you’re the real retard here!

[Anonymous No.11263265]

>>11257892
Idk, OP. I'm a bartender. I love going into the kitchen to check up on memo's I put on orders. I curse the fuck out of the line, and they do it back to me. I love the banter. Once, we were short a grill cook on my day off and I just went in and took the place. Not one protein came back under or overcooked. I lied that I had previous kitchen experience. lol. Job well done.

[Anonymous No.11263268]

>>11263243

I capitalized on my connections to acquire a legit work contract with an industry standard salary, which helped me get approved for a long term work visa.

[Anonymous No.11263294]

On the topic of footwear, I swear 100% by minimalist footwear. I never had knee problems despite running recreationally and standing on your feet 16+ hours a day.

I DID have problems when I was wearing those padded "chef clogs" though.

Do give minimalist footwear a try if your kitchen allows it.

[Anonymous No.11263536]

>>11258606
don't try to date outside the industry?

[Anonymous No.11263551]

>>11263265
doubt

[Anonymous No.11263611]

>>11259779
Why do so many chef's choose bottle...
If I get my ass handed to me on the line and barely survive the night the next logical decision for me is going home, smoking a joint and going to sleep in an hour or two.
No going out after the shift ends, no drinking or going to parties, just go home.

[Anonymous No.11263659]

>>11257892
For me, it's the Mc Rope

[Anonymous No.11263794]

>>11263611
>wHy Do So MaNy ShEfFs ChUz tHe BoTTlE
>JUST SMOKE WEED INSTEAD DUDE

>>11263245
absolutely outfoxed

>>11257892
I love my job but I hate my life. The fact that I have to subsist in a shitty gigantic city and scratch a living from the scraps of whatever my faggot government decides is fair to pay me.

It is very depressing to be forced to work outrageous hours - sometimes shifts as long as 19 hours with as little as 7 hours between shifts, and accept pathetic pay as a trade-off for doing what you love.

[Anonymous No.11264007]

>>11261549
>aim at being a sous chef

Christ, dude. I've done this gig like 3 times in the past 8 years. You get paid more than the line/lead guys, significantly less than the chef, but fuck if it isn't alright. You pretty much learn every fucking thing you'd ever need to know about running the BoH, especially since you're gonna be the guy running shit whenever you boss dips at 3PM because "I put the order away, I'm beat."

If you can shoot for a hotel restaurant. It's hard as fuck work stacking plateup dinners with dinner service, but you get exposed to A LOT of different menu items fast. It's the kind of gig where the pace is quick as fuck when you're stacked for the week with weddings, high school breakfasts, etc. After a few years of that shit, any restaurant's dinner service feels relaxed.

Be prepared to get burnt out of places. The good news is cooking is pretty much recession-proof and you're always in-demand.

[Anonymous No.11264017]

>>11264007
>when you get a new chef at work who learned at a cordon bleu and supposedly comes from a hotel background

ah yes, another talentless individual to make pastries for us

[Anonymous No.11264051]

>>11264017
>here's a list of restaurants I've helped "open up" too!

What the fuck does that even fucking mean? You weren't the chef there, you'd say so otherwise.

[Anonymous No.11264252]

>>11263536
Not him but yeah. If you’re a cook, your social life is fucked. Dating outside the industry means that you will see that person once month, maybe. If you live with them, you will see them before you go to sleep and when you wake up. Maybe on an off day you get lucky and have more time.

[Anonymous No.11264932]

You will start to hate yourself and cooking

[Anonymous No.11265558]

>>11263794
>became a chef
>bitches about shit pay and long hours


My nigga, you have literally no one to blame but yourself

[Anonymous No.11265609]

>>11257892
don't work for big businesses unless they're paying you a lot of fucking money

[Anonymous No.11266138]

>>11265558
>become lollipop woman on a construction site
>get paid well and retire early

>become garbage driver
>get paid well and retire early

>generate millions of dollars through labour and food efforts
>get paid below minimum wage and never retire

[Anonymous No.11266159]

>>11263611
>Why do so many chef's choose bottle...

Because they do not hate food enough yet to kill their sense of taste with chain smoking and cocaine is too expensive because of the shit pay.

[Anonymous No.11266162]

I have been cooking professionally for 11 years but I am getting out and never coming back. Fuck this industry and everything about it.

[Anonymous No.11266171]

I love /ck/, threads stay forever

>>11264007
There's only one hotel restaurant I would ever want to work in, and it is fancy schmancy. Either have a red seal for over a decade or the local snobs raving about you online or in the papers. The difference in services I can say only can be attributed to the larger scale events going on more frequently at hotels rather than stand alone restaurants. A restaurant may seat 230, but all 230 won't come in at once, they are different beasts.
>>11261628
A lot of people work jobs they hate for some reason. People who self loathe in the industry are just too lazy to do anything else, so they bitch in hopes the self motivate or something, right until they quit mid busy service or get fired for being late all the time.

[Anonymous No.11266183]

>>11266138

>generate four dollars through labour and food efforts get paid more than you are worth because you are a low skilled subhuman replaceable by an ice cream scoop

[Anonymous No.11266197]

>>11266183
Not quite sure you know what you're talking about.
Four is a rather arbitrary number.

[Anonymous No.11266211]

>>11257892
Learn your knife as well as you can. Be nice to the dishwasher. Stay cool and avoid the allure of smoking.

[Anonymous No.11266219]

>>11266197
That's because you are low IQ and think your unskilled labor is the key to the restaurants success. You can be replaced at anytime by anyone or even a cheap piece of equipment. Your labor will never be valuable

[Anonymous No.11266273]

>yes chef
>sorry chef
>yes chef
>need one minute chef
>sorry chef
>yes chef
>yes chef

[Anonymous No.11266599]

>>11266219

I can understand having this mindset if you've only ever worked at diners.

All but the smallest or most exclusive restaurants in Tokyo now have huge rice machines that washes, polishes, soaks, and cook rice. Anybody who works with rice would appreciate how much time these machines save....

But anybody who works at a remotely upscale restaurant with a seasonal menu would know that you can't expect most of the work to be automated. At least not in the near future. Even if the technology existed, human labor will still be far cheaper and easier to deal with.

You have to be pretty bitter or ignorant to think that our occupation is even comparable to the retail industry in terms of automation.

[Anonymous No.11266652]

>>11266171
>fancy schmancy

Oh boy, that means an actual banquet kitchen!

[Anonymous No.11266687]

>>11258585
This!

[Anonymous No.11266807]

>>11264252
ah makes sense

[Anonymous No.11266961]

>>11266183
>garbage driving can't be automated
>lollipop women can't be automated (traffic lights already exist lol)

also slightly tangential but literally 99% of people already struggle with ice cream scoops

[Anonymous No.11266992]

Become a bartender and go to school during the day. 10 years from now you’ll regret not doing that.