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/ck/ - Food & Cooking

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16493490 No.16493490 [Reply] [Original]

any chefs here ? any kitchen/wait staff or former ?

do you still work in a kitchen ? do you enjoy it ? why did you quit ? why dont you quit ? if you aren't in a kitchen, and you want to be, then why aren"t you ?

just interested to hear from you guys. ill start in the replies

>> No.16493498

>>16493490
why do you type like such a faggot
working in a restaurant sucks and nobody should aspire to be a chef or work in a kitchen

>> No.16493518

I went to uni but even before that I was cooking regularly. When i was at school i regularly had people over for dinner and stuff. My mum always thought I was gonna be a chef, so did many of my friends. It wasn't really my ambition.

I graduated uni and just couldn't find a job so i worked in a restuarant in london as kitchen porter/wait staff. I loved it. It kept me fit, it kept me active i loved working with ingredients. The hours were mad, my boss treated me like shit, but it was a vibrant job. I then got a job at one of London's top restuarants/chefs as a cook, which was intense. So technical so physical. But at the same time i landed a desk job.

The desk job working life is killing me. Going to Bar School but think about going chefing all the time


>>16493498
just interested to hear opinions friend

>> No.16494185

>>16493518
what is Bar School like?

>> No.16494640

>>16493490
I've been out for 15 years and I'm thinking of doing cooking school. I feel like being a cook is more meaningful than my current office / code monkey job. I have real good memories and even had dreams about the thrill of line cook.

Pay rates are up too, staff shortage everywhere. The grass is always greener I guess.

>> No.16494956

>>16493498
Because he's a frog faggot.

>> No.16495020

>>16493490
Did a tiny bit of BOH and fucking despised it. The stress, exhaustion, and intensity are insane. Switched to FOH and it's heaps better. More fluid and calming. Currently a barista in specialty coffee and loving it. If you can find a niche you're passionate about it can make the work really rewarding

>> No.16495052

>>16493490
No. God it's funny really I would've been studying a STEM field or something but I had to become self conscious about my math grades and ask a stupid question.
Could've just had cooking as a hobby but no had to think that it'd be fun to work with your hobby.

>> No.16495061
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16495061

>>16493490
I used to work as the pastry chef in a good London restaurant

>do you still work in a kitchen ?
Nope. Left last year
>do you enjoy it ?
It was absolutely hell on earth, especially in December (70 hour weeks, working from 10am to 5pm, 5:30pm to 12:30am)
But there was a great sense of comradeship and I wouldn't have changed a thing. I learnt so, so much being around chefs who I would describe as genius
>why did you quit ?
Pandemic, plus I realized it was killing me and I wanted to do other stuff with my life
>if you aren't in a kitchen, and you want to be, then why aren"t you ?
Seriously, become a chef. It will change your life, and there's always a need. You can learn on the job as well. We trained plenty of young chefs who didn't know shit

>> No.16495161

>>16493490
I was a kitchen porter for 4 months, incredibly shit job.

>> No.16495264

Chef for 5 years. I keep doing it because I love seeing people get pleasure from eating good food. Eating with people is one of the best experiences you can have with another individual. It breaks down barriers. It shares culture. It's just a good time. I don't quit because it's probably the only thing I'm good at, and I'm an alchie, so it suits my schedule.

>> No.16495289

>>16494640
your going through a mid life crisis lol

>> No.16495294

>>16493490
I worked in a few restaurants, I was a line cook in one. I would never consider myself a "chef". I really enjoyed being a line cook so I decided to apply to be a chef at a restaurant. The guy that hired me said to start out as weight staff. He turned out to be some crazy egotistical maniac, and if anything it was entertaining to watch how full of himself he was. At the end of the day he just wasn't a nice person. Can anyone with self awareness tell me if all chefs are like this? i can't figure out wtf was up with that guy. He had all kinds of stories about chefs committing suicide, drug addiction, the long hours and thankless business. I would have felt bad if he didn't treat everyone else like shit as well.

I kind of changed my mentality after that and started hating the idea of some pre madonna cooking my meals. I like home cooked meals now, just someone that cares about me trying to make me enjoy myself and not making everyone around them suffer. I started noticing the environment of restaurants and taking note if the staff looked like they had just been shit on or something. I just don't want to eat in places like that. Looking at Marco Pierre White, I'm glad in his later years he chilled out in his later years but I think his "chefs are rockstars" persona was just fucking stupid. It seems like it infested the minds of a lot of chefs and probably caused them a lot of self inflicted misery. Only rockstars are rockstars.

>> No.16495299

>>16495294
>weight staff
*wait staff

lol

>> No.16495304

I do work in a kitchen for 10 years i think. Took some several year breaks working fulltime in other things. There's time to enjoy, there's time for chores that need to be done. I think i'm too old now to start again from scratch if i wanted to change profession, but i know it's just fear and bias

>> No.16495325

>>16495294
been a chef for around 11 years. I think you're pretty spot on with the rockstars thing. So many young chefs, including me when I started, have this bravado. There is a strange vitriolic pride in doing stupid hours and buring your hands and everything.

There are some things that are good about chef work but reflecting on my own life, I'd say almost any other trade would have been better for me. My advice to younger me would be cooking is fine but do it on the weekend for your family or wife you actually get to see, in your house you can actually afford, because you chose to be an electrician instead of a chef.

>> No.16495333

>>16495294
>pre madonna
please tell me you're joking