/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.4586974]

So how many of you are actual chefs?

[Anonymous No.4586985]

Was previously

[Anonymous No.4586993]

>>4586974
>actual chefs?

Probably only enough to count on one or two hands.

[Anonymous No.4587013]

>>4586993
wat?

[Anonymous No.4587015]

>>4587013
He's saying there's less than 10 actual chefs who roam this board.

[Anonymous No.4587042]

Hi im Gordon fucking Ramsay you useless donkeys

[Anonymous No.4588172]

cook. Trying to go up the ladders.

[Anonymous No.4588202]

The only difference between a chef and a cook is,
a cook washes his own pots and pans, a chef doesn't.

[Anonymous No.4588234]

>>4588202
Not necessarily true. There's a ton of shit that does not get sent down to the dishroom, and my chef will wash them herself on the days she actually uses them.

Also, if we're busy enough we're just going to steal a steward from the dishroom to handwash hot pans as we finish with them as rapidly as possible.

I'd say zero OP. Chefs are too fucking busy to spend time with their family, have any sort of social life, or even watch TV regularly. It's a hard life.

[Anonymous No.4588243]

>>4588234
True dat
My chef is only at the restaurant maybe 3 or 4 days out of tje week but he's always doing off site events like parties or teaching classes or competitions
When he is at the restaurant hes normally the 1st one there & the last one to leave
a lot of it is menu planning, experimenting with new dishes or checking the farm but he still enjoys running expo & he'll glad jump on the line or help with prep if needed. I've seen wash dishes quite a few times as well
Dude's a straight up boss, I got mucho respect for him

[ChefAnon !R9aboRROXI No.4588258]

I'm a sous chef, I'm working on becoming a full fledged chef, which pretty much means I'm the head chef's bitch a good majority of the day.

[Anonymous No.4588379]

I was a professional chef previously.

[Anonymous No.4588382]

I'm a Sous Chef.

[Anonymous No.4588385]

>>4588234
>I'd say zero OP. Chefs are too fucking busy to spend time with their family, have any sort of social life, or even watch TV regularly. It's a hard life.

This depends on the kind of chef. A good chef isn't wasting time on 4chan... A bad chef is probably working the minimum 40 hours a week and wasting away his free time

[Anonymous No.4588387]

I never worked a real job until like last week, four shifts later as a busboy they moved me into the kitchen as the pastry chef's assistant soon to help take over by doing her duties so that she could take a more managerial role. What does this make me?

[Anonymous No.4588398]

>>4588387
Commis

[Anonymous No.4588403]

>>4588382
>>4588258

also a sous chef. got my csc from the american culinary federation last year and have been working as a sous chef at a multi outlet operation attached to a resort for the last 5 years

[Anonymous No.4588404]

I own a small local corporate chain, and create all the menus for my restaurants (5 different restaurants in total)

I have to make dishes for a

crab shack/bar

fish grille/bar

mexican restaurant and tequila bar

Family restaurant

upper scale fish restaurant


I basically am the head chef at all these restaurants and do all my work out of my house (Saves me around 20K a year paying for a corporate building)

I then have my regional managers go and give my changes, or other buisness things to the head managers of each restaurant, who give it to the floor managers, and then the servers, and the rest of the restaurant.

Got fucking rich off this

[Anonymous No.4588411]

>>4588403
>CSC

I respect that you got this, but do you really care about these certifications?

[Anonymous No.4588416]

>>4588411

i did it mostly to add to my resume. i have been a part of the acf for years now for networking and such and figured it wouldnt hurt me to get certified. it's kind of cool to have some letters after your name too. cant say it's done me any good yet, but i havent been looking for work elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.4588419]

>>4588398

cool, not bad for my first job, even if I'm not technically one yet, I'm still going to brag to all my friends that I'm a chef.

[Anonymous No.4588423]

The word "chef" is the most annoying word in the industry. So many fucking people obsess over who is a chef, or who isn't a chef. There are chefs who say "don't call me a chef" and then there are line cooks or kitchen expos who DEMAND to be called chef. It's all retarded

[Anonymous No.4588422]

>>4588419

dont brag about being a commis. its literally just the kitchen bitch above the dishwasher. keep your head down and just say youre a line cook

[Anonymous No.4588428]

>>4588423
a chef is the head of the kitchen. everyone else is a cook.

[Anonymous No.4588431]

>>4588428
Right, but there are chef de cuisines, sous chefs, chef de parties, etc

[Anonymous No.4588438]

>>4588431

in french brigade terms, yes. but unless you work and live in france, or in an american michelin starred joint, then youre a cook

[Anonymous No.4588463]

>>4588423
Typically if people ask me what I do, I tell them where I work. They automatically assume I'm a chef there anyways. People have no idea what the title means, and even those that do have no special attachment to the ridiculous ranks some kitchens insist on holding.

On rare instances I will jokingly tell more clever people I'm da chief but not our chef.

>>4588428
There are often multiple chef positions, despite it being absurd.

A good kitchen is more like a great family anyways. We're not out to outrank one another, or screw each other over. There's a job to do, and so long as it's done, we pay each other all the respect and favors we can.

[Anonymous No.4588466]

>chef

Naw nigga, I'm a line cook

[Anonymous No.4588471]

>>4588463
>A good kitchen is more like a great family anyways. We're not out to outrank one another, or screw each other over. There's a job to do, and so long as it's done, we pay each other all the respect and favors we can.

Yes.

[Anonymous No.4588472]

>>4588463

i agree its one giant family. all the line cooks/chef de parties, prep cooks/commis, pastries/patisseries are on the same level and everyone helps out each other. the dishwashers/stewards are under that but we treat them as we do the other cooks. the sous chef and head chef "outrank" everyone, but its just kind of a rank to keep things organizied, no one thinks their better than anyone else

[Anonymous No.4588488]

On paper, yes. But I've yet to go for an actual chef position (want to build that experience first.)

[Anonymous No.4588514]

>>4588488

this time 1000

[Anonymous No.4588539]

I'm chef de cuisine at an upscale restaurant in brooklyn

[Anonymous No.4588541]

>>4588539

how much do you make? enough to live comfortably in the city (at least your own room in an apartment and enough food to live liike a human, not a sardine)

[Anonymous No.4588550]

>>4588541
62k a year

[Anonymous No.4588563]

>>4588550

thats good money in the area of california i live in, is it enough to live in the city?

[Anonymous No.4588566]

Was working my way to chefdom.

Was cooking professionally for about 7 years, took some schooling and was working on my apprenticeship. Almost got my red seal.

Eventually I finally came to my senses and said fuck this job. I fucking love cooking, but cooking for a living is for chumps. IMO its not worth the stress, and amount of time Id spend doing the job. LOL weekends, holidays, and nights off, what are those?

Its also pretty irritating when people can get jobs with not nearly the same amount of work and stress, and make more than twice what you'll ever make cooking unless you hit if off big with your own restaraunt. And hell even people that own restaraunts have to basically live in the place 24/7 to make sure the quality keeps up because employees are lazy shits that will let your quality slip at the drop of a hat.

Many, MANY cooks I worked with were also crackheads, and or alcoholics to dealw ith the stress/no time off. Even in high end places with fancy high quality food, the cooks were strung out of their minds because they have to deal with 3 separate banquets, as well as 100 seats out front wanting food right now.

My brain and body is healthier for getting out of cooking.

Not everybody has the same opinion as me though. Some people are perfectly content to slave away in kitchens their whole lives. Not me though man.

[Anonymous No.4588577]

>>4588563
Yeah I do alright, I live with roomates in a decent neighborhood. I pretty much go out to eat alot and smoke good weed every day the money is good.

[Anonymous No.4588580]

>>4588566

i agree completely with your statements. thing is i've put in 9 years, dont have any other experience or schooling and dont have the finances to change jobs or go to school, so making 50k max as a head chef with shitty hours and stress will have to do

[Anonymous No.4588595]

>>4586974
I'm a prep cook right now.

I've been working in restaurants for about 8 months now, and had to work my way up from busboy.

I'm about to get bumped up to line.

[Anonymous No.4588604]

>>4588595

congrats. keep it up brother, keep your head down and ears and eyes open. good luck

[Anonymous No.4588606]

>>4588566
>>4588580

>17
>getting summer job
>love to cook and figure a restaurant would be a great place to work over the summer
>get laughed at when I ask for more than minimum wage
>be everybodys bitch
>basically have to wash all the dishes and make all the salads and plate deserts
>working all fucking day and night every day of the week
>come home sweaty and stinking like fryer grease and onions, get like 6-7 hours of sleep and then go back for another day

>talk to a buddy of mine and ask what kind of job he got
>hes working for a painting company painting houses for $19/hr, 8-9 hour days, and works 5 day weeks
>quit the cooking shit and get a job with my bud

>10 years later and quitting cooking right away was the best decision I ever made

[Anonymous No.4590148]

>>4588566
>>4588580
>>4588604
>>4588606

Fuck. I am about to go into a culinary class at my local community college and really trying to make a career out of it. How fucked am I now? Is there any way to become successful in the field?