what advice would you give a starting chef?

Question

what advice would u give for a chef that is starting out?

lmao....thank you...it made me a bit more prepared on what i am about to jump into , ill take ur advice to the fullest and thanks Stephen I for the dr.Scholl..ill keep that in mind...

Answer 1

wash your hands.
take a serve safe course.

Answer 2

There is a lot of great advice out there. the one thing I learned is that first and foremost you need not love to cook. I have met and worked with a lot of people who love to cook but do not make it in this industry. You need to have a passion and a drive to want to do this. It is a lot of long hour some days 12 others 20. It hurts you put a lot of strain on your body. when you first start you are going to be abused, and pushed to your limit and when you reach your limit you are going to be pushed some more. That is when you have to push back and fight through it all. The chefs on t.v. make it look easy what you don't see is the long hours they worked to get were they are at. All the years they put in honing there craft. being a chef is not a job or a career it is a craft. It takes a special person to be a chef, most chef are outcast that can't function in regular society. The best advice I can give is learn everything you can about everything. I is a long journey but once you get there it is worth it. I wish you all the best a hope not that you make but that you survive the journey

Answer 3

Pay attention in class, and don't get a swelled head when you graduate. Remember the school is only the first step in a long learning process. You must never poo poo another for what they might teach you. School tends to drive home the basics, and get your mind working in a linear direction. When you get trained day after day, that this is the way it is done, and you stop questioning that view, you are no longer open to suggestions. Remember, some of the best recipes in the world came from experimentation. If you want to work as a chef or sous chef, look for a job in a relatively small restaurant. The larger ones will start you off washing dishes at minimum wage. Get a job doing that now, while you are in school.

Answer 4

I assume you have already finished a course of study and an apprenticeship, and perhaps gone through the Culinary Institute of America or other good finishing school.

If you are just starting out, then go to school and find a job in an institution with a good reputation, even if just as a pot scrubber. Work your way up and learn absolutely everything. Particularly learn how to select the ingredients at the markets. Learn how to grow your own herbs, eventually you will want to do that as much as possible.


Be sure to use the best ingredients you can get and teach your staff how to prep, prep, prep.

As the Chef d'Cuisine, the chief of the kitchen, you should not allow a product to go to table that you cannot be proud of. Otherwise, you are not a chef but a hack cook.

There is a disturbing and growing practice in the U.S. of people calling themselves "Chef" when they are not. Kind of like calling white plastic ivory.

Answer 5

I agree with Edward's answer. I was a chef for 8 years. Being a chef is one of the most demanding professions and you are always on the go. You always have to be exact and the timing has to be precise. I always planned everything out the night before so when I got to work my wheels were spinning. I didn't stop til the job was gone. If your single that would help alot unless your partner is a chef too. Wow, I'm writing a book, better go. PS Don't give up, I really enjoyed doing what I did. Being a chef is a great career

Answer 6

Well I don't know you or how disciplined, young, determined,experiencedand at home in a commercial kitchen, versatile, physically fit or financially stable /well off you are ,but I would take all those factors into consideration....
Credentials are a must it seems but then again not if you are saddled with a debt you cant pay off so BE CAREFUL... there are very good schools in Canada that are cheaper than those in the States... Be sure to get a BA in something though - related or not - as vocational trades can take a toll on your body, and your mind is not always given a chance to be all it can be in a professional kitchen when one is kowtowing to a chef 24-7 (or is it 25-8?)
get a hold of this recent article from the New York Times that tells of the financial woes of recent culinary grads.... there are ways to get a culinary education without going for broke as it were..
see below for the link...
here's a letter written in response to the article:
Published: May 14, 2007
Re '' 'Top Chef' Dreams Crushed by Student Loan Debt'' (front page, May 8):

Bravo for revealing this problem, which cuts close to home for me. I'm a pastry chef in a New York City restaurant, and hiring recent graduates from culinary schools has become a discouraging merry-go-round.The wages versus cost of living in New York City are difficult enough for a cook, and paying back a student loan on top of this is virtually impossible.Very few students graduating from cooking schools want to actually work in restaurants. The people whom I do manage to hire live with their parents, partners who are very supportive or with roommates. They get tired of struggling after about a year (or less), and I have to find and train yet another cook.I'm seeing fewer and fewer people staying the course, and I worry about who will be leading and innovating in tomorrow's kitchens. It isn't anything remotely like the nonsense portrayed on television.
Meredith Kurtzman
New York, May 8, 2007

While this is just one person's opinion/experience....
think about what else you might like to do as well as cooking....that is , what carreer you might like to do after your cooking career if you ever wanted a change.Most people these days are one to have several, if not many, different fields they work in...

Answer 7

Know that you will not start out as a chef but rather a rank or two below that and earn your wings. Read lots of books and go online on cooking and memorize recipes. Expect that you will be told over and over and over how inexperienced, etc., you are.

I would recommend you start with a good cooking school that is recognized in many states, i.e., Cordon Bleu is one. They are far from cheap but will give you that extra boost to get into the profession of choice.

I live in a city of restaurants and casinos, and so many people come to Vegas thinking they have all the knowledge and experience to "take over." Most find their dreams are dampened immediately.

So be prepared and don't lose heart. You have years ahead to wear the hat of a chef.

Answer 8

If you are serious, and I say that because being a chef or the like is a trendy thing now-adays. Find yourself a nice restaurant to work at and watch what goes on and try to learn as much as you can. After a while you probably may know whether that field is right for you. If you make it that far find the best possible chef in your area and try to work for him. I can not stress enough what a mentor is in the culinary world. Good luck.

Answer 9

I have read the others advice and there are some good ones but I also think you should specialize in something. If you stop and think of the great chefs they all have an area they do best in. My Dad and Mom owned a Bar BQ restaurant. People came from miles around to eat my Dads ribs. He had his own recipe for the sauce and it was lip smacking good. They are retired now and still if a regular customer sees them out they rave about the ribs.

Answer 10

1. You really have to love it. I have been working in the industry for long enough now...
2. Europe is full of temperamental chefs who think they are next thing to God's sent... There is a magnificent revolutionary process going on in europe now...
Food is about passion and creativity...I have seen many commis or chefs de partie, moving into something else because they could not cope with a temperamental head chef...you have to know what you want and put up with the not so nice elements of it
I'd say put up with it with you love it. Just love and passion keeps us going...
3. Learn all the time...
4. Focus. Where do you want to be in a few years time?
5. Love what you do... and know your limitations...
6. Be patient, good things come to those who wait!

Answer 11

first and formost, YOUR NOT A CHEF. You're a cook and dont ever forget it. The chef is the guy on tv or standing back while you do all the work. I dont mean that in any disrespect. But ask yourself something.." if you weren't a chef, what would you be?" if you say anything other than cook, hand in your knives and apron and find a diffrent career.
Its a tough life for those with the passion and drive. You work 12-15 hrs days , standing on your feet 99.5% of the time( doesnt matter what shoe brand you buy( doc martens are my boys, have been since i was 14 and working as a diswasher..that was 22 years ago ) find a pair that is ubber comfy and buy 4 pairs.
You sweat and you'll smell bad, you will cut and burn yourself so many times that you will lose count.
As a female you have to work twice as hard and four times as long. Its a boys club, no matter where you go , what type of place, you have to prove to them your no wimp.
You'll have to be able to take all the bullshit and give it back 200% without sounding whinny . No one will care if you have your period or if johnny broke up with you that day. Hold your own and you will have a crew of guys watching your back, whether its on a busy night or after hours drinks.( 8 months pregent working the grill at wdw during xmas time....)

Dont be pretenious or a know it all. We were all young and those before you, even the prep guys and dishwashers know more than you.

Dont steal ANYTHING.. dont Liberate ANYTHING.

If you **** up, admit to it, remedy the situation and move on.

dont lose who you basically are and dont lose your femininity but dont wear it on your sleeve.

never stop learning...read trade magazines, talk to other cooks,master chefs etc. watch programs, take course, ask questions, practice.

taste everything you make!!!!!!be creative and listen to critisium......good ,bad or even stupid.

its a tough job.....and after 22 years i still get a thrill out of puttting out 300 plus dinners.