I want to be a chef

[pringle]

Hi, id love to be a chef.Ever since I was 7 id bake,stir-fry,boil,steam and a whole bunch of other things.The only thing is is that I dont think there are many jobs for young chefs when I get older and go to college.Do you think there are any good jobs for someone like me out there?I know what im telling you sounds stupid but neither of my parents dont know what to tell me.Im just asking for advice.thx

Edit to remove current age for internet safety

 

[halo]

Absolutely, theres great jobs for chefs. I think thats a wonderful profession for someone to get into.

 

[Renee]

Sure, there are jobs for chefs.

You should follow your dream- and start by learning everything there is to know about food. You can start taking culinary arts classes now.

There are famous schools for chefs, like Le Cordon Bleu. Here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Cordon_Bleu


You can also contact world-famous chefs like Alice Waters and ask them what you should do to prepare yourself to be the world's greatest chef.

Bon Voyage!

 

[pringle]

Would there be any decent chef schools in massachusettes?

 

[wombat]

Read "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain and then decide if you want to follow that career path.

Bourdain's certainly not a role model, and I don't know that I'd go to him for advice

... but ...

I work with a guy who spent many years working in high end restaurants in the DC area, and he says Bourdain fairly accurately portrayed what it was like to work in that line of work. He's the one who got me to read that book. Most anyone I've met since who worked in that biz claims Bourdain nailed his description of "the life" as they saw it when they worked in high end restaurants.

My friend echoed what Bourdain offered as advice ... If you love to cook, cook for your friends and family. Don't work in a restaurant! If you want the nightly challenge of getting a tough job done, and have a "the show must go on" mentality, then maybe the restaurant business is for you.

My friend's point was that he spent most of his nights cranking out the two menu items he was responsible for. Over and over and over. The keys were speed and absolute consistancy of the finished product, and not a thing more. After a half year or so, he got to move up to two more challenging menu items ...

The guy I work with did love what he was doing, or moreso, the social aspects of the job / life that he had for many years ... but he has many stories of the brutal hours he put in and the work involved, and the life that centered around working until other people had gone home, and then socializing in the early morning hours with only other food service and bar workers for company. He's a technology planner with a regular day job these days ...

 

[2DogsFarm]

I have to agree with wombat - cooking as a profession can be rough!
I worked in a 4-star hotel and aside from the Executive Chef the others worked like dogs.
60-80 hour weeks were normal and like wombat said: a lot of it was repetitive chopping/dicing prep work or just cleanup - which in a professional kitchen is a nightmare.
Remember the Board of Health makes frequent visits & they will close down a place that isn't whiteglove sanitary in a New York Minute!
And Chef started on the line like everyone else.

Do look into cooking schools as they will give you a taste of how it will be to start at the bottom as a line chef.
If you aren't put off by their program, then maybe you will go on to cook for a living

OTOH - I used to know a girl who kept inviting me to have dinner with her brother & his friend who loved to cook.
She was kind of a PITA, so I turned down the invites and am kicking myself today - some 20+ years later.
Brother's friend was Charlie Trotter
D'OH!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I have friends who are top chefs in really gormet restaurants and they love their jobs! There are lots of schools everywhere, just google cooking school and your area.

 

[Chef]

Well I can tell you first hand what it's like. Culinary school is great as it will teach you most of the essential technique's used in a kitchen. A good culinary school is not cheap but very fun and you learn alot, BUT once you get into that restaurant and start to work your way up you realize very fast how this job is NOTHING like school. Be prepared for long grueling hours in a HOT kitchen with angry chefs screaming at you to hurry up

. Everything is very fast pase and repetitive and quite stressful. That being said this career can also bring you great satisfaction and can take you to alot of cool places. If you ever watch the show Iron Chef and watch how hard those guys/gals work in one hour, that is what you can expect in a fine dining kitchen but for hours on end

Also GOOD chef jobs are not easy to come by. You really have to learn your stuff. Just stay possitive and focused and you can get there. Good luck!



Chef

 

[Country Heart]

How about a chef on a cruise ship? You could enjoy your work and see the world at the same time.

 

[Scoop]

You are so lucky! You know what you want to do already! I say go for it! When you have goals it makes a lot of things better!