Professional Cooking?

[crono760]

This might be off-topic, so I apologize in advance for that, but:

I'm thinking of going into professional cooking. I realize that my first job in a kitchen is most likely going to be "do whatever the chef tells you", and will probably not involve anything close to a stove. But...I love everything to do with food, including peeling vegetables.

My questions are: without chef school, and with only about a year's experience cooking at home, would a restaurant hire me?

If they do, what am I expected to know how to do? I see people chopping and peeling vegetables in seconds, cutting up meat without a second thought, and generally being very competent around a kitchen. I'm good, but I'm not that good. Do people who go into cooking usually have more skill than a home chef?

I've not taken any cooking school, nor do I really intend to, so is that a definite bad thing?

Mike

 

[Saphellae]

I know that in Canada, it's helpful to have gone and taken a chef course. There is also standardized testing for this as well, with questions on measurements, cooking time, ingredients, etc etc.

Chopping and peeling in seconds takes ALOT of practice and skill - they go that fast because they know they won't chop their fingers off. Work on technique and the fastest way for YOU to chop and peel, and go from there. You will get faster!

 

[AllenOK]

It really depends on what type of restaurants you apply for. Some restaurants here always have ads in the paper for more cooks, but also have a disclaimer that you need "at least 2 years experience in the field" before they'll even look at your app. That said, I think the CIA in Hyde Park, NY, only wants students applying for college that have experience in the field as well.

There are some restaurants that will hire you. Smaller restaurants, especially Mom-and-Pop type places, might take you on as a prep cook. If you don't mind washing dishes, you can get into a kitchen that way as well.

 

[Dave Hutchins]

Crono.. I am a retired Executive Chef. I did not go to culinary school. Over the course of 45 yrs. working in ALL kinds of kitchens. I spent the last 35 years as head chef in 8+
hotels, country clubs, Public restaurants, I also owned my own restaurant. In order to get the needed experience I worked some real dogs, and some really nice venues just to get enough experience to work for a master chef for ten yrs as a apprentice later line cook and later up the ladder to Sous Chef of the largest hotel in Iowa. Now all of that being said you can work your way up through the stations in a good restaurant/club
to where you will gain enough experience to eventually get to wear the tall toque of head Chef. It takes a awfully lot of work,patients, and a whole lot of desire and heart to get to the top. Good Luck

 

[AMSeccia]

Well, put it this way ... Bobby Flay started out washing dishes. If you can't get some culinary training, I would at least do some line cooking. It's not as glamorous as it seems, it's hard darned work. But it's fun!

 

[PastaKing]

Yes, a restaurant will hire you. I don't know about a private one, but a Fridays or a chain will. You'll bounch around as a line cook/prep guy. After a few years of that, then apply for the chef job. After you learn all that stuff, move on to other chain restaurants. Bounce around. After of about 5 or 7 years, a private restaurant will hire you. You might start out again as a line/prep guy, but you'll be more advanced then others. After about another 2 years, then go for Assit.Chef. When you feel you can hold down the fort and take the reins, go for it.

How do I know all this? I have been around this stuff my whole life. My family and friends are all in it. I am happy to say that I learned how to cook by some of the best. One guy was even the private chef to Donald Trump!!

 

[VeraBlue]

Your best bet is to get hired by a dining service...a company that runs the cafes and kitchens in universities or corporate offices. They have big staffs and are almost always ready to hire people without real experience. You'll start at the bottom, but can easily work your way up if you show apptitude and a desire to move forward.

I started this way...

 

[crono760]

wow, awesome insights! I know it might sound crazy, but even the prospect of peeling potatoes sounds awesome to me. I just love working with food, so I don't mind if I start at the bottom.I guess my next step is to start looking for a job. Although I wonder: cooking in a chain (like Montanas or whatever else), do you gain the same experience watching the line cooks? Is it a differernt environment than working in a small, locally owned restaurant?Mike

 

[Witchlord]

I got lucky. I started out in the front of the house and worked that for 1.5 years then was able to move into the kitchen. I still work for this restaurant, and its been almost 3 years. As far as what experience you get in a chain vs a small restaurant, well, its not so much learning good food as it is learning how to adjust your brain to the pressures of being a line cook. when you have 15 tickets up on the rail that you have to get out and the printer just keeps on printing more and more and more...it gets stressful. learning to deal with that and learning how to organize your brain to get tickets done in the fastest time possible. knowing what to fire, when to fire, and how to pull the ticket together so all the items come out at the same time is universal, and knowing that will help you in any kitchen, large or small, chain or locally owned. good luck to you and dont hesitate to go to school for it if you find you like it. Oh, and once you feel really comfortable in a kitchen, dont be afraid to try and switch jobs to get someplace your uncomfortable. more jobs = more experience.

 

[Chef_Jacob]

Crono,
You definitely have the right attitude to make it. As a fine dining sous chef, I started exactly how you started, knowing nothing and being willing to do any job in the kitchen, no matter what it was. The key is to be honest that you don't know anything and truly convey your passion for food and the restaurant industry.

I would take a passionate know-nothing newbie over an arrogant know-it-all line cook that I have to un-train before I can actually teach any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

The one piece of advice that I would give you; work for free, even part time, if there is anyway you can do this. I would recommend staging (apprenticing) for at least 6 months to a year. This will allow you to start at the fine dining level as an apprentice and you will learn more faster. Also, once you're in the industry and are a paid cook, it's difficult (but not impossible), to get a line cook position at a fine dining restaurant with no fine dining experience.

Having that fine dining experience will open more doors for you because it's much easier to take a step down in the world of dining then a step up. Be ready for working long hours, nights, weekends and holidays, crazy chefs with short tempers, and you just might find a new career in this fast-moving and exciting industry.

Best of luck on your journey.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I started at 15 flipping burgers at A&W then prep cook at a Pizza Hut. I worked at places until I mastered the job then would get a job at a better restaurant then a better one. That is how I learned I was lucky in the sense that I was a natural at it as well. I also worked at mom and pop bakeries which also came easy to me. I baked a lot when I was a kid as that was the only way to get sweet treats since my mother never bought ready made cookies etc. One thing you need to be really good at is measurements, fractions and how to use a scale as most restaurants have their standard recipes. You need to know how to double, triple and more with recipes. Ive seen people try to bake but did not know the difference between a quart and a cup they are doomed from the start. So if you can follow a recipe and know your measurements you might be able to start a simple prep cook job just the chopping etc making salad dressing. A proffessional prep cook can make sauces, soups you name it just as well as a chef. I think a pizza prep cook would be one of the easiest there you make pizza sauce, pizza dough, chop vegies cook off sausage, grate cheese and so on. It helps that you are efficient as well, no lolly gagging in the kitchen.

 

[PanchoHambre]

Chrono I think it also depends where you live. If you are in/near a major city with alot of dining you may have better luck. Here in Philly it is fairly easy to land a cooking job in a small restaruant with out much or any experience (you may need to pad your resume a bit). There is alot of turnover so the jobs are always out there. All the culinary students want to work in the elite places but there are tons of quality small places... unlike NY and SF you could probably support yourself on a kitchen job too.... I dont know where you are or what your family situation is but if you are serious you may want to consider living/working in a city with a big dining culture.

 

[kitchenelf]

crono - do NOT pad your resume - let your passion and enthusiasm fill in your resume blanks!

Sorry Poncho - but you can't lie when it comes to cooking. Say he pads his resume - then he's asked to prep something as minor as a bunch of parsley - it will be obvious, even in something as simple as chopping a bunch of parsley, if he has EVER done it before!

There's nothing wrong with going into a job with the person in charge of the kitchen knowing you haven't done "this" before but knowing you want desperately to learn.

 

[PanchoHambre]

elf I was not condoning lying on skills then you would be stewed but sometimes they wont glance at your res if you dont have any work experience at all.

You are right though.

 

[kitchenelf]

LOL - no problem. Experience does equal skill, knife or otherwise. Just trying to keep our friend on the up and up here.

 

[Marko]

If you are passionate about cooking, take that passion with you and start calling around your area to local restaurants. Be sure to speak to the chefs and make appointments to see them personally. Arrive clean and be organized. A big part of cooking professionally is being well organized. Also...allow your intelligence to shine through at your meetings. Clear thinking is part of the game as well.

If you find a chef who is receptive to allowing you in his/her kitchen, you should reinforce that you are willing to do dishes and prep food. Washing, peeling organizing the fridges, tidying and just helping out is important. Don't wait to be asked to do something - look to see what the chef's needs are. In other words...be helpful. If the chef is busy in service and you come along and take his dirty pans for him without his asking...he will like that. Try to find ways to make his job easier.

Speed comes with practice. Whatever you do...do well and don't concern yourself with speed. However, don't make a career out of peeling a bag of carrots. Just pay attention to what you are shown and make some notes in a booklet for reference later.

If you are serious about learning...get out there and hit the pavement. Buy some books on cooking for the professional and study it. You will find these at culinary college book stores. You will need to know the terminology within professional cooking. Study up on this and then ask your chef questions when he isn't busy.

Also...when you have time to chill out at work, don't! Clean the kitchen! Clean the nooks and crannys and the areas that really need cleaning. This will impress a chef.

Lastly, don't think the chef isn't watching to see your potential. He/she will be.

Marko

 

[ironchef]

One word: dishwasher. If you can't handle, and not only that, be a fast and efficient dishwasher, don't even think about stepping on the line.

 

[Marko]

I can't say that I agree. Sorry. I went to college for two years en route to becoming a chef and never spent a minute in the dish pit. I've been an Executive Chef in many restaurants and am currently that in a posh inn and banquet hall and I've never washed dishes for any length of time. I'm not a fast dishwasher but I'm an amazing chef.

The truth of the matter is that either you have it or you don't. School teaches the basics but in the end, you have the feel for food and cooking or you don't. That's not to say that skill cannot be gained over time, but the true artist has it inside to begin with.

I had a chef instrustor tell me once that you don't have to be the best cook in the kitchen to be a good Executive Chef, you have to be the best administrator. You want your best cook on the line. I agree with this in part. So, to be a great dish washer does not guarantee you will be a good cook.

Sorry to disagree.

Marko

 

[ironchef]

My questions are: without chef school, and with only about a year's experience cooking at home, would a restaurant hire me?

I've not taken any cooking school, nor do I really intend to, so is that a definite bad thing?

Yeah, but unlike you, this poster does not intend to go to culinary school. Because of that, the dishwashing route would be the best introduction and exposure to a professional kitchen, and the best indicator to test their tolerance level.

 

[Weeks]

Meh.

Having been everything from a line cook (garde manger to grill and saute) to sous and every role in the front-of-the-house you can imagine, I can honestly say that it takes a certain kind of person to just survive in the food service culture.

If you cherish your weekends and your sleep, go find something else to do. If you don't like harsh language or don't want to learn spanish, I'd seek elsewhere. If you're afraid of blood, sweat and the ridiculous hard work that produces them (along with your top-notch food), this life is probably not for you. If you tend to take things too personally in dealing with other people, if you're shy or easily overwhelmed by strong personalities, then most people in this industry will run you over and probably never even notice.

That being said, there are people (like myself) that literally thrive in this environment. If I hadn't been offered about double what I was making working in foodservice to go be a software engineer (I'm a man of several very intense talents), I'd still be doing it, and I STILL love going to Outback Steakhouses and chatting up the kitchen manager. I think I'll be an outbacker for life.

Be prepared for all the things I talked about as you start your culinary career, and more. It's very, very unforgiving, but I can't imagine a more rewarding way to earn a living if you truly love it and have what it takes to succeed.