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This is quite close to my heart. I have been cooking since 15. At one point in my life I wanted to be a chef, but ended up in CS and now in engineer. Last yea

This is quite close to my heart. I have been cooking since 15. At one point in my life I wanted to be a chef, but ended up in CS and now in engineer. Last year, I saved up enough money to open a cafe in India. Soon, I realised how hard it is to be a chef. Person who is the head chef at the cafe works almost 10h a day, 7 days a week. You have to be on your toes all the life, deliver consistent food, deal with stress, deal with customers returning food, have no ego, make decisions on the stop, planning things ahead of time, foreseeing things short term and long term. Being a good home chef does not make a ready to pursue chef as a profession. It is pretty brutal. PS. This is the cafe https://www.instagram.com/maharishi_boutique_cafe/ https://www.instagram.com/maharishi_boutique_cafe/

zikzak 4y ago
I went the other way, working full time at night when I was a teenager through high school. I got out of cooking when I was in my mid-20s (mid/late-90s) because of a health issue and pursued computer science (was programming as a hobby). The pay is significantly better and I don't have to work evenings and weekends.
- Ntrails 4y ago
  I failed school (personal/motivation reasons) and went into Kitchens full time as it was the only skill I had. Working 50+ hours a week for borderline minimum wage as a salaried employee is hard. Knowing that next week will be exactly the same, and the week after and the week after is just kinda bleak. I eventually chucked it in, went back to uni via an access course / foundation year (so greatful that it existed) and graduated with a good degree and started a career as a grad where my salary was over twice what I earned as a chef without even approaching the same level of hard graft. It's an interesting perspective to have, and unusual amongst my peers.
  - gernb 4y ago
    > nowing that next week will be exactly the same, and the week after and the week after is just kinda bleak. Sounds like software engineering job. It just happens to pay better
    - Ntrails 4y ago
      > Sounds like software engineering job. It just happens to pay better It definitely isn't specific to working as a chef, and I didn't intend to imply it. My experience of being (adjacent) to software dev is that actually a _lot_ of things change. I am solving different problems week by week. Learning new things, making new mistakes. Some of the bleakness was related to money though, and all of it was my personal experience. Bourdain covers it really well. There are people who love it. The Life. I was lucky enough to work briefly at a 2 Starred place and holy shit - they were working far harder than I ever had and loving it. It was working with them that really clarified for me that I had no future there, I didn't love it. I was just competent, not passionate. More Meandering Thoughts, not sure what my point is xD
ethbr0 4y ago
Everyone should work in a kitchen (back of the house, not wait staff) for at least a couple months at some point in their life. The experience will make you 95% less shitty to food service employees when something goes awry and give you a firmer, more true baseline for work difficulty : salary, to measure your subsequent jobs against.
- matwood 4y ago
  Until my first programming job I was a bus boy and eventually worked up to a fine dining waiter. IMO, it doesn't matter if you work front or back of house, it will give you a huge appreciation for how much work and stress it is to be in service. I also learned a lot about how to deal with people, not only customers, but also the chefs. Even 20 some odd years later, I have enormous patience when eating out and always tip well.
  - candiddevmike 4y ago
    This just made me realize there are some interesting parallels with technology jobs actually. Front of house roles = PM, sales, executives, back of house roles = engineering. Sales compensation is quite similar too, where the front of house roles have more variable incentive and back of house are paid more up front with less variable comp. Maybe someone in the restaurant industry should write a book on tech org structures that models highly efficient restaurants.
    - ethbr0 4y ago
      Back of the house tends to be paid poorly in food service. They essentially pay for the privilege of not interacting with customers and/or having personality traits that make putting them and customers in the same room a bad idea.
  - Melting_Harps 4y ago
    > IMO, it doesn't matter if you work front or back of house... Not even remotely true, BOH gets to work in near slave labour conditions, while FOH gets to be in much more relaxed environment: the deal with the clientele, which sucks, but most are well compensated and when ever the topic of tip-sharing is brought up they are the first to start the divisiveness that is rife in Kitchen work. BOH gets screwed 99% of the time, there is very little to no parallel to FOH in anyway until you get to the GM level and that's only because they are often working late nights along with BOH staff, but the rest of FOH leave at reasonable hours and can hold down decent wages--there is no such thing in BOH. > Back of the house tends to be paid poorly in food service. They essentially pay for the privilege of not interacting with customers and/or having personality traits that make putting them and customers in the same room a bad idea. I've done both, and ran my Kitchens, I can guarantee you FOH have the same if not worst traits: substance abuse is one of the main reasons people go from BOH to bar-tending after all. It's one of the most desired transitions for alcoholics to make in their career: they're paid well to pour drinks and have several throughout their shift, but most cook personalities and aesthetics do not allow for it. What I've encountered more was a total lack of comradery in FOH, it's all about personal gain and backstabbing is the norm whereas in the BOH despite the prison culture aspect of it all the comradery is the cohesive glue that keeps the thing from descending into chaos during a busy night. It's all coordination and a constant reminder of how critical teamwork is in BOH, the same cannot be said as you get into higher end kitchens: I spent a couple of weeks in Michelin star kitchens, and all the back-stabbing, sabotaging etc... was not just lame it was pathetic--40 year old season vets of the Industry contaminating your mise en place was just sad. It's the nature of the beast, I suppose and to be honest after finally retiring for the 3rd and last time, I'm glad to say I will never miss the Culinary World as it has become a ghost of its former self. Which in many ways is good but no longer has the allure that it once did for me.
elorant 4y ago
Not to mention the myriad of injuries you can get by working in an environment where there are dozens of hot items around, boiling liquids, knifes, slippery surfaces, open fires, and whatnot.
- moate 4y ago
  When I was working in restaurants professionally and was asked what I did for a living, I told people "I cut and burn myself professionally".
sharadov 4y ago
Like Anthony Bourdain said " People who follow their passion into the restaurant world are delusional.." Good luck to you, hope you are at least enjoying it.
rockostrich 4y ago
I'm convinced that if you've actually read anything Anthony Bourdain wrote and it made you want to work in a kitchen then you are either a narcissist or masochist. There's no way around it.

zikzak 4y ago

I went the other way, working full time at night when I was a teenager through high school. I got out of cooking when I was in my mid-20s (mid/late-90s) because of a health issue and pursued computer science (was programming as a hobby). The pay is significantly better and I don't have to work evenings and weekends.

Ntrails 4y ago
I failed school (personal/motivation reasons) and went into Kitchens full time as it was the only skill I had. Working 50+ hours a week for borderline minimum wage as a salaried employee is hard. Knowing that next week will be exactly the same, and the week after and the week after is just kinda bleak. I eventually chucked it in, went back to uni via an access course / foundation year (so greatful that it existed) and graduated with a good degree and started a career as a grad where my salary was over twice what I earned as a chef without even approaching the same level of hard graft. It's an interesting perspective to have, and unusual amongst my peers.
- gernb 4y ago
  > nowing that next week will be exactly the same, and the week after and the week after is just kinda bleak. Sounds like software engineering job. It just happens to pay better
  - Ntrails 4y ago
    > Sounds like software engineering job. It just happens to pay better It definitely isn't specific to working as a chef, and I didn't intend to imply it. My experience of being (adjacent) to software dev is that actually a _lot_ of things change. I am solving different problems week by week. Learning new things, making new mistakes. Some of the bleakness was related to money though, and all of it was my personal experience. Bourdain covers it really well. There are people who love it. The Life. I was lucky enough to work briefly at a 2 Starred place and holy shit - they were working far harder than I ever had and loving it. It was working with them that really clarified for me that I had no future there, I didn't love it. I was just competent, not passionate. More Meandering Thoughts, not sure what my point is xD

ethbr0 4y ago

Everyone should work in a kitchen (back of the house, not wait staff) for at least a couple months at some point in their life. The experience will make you 95% less shitty to food service employees when something goes awry and give you a firmer, more true baseline for work difficulty : salary, to measure your subsequent jobs against.

matwood 4y ago
Until my first programming job I was a bus boy and eventually worked up to a fine dining waiter. IMO, it doesn't matter if you work front or back of house, it will give you a huge appreciation for how much work and stress it is to be in service. I also learned a lot about how to deal with people, not only customers, but also the chefs. Even 20 some odd years later, I have enormous patience when eating out and always tip well.
- candiddevmike 4y ago
  This just made me realize there are some interesting parallels with technology jobs actually. Front of house roles = PM, sales, executives, back of house roles = engineering. Sales compensation is quite similar too, where the front of house roles have more variable incentive and back of house are paid more up front with less variable comp. Maybe someone in the restaurant industry should write a book on tech org structures that models highly efficient restaurants.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    Back of the house tends to be paid poorly in food service. They essentially pay for the privilege of not interacting with customers and/or having personality traits that make putting them and customers in the same room a bad idea.
- Melting_Harps 4y ago
  > IMO, it doesn't matter if you work front or back of house... Not even remotely true, BOH gets to work in near slave labour conditions, while FOH gets to be in much more relaxed environment: the deal with the clientele, which sucks, but most are well compensated and when ever the topic of tip-sharing is brought up they are the first to start the divisiveness that is rife in Kitchen work. BOH gets screwed 99% of the time, there is very little to no parallel to FOH in anyway until you get to the GM level and that's only because they are often working late nights along with BOH staff, but the rest of FOH leave at reasonable hours and can hold down decent wages--there is no such thing in BOH. > Back of the house tends to be paid poorly in food service. They essentially pay for the privilege of not interacting with customers and/or having personality traits that make putting them and customers in the same room a bad idea. I've done both, and ran my Kitchens, I can guarantee you FOH have the same if not worst traits: substance abuse is one of the main reasons people go from BOH to bar-tending after all. It's one of the most desired transitions for alcoholics to make in their career: they're paid well to pour drinks and have several throughout their shift, but most cook personalities and aesthetics do not allow for it. What I've encountered more was a total lack of comradery in FOH, it's all about personal gain and backstabbing is the norm whereas in the BOH despite the prison culture aspect of it all the comradery is the cohesive glue that keeps the thing from descending into chaos during a busy night. It's all coordination and a constant reminder of how critical teamwork is in BOH, the same cannot be said as you get into higher end kitchens: I spent a couple of weeks in Michelin star kitchens, and all the back-stabbing, sabotaging etc... was not just lame it was pathetic--40 year old season vets of the Industry contaminating your mise en place was just sad. It's the nature of the beast, I suppose and to be honest after finally retiring for the 3rd and last time, I'm glad to say I will never miss the Culinary World as it has become a ghost of its former self. Which in many ways is good but no longer has the allure that it once did for me.

elorant 4y ago

Not to mention the myriad of injuries you can get by working in an environment where there are dozens of hot items around, boiling liquids, knifes, slippery surfaces, open fires, and whatnot.

moate 4y ago
When I was working in restaurants professionally and was asked what I did for a living, I told people "I cut and burn myself professionally".

sharadov 4y ago

Like Anthony Bourdain said " People who follow their passion into the restaurant world are delusional.." Good luck to you, hope you are at least enjoying it.

rockostrich 4y ago

I'm convinced that if you've actually read anything Anthony Bourdain wrote and it made you want to work in a kitchen then you are either a narcissist or masochist. There's no way around it.