Former being the key word here, kitchen life and family life do not see eye to eye for the most part. The hours generally suck, forget spending New Years with the S/O, and the work is hard, especially for a sous chef, which equates to being the executive’s whipping boy (or girl). The pay for this job usually isn’t that great, but it sounds like that is not important at this point.
With that being said, there are some definite perks to kitchen life. Long term, it can be very rewarding, especially if you have aspirations to become an executive chef down the line, or open your own place in the future. A great deal of comraderie is usually built on the line if you can endure the stress, and have a team that plays well with others. Also, if you are ever in need of a job in the future, restaurants are almost always looking for experienced kitchen professionals, no matter where you go.
Home cooking does not translate to restaurant cooking at all, they are completely separate environments. I’ve seen many people that love to cook, and that are very good cooks at home, be reduced to whimpering blobs in a restaurant setting, in the wrong setting, it can disenchant a person quite a bit.
From reading about the possible situation you could be stepping into, it sounds pretty solid. The exec seems like a laid back sort, which means more than one can fathom, and the restaurant is fairly low volume due to it’s size, which would be good as far as getting your feet wet. If you are looking for advice, i’d say go for it… if you don’t care much for it, then you professionally cut ties, and you’re none worse for the wear.
That’s a good point. Food service work (whether you’re a cook, a waiter, or a bartender) is surprisingly hard work, but the turnover is so high you’ll practically never be out of a job if you’re willing and able. People either quit, or are fired for stealing/fighting/coking up on the job/whatever, and slots are open. (And, strangely, no matter how unreliable or effed up you are, somebody will hire you to do something. The pressure on employers is that high.) Because there’s a lot of competition the wages aren’t great, unless you are at the exec level, but you won’t starve, to be sure.
Y’know, I had almost forgotten about the camaraderie that Striker mentioned. The one fond memory I have from restaurant is the “brotherhood” (it’s funny…I don’t remember any women on my line, though there must have been). The best part of the evening was when the “slam” had died down for the night, and everyone was prepping their station for the next day. You could feel the stress drain away as people started finding their misplaced towels and wiping down their area.
Funny thing about towels…I would walk in every day and see towering stacks of clean white towels. By the end of the shift, I would have one truly disgusting rag hanging on my apron, unfit for man or beast. Everyone else would have one towel, too.
That reminds me of things we did when fellow line workers would come in as customers (don’t worry…we didn’t Bourdain them…nothin too gross).
One time, a fellow line cook came in with one of the wait staff he had been dating (Athena…I don’t know if you’re married, but that’s another thing about restaurants…for some reason, they tend to be much like a bordello, without the cost associated). They ordered some toasted-ravioli with a pesto sauce for an appetizer. At that time, the prep-chef was making the ravioli for the next day. We quickly went to her and got the 6 ravioli needed, and stuffed them with pickles instead of the more-usual “4 cheese blend” (I think it was 99% ricotta, and three other mystery cheeses). The pesto…we gave them cole slaw instead.
It was very funny. If you don’t understand why (coupled with the stress and camaraderie-thing) they ate it and sent back compliments with our grinning maitre’d, stay at home!
You guys can all take a breather now - I just got a callback from the place (I left a message over the weekend) and they’ve filled the position. Still, thanks for all the insight! It made me all the more happy I only cook for myself (and Mr. Athena).
On the other hand, I also got a call back from the software developer position I applied for, and have an interview tomorrow. Go me! I’m still stunned - software developer? Here? :dubious:
