Chef 101: How to Get a High-Paying Job in the Kitchen

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You are right when a student finishes most Culinary schools they are qualified to be a prep cook or a line cook only . My students wanted to learn the glory of sauteed and seeing the wine on fire, decoration of a beautiful cake first. They thought that was the School part. So I would sit them all down before We started the first class and asked them if you were to build a house what is one of the most important things ? Most said, a Plan and a good foundation . I asked what is the most important thing about decorating a cake ? Taste of the cake and the texture of it . That is what you will receive at great Culinary School a good solid foundation to build upon. You have to learn measurements, cooking terminology, how to sauteed, Blanche,fry,broiled,grill correctly, Stock is the foundation of cooking ! If thee stock is not great everything you put it in will not be that great. If the stock is delicious everything will be delicious you put it into.
A Doctor that is a surgeon might have 10 operations a week. But Great Chef operates on thousands from the inside out. What you eat and drink just like the correct gas in a race car determines the flow of the car. So think culinary student the cake can look beautiful on the outside, but it is what is inside that really counts. It's all about the food!
I created a Culinary School from scratch and ran it for 11 years. Been cooking for 45 years and I Ann still learning . When you stop learning in life in general you start to die. We as Chef's I believe have the highest calling on earth. Humans live and die from the food and drink We consume .

Executive Chef Richard of GA 2:11PM November 02, 2011

If you want to go to culinary school, know what you are getting into. I went and wrote all about it (here, if you are interested: "Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood" http://bit.ly/m2ROR1). It's a must-read for any potential culinary school student, I believe.

Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood of NY 1:54PM May 13, 2011

Anyone going into the culinary world and expect to make the big bucks will find themselves with a disappointment, it's never about the money. I cook because I love to cook. It is a hard work, and sometimes you will get your ass handed back to you in the kitchen, but it is all worth it, the rush that comes from doing 200 covers a night flawlessly makes it all worthwhile. I remember back in culinary school, there were 18 new students at orientation, including me, 14 months later there were only 4 people left in my group that made it to graduation. People often enroll in a culinary school thinking it's all glamor like you see in Food Network, but it's not. I do agree with the article that working a restaurant job, whether it's a dishwasher or prep cook, before enrolling in an expensive culinary program will benefit people more because they will see for themselves what it's like to work in a restaurant. Now I work in a decent local upscale restaurant, I was lucky enough to get a reference from a former classmate of mine who graduated months before me (being nice to other people pays). The pay is OK, no benefit or anything but I have learned a lot of things that I did not from the culinary school.

Tan of FL 12:32AM April 13, 2011

The culinary profession can be extremely lucrative. There are plenty of people who earn a decent living doing it, and plenty people on the opposite end of the spectrum. It sounds to me like Total BS must have been the 'sous chef' in a neighborhood bar and grill. Cooks that do not speak English are not necessarily illegal immigrants; that is a foolish misconception... a broad and ignorant stereotype.

Foodie4Life of NY 9:09PM January 03, 2011

Professionally cooking sucks. If you go to culinary school, you might end up in debt or waste saved money on a low-paying occupation. If you go to an apprenticeship, then you you think you know everything and you work for years for nearly nothing only to be released into the workforce with a still-mediocre wage. If you just start working, then you view everyone else in the kitchen who has taken a more structured approach to it with suspicion and contempt. They all pay poorly.
You must either suck it up and except that your profession stinks and insult everyone else who despises it because you can't get out of it yourself and, perhaps, see no other options as an out, or you come from a privileged background that allows you to enter it with the help of someone's money and graciousness.
Just turn off the food network and go get a normal life and a decent paycheck. Life in America is about exactly that despite what that idiot PA Chef says. The good ole' days of being a Chef are OVER. Now it;s all about the bottom line. That's why kitchens are filled with illegal immigrants and drug-alcohol fueled idiots. They have no power to change the status quo.
All of the foodie crap out there is a facade that only the artistically-obsessed fall for.
Leaving the business after making it to Sous Chef was the best decision I've ever made and now I can afford the time AND money to eat at expensive restaurants OFTEN. Be care what you wish for.
P.S. Hey PA Chef?! Make sure you don't screw up my order and make it quick while you're at it! Veet! Veet!

TooMuchMoney of HI 1:15PM October 03, 2010

Amen! Where's your restaurant, again? I bet you run that kitchen like a well oiled engine. Bet your food is great.

Ms. B of CO 6:34PM April 23, 2010

What is wrong with people that don't speak English? They work just as hard as everyone else. Maybe you should learn Spanish.

big steve of WI 9:05PM April 01, 2010

Its not about the money. Its about the food. Its always about the food, and the energy, and the intensity and the rush. Its the controlled chaos and kitchen comradery. So, Mr. BULL TRYPE peel these carrots and when your done with that clean my station and when your done with that fetch me a beer, make that 2 beers, one for me and one for my non-english speaking, immigrant sous chef whos making good money now and who got promoted over you, the english speaking american guy that cant see past the f&%#ing pay check and cant cook his way out of a wet paper bag.

Ed of PA 5:20AM January 08, 2010

http://www.chefcrossing.com is a good source of jobs because it only shows you jobs from employer websites and every other job board out there. The site has more jobs than any other website. This is a good way to track down jobs because these jobs are often not advertised. The jobs showing include private chef jobs, chef jobs abroad, cook jobs and sous chef jobs.
http://www.chefcrossing.com
Check it out!

Joe of MI 7:45PM July 08, 2009

I love cooking, doing it for a living is absolutely terribly. Even on the high-end dining side of it your working with all immagrants and people that are coming and going constantly cause the pay sucks and the work is very hard and demanding. Never try to persue outside goals as a line cook. A- you dont make enough money B- you meet tons of other people in your life that seem to make waaaaaay more money than you working 8am to 4pm answering phone. Culinary School is a waste of time, as soon as you finish you get a job at place were the guy next to you doesn't speak english, didn't go to culinary school, and cuts a million coners per second to make his own job easier and gets away with it. All i'm saying is, for example if you want to work 1 job and make enough money to live fine while working stable hours DO NOT COOK OR DO ANYTHING RELATED TO A RESTARAUNT HOTEL OR ANY PLACE THAT SERVES FOOD.
I speak from 6 years of experience

Norman of MA 4:08PM July 02, 2009