Unexpected takeaways from being a chef for five days!
At one point or another, many people, including myself, have considered becoming a chef. Some of us have also dared to think about opening a restaurant. Why not? Especially if you love to cook and entertain, a common rational for such a bold move. Well, think again. Being a chef is not all pretty plates, dollops of caviar and loyal dinners. Truth be, it’s a profession riddled with grueling challenges. To name a few: standing on your feet all day in a hellishly hot kitchen; little or no private life; and paltry pay. Plus, unrealistic demands from clients, owners, and yourself too, if the restaurant is yours. And where does this lead? To a career riddled with stress, anxiety and burnout.
Take it from a pro. Here’s how Lois Freedman, co-chief executive and president of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant empire, described her five years working as his poissonnier, “But it wasn’t about the passion,” she said, “It was about speed and accuracy.”
Let’s examine together if being a chef is as unattractive a profession as I’ve just described. Or whether it contains a secret sauce (excuse the expression) which overrides the many drawbacks. But perhaps we should first look at what brought me to this puzzling question.
Last September I attended a one-week course at ICIF (Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners), a school primarily for professional chefs located in Piedmont, Italy. This highly regarded institution offers four weeks of intensive training to learn Piedmontese cuisine. It also concentrates on perfecting culinary skills. Upon graduation students are expected to take a three-month restaurant stage, or internship, somewhere in Italy. With my short stay under the tutelage of Executive Chef Massimiliano Careri, I merely dipped my toes into the treacherously difficult world of “chefdom.” However, it didn’t take long to realize just how laughable my fantasy was of ever owning a small restaurant!
To further reinforce this new attitude, let’s look at a few stats. According to the National Restaurant Association, the US restaurant industry's average failure rate is 30% after the first year. And 80 % after five years of operation. Even if a chef has great culinary talent, poor financial planning and operational inefficiencies can be lethal. Additionally, a lack of strong leadership and not knowing how to match your menu with the market further increases the risk of failure. All of these tasks are the chef’s responsibility, not just the cooking. Chef Massimiliano made sure we understood this.
When I returned to New York, I kept thinking about lessons learned at ICIF. I became obsessed with having a better grasp of what’s really needed for a chef to succeed. Forgot all those smiling chefs without a drop of sweat on their brows dashing about on the endless TV cooking shows we all adore. My take-away after the short week at ICIF was perhaps that a chef’s reality was more like that seen on “The Bear.” You know the popular, behind-the-scenes Hulu series depicting a chef whose passion turns into obsession and eventually self-destruction.
To get a better fix on the truth, I canvassed a few of my friends who are either trained chefs or journalists who cover the culinary arts. Besides sharp technical skills, what else does a chef need today to survive and thrive, they were asked? Then, what attracts people to this amazingly difficult profession? Here’s what they taught me.
Allison Awerbuch, Culinary Institute of America (CIA) graduate and Partner, Pier Sixty Collection
To be honest, there are numerous skills, all equally important, to being a successful chef in addition to strong culinary skills. But the single most surprising thing I discovered is that you must have personality traits that consist of compassion, fairness, great communication skills, patience and a wicked sense of humor. These traits are necessary as a leader and advocate to mentor, challenge and retain your staff.
Also, PASSION with a capital P. Those of us who have taken the path to be a chef or chef-related professional, must love all aspects of the culinary-food field...wake up, spend your day and go to bed thinking about all things related. It is something you shouldn't have to work at, but it needs to be part of your DNA and come naturally.
Beverly Stephen, Culinary Arts Journalist
Chefs are deeply passionate about their culinary profession to the point where it's almost more of a vocation. They are artists but their medium is food rather than paint.
They are drawn both by love of food and love of hospitality, feeding other people and making them happy. Many started working at a young age in a family restaurant or perhaps did a fair amount of cooking with a mother or grandmother or sometimes even grandfather.
Penny Stankiewicz, filmmaker and Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) graduate; Baking and cake decorating instructor; Owner/Creative Director, Sugar Couture
I think that popular careers [such as becoming a chef] seem to trend. Since the late 1990’s, being a chef has been on the increase, much due to the development of food tv. That same programming has peaked and “jumped the shark.” My observation is that the tide had turned with the popularity of this job field. The cost of culinary school is 40K (at ICE) and there is no guarantee to earn that back in the first several years working. Registrations at ICE also reflect this. It seems that the number of running classes in culinary and pastry has decreased significantly. This also seems to trend. Management classes may have been stable.
Many of the people who enroll [in professional cooking schools] never work in the industry. They pursue the education thinking they will but then move on to more lucrative careers.
Some of the women who remain have identified that the traditional chef/restaurant job doesn’t meet their needs. I think that women in this field have been at the forefront of finding new paths to working in the field but in new ways. Their goal is to use their culinary passions in ways that support their life goals. Few women who pursue it work long term in traditional restaurant jobs, and if they do, fewer remain. I think of Adrienne Chatham who built her experience at Le Bernadin and under Marcus Samuelson but then transitioned to personal chef which can be much more lucrative, and to some degree, more predictable. There has also been a significant trend towards careers in CPG’s (Consumer Package Goods) or in traditional media or social media. It’s my personal observation that women in our field are responsible for changing it, forcing it to adapt to them, rather than fitting into traditional roles.
Nancy Jessup, Executive Chef and culinary consultant
In a nutshell, to be successful a chef needs to be open to learning. Whether it’s from the cooks in the kitchen, friends or experiences in other cultures, there is always something new to learn.
In terms of what attracted me to the profession, I cook because I love food and the process.
Silvia Baldini, successful advertising executive turned classically trained chef; a “Chopped” Champion; and founder at Strawberry and Sage®, an innovative culinary think tank; and ICIF USA Ambassador and VP of Branding
From my professional experience, the single most surprising factor that determines a chef's success today goes far beyond pure culinary skill. It comes down to mindset. A successful chef needs strong work ethics, genuine leadership, and relentless curiosity. The best chefs never stop experimenting or learning. They constantly look for new ideas, ingredients, and techniques. I have found it essential to surround myself with young, vibrant, and creative people who challenge and inspire me. Continuous research and ongoing education keep my creativity sharp and my craft evolving. That is what truly sustains long-term success in this industry.
For me, what draws people to this career is a deep and instinctive love for creating. There is something addictive about the energy of the kitchen, the constant movement, the pressure, the adrenaline. It keeps you sharp and alive. There is also the human side of it, connecting with people and making them happy through something you have crafted with your own hands. At the same time, it is a pursuit of perfection, a challenge that never truly ends. And yes, maybe there is even a touch of masochism in loving the intensity, the heat, and the chaos that come with it. But that is what makes it so exhilarating.
Before leaving this exploration of the how and the why of being a successful chef, here’s a compelling story from Steve Symond, a friend who acted on his passion for food and entertaining. (Isn’t this how this conversation started?) However, not dissimilar to other budding chefs who actualized their dream job, Steve chose to ultimately abandon the profession to avoid the potential of the self-destruction as played out in “The Bear.”
Steve Symonds, Cordon Bleu (CB) graduate; Investment manager turned chef/restaurateur; then again, investment manager
It started with my passion for throwing dinner parties. I love to cook, and I love to see people enjoying what I’ve cooked. I also love the effort that goes into making the ambience warm and inviting.
I took the full CB program, called the Grande Diplôme. It included three levels of ‘Cuisine’ and two levels of ‘Pâtisserie’. I also did several ‘stages,’ most notably at Le Récamier in Paris. After graduation I worked in the kitchen of the Bistro du Louvre as part of a team of three (including the Chef/Owner). I was responsible for the Garde Manger station (salads and desserts).
Upon returning to the US, I spent a summer on Martha’s Vineyard working at the Oyster Bar in Oak Bluffs (again in Garde Manger). My next move was to Tortola, British Virgin Islands where I went to cook at a ‘resort’ but found myself taking over a defunct restaurant and building my own business. At first, we were two people doing everything. Me in the kitchen, my colleague at the bar. We did the shopping, restaurant set up, service, clean up, trash hauling etc. It was a boot strap operation. After several months, my colleague returned to the US, but I kept on. I hired staff as business increased and even recruited a friend from CB to come for the second season to take over the kitchen so that I could focus on building the business. I worked in the kitchen on her days off.
After two years, the property where my restaurant was located was sold to new owners who wanted to change everything that I created. I decided to move back to the US. My original intent was to start another restaurant in Key West, Florida but for a variety of reasons that never happened. Eventually I moved back to NYC and drifted away from the kitchen and resumed my prior life in the investment management industry in order to restore some financial stability to my life.
Ironically, one of Steve’s mentors under whom he trained in Paris, Gérard Idoux, chef/owner of Le Récamier, describes being a chef as a “relentless march, punctuated by dreams, successes and challenges, too." Exactly as Steve described his experience in the chaotic world of “chefdom.”
Here's one final thought from my friend Joan Ross who accompanied me on the one week at ICIF. As experienced home cooks who love all things Italian, Joan Ross and I thought going to cooking school would be a novel way to improve both our culinary and our linguistic skills. We were attracted to ICIF as classes are given in Italian which Joan and I have studied for years. However, neither of us had any idea just how humbling the experience would be nor how much we would learn about the reality of the profession.
Joan Ross, Tax Law Accountant and fellow traveler/student at ICIF
An unexpected takeaway from the school was the realization that working in a restaurant is really, really hard. Both physically and emotionally. There are no do-overs during lunch or dinner meal service. You must get it right the first time, and, as we experienced, that isn't always easy.
I think in the future I will try to show more appreciation to the cooks and the wait staff. It's a tough job and a little positive feedback can mean a lot.
Whenever I dine out, like Joan, I now make it a point to engage the waitstaff by showing my appreciation. I also frequently send my compliments (when deserved) to the chef back in the kitchen. Further, if the presentation of a dish is laudable, I Instagram a photo of it as a “thank-you” along with a positive review. And lastly, I register my satisfaction by tipping generously. This gesture not only has a direct impact on the success of the restaurant’s business but also, more importantly, on the chef and his/her staff’s livelihood.
So, you still want to be a chef? My advice, for whatever it’s worth: Give more dinner parties at home!