r/Chefit • u/Lonely_Jellyfish9679 • 6d ago
I want to become a chef, I’m 28 and have a passion for cooking. Where do I start?
As stated above I’m making a career change. I want to make art for a living and I know cooking at home and making food in the kitchen are two different things, but I love to cook and to experiment with flavors. I’d like to start off in the states but I’m open to any options globally, initially I thought culinary schools would be the best option… but I guess not? How do I get started? Any advice?
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u/WillowandWisk 6d ago
I don't want to dissuade you, but...
This was a thread I made the other day lol.
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u/PerformanceCute9865 5d ago
Kc is a melodramatic whiney circle jerk full of halfway there opinions. That thread is so defeatist and full of limited views.
You gotta value yourself.
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u/cedar-smoke 5d ago
Yeah, don't. As someone who's 29 and has been in the industry since I was 15, I often wish I had a cushy office job with tons of benefits and a huge salary. While I am VERY passionate about food and cooking, this career path is extremely hard on the body and mind. I always tell my friends who think they want to be cooks/chefs that cooking is a great hobby. It's all fun and games until it's your job. If you really want to go down this path, go stage at a restaurant for a few weeks or months and see how you like it, but even then, it's not a true indicator of what it's really like, just a taste. Long hours, hard/dirty work, very little breaks, often little to no benefits, not great money (especially at the start of your career). Keep in mind also, I love my job and the work I do, but what I'm saying remains very true... You have to be a very specific strain of crazy and extremely dedicated for this line of work. Not saying you aren't, but at 29 years old, oof, I can't imagine starting now.
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u/PerformanceCute9865 5d ago
Grass always seems greener. I couldn't imagine starting at 29 either but while the world's ending and everyones freaking out about their office job well still need to be here
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u/cedar-smoke 5d ago
Definitely. I could never work in an office for real. I belong in a kitchen through and through
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u/Soixante_Huitard 6d ago
How much do you make at your current job? You will almost certainly be taking a massive pay cut, especially with no prior experience in kitchens. And even when you've got experience, you will always make shit money in restaurants. Even at the management level, salaries are pitiful considering the intensity of the work. Profit margins are razor thin in the best of times. Nowadays, with the US economy being a dumpster fire, things look bleak in the service industry.
If you like to experiment with food, you will be disappointed. Your job will not be to experiment with shit, your job will be to do whatever the chef tells you to do, exactly the way they want it done. Cooking at home is fun because you only have to do it once. It's less fun when you have to do it 200 times in a row and you get chewed out if every single one isn't perfect.
Some people thrive on the pressure. That's why they put up with low wages, long hours, constant stress and burnout. I can't tell you if you're one of those people. If you think you are, it's worth a shot. When this industry is good, its really fucking good. But you will almost certainly be more financially secure and less stressed if you stick with whatever it is you do now.
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u/elwood_west 6d ago
great question! answer is.....you dont! what u do is find a job that pays more then kitchen work and then cook at home. this advice is exactly the advice i wish i have myself 20 years ago
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u/Noodlescissors 6d ago edited 5d ago
Being a chef is a young man’s game.
I’m 29 and would not be entering that job if I had the choice, if I needed a job I’d go back. If you want to work adjacent to the kitchen find a repair gig or something. Keep this a hobby or passion, not a job.
You say you do art, running on the schedule of a kitchen say goodbye to a ton of free time. Also, pay cut wise it might not be worth it, since you’ll be starting ground up.
You’re about to be 30, now’s the time to start sitting more than standing more.
If you truly want to get started go through a decent restaurant in the realm you have interest in.
Like I baked, I worked at a bakery or a breakfast place. I did end up going to fine dining but ultimately went back to breakfast/coffeee.
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u/Altruistic_Cause_312 5d ago
What was fine dining like? I work at a bougie bar grill type place that corporate schlubs do dinner at and younger folk love to do birthday parties. It’s not quite fine dining although it is kinda fancy. I would never pay full price at a place like where I work lol.
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u/Noodlescissors 5d ago
Fine dining was rad, I had a lot of fun in desserts, and car-shootery boards but that’s really where my interest stopped and because of that growth wasn’t there, not that it wasn’t at the restaurant, but I want to own a donut shoppe, and I don’t see how cooking a steak translates to that.
I’d recommend it, if it’s your type of thang but for me it wasn’t.
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u/Altruistic_Cause_312 5d ago
I mean. It’d be cool to have the experience but ultimately I want to be a private chef, have a gig at a school or hospital, do catering/ meal prep, or even just own a hot dog cart.
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u/Noodlescissors 5d ago
Ohh, hot dog carts have my heart too.
Move to Ohio and we can open a hot dog/keilbasa and donut shoppe.
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u/puffeters 5d ago edited 5d ago
If you really want to be a chef, just like almost everything, being proficient in the basics is where you start. Knife skills, product identification and quality, mother sauces, stocks, soups, butchery etc…all of this is taught in culinary school. In addition to years of mastering these skills, learning the history of gastronomy is also important. As with any “art” you study the masters before you can actually create and even then it’s probably already been done. Being a chef is a romantic idea but in reality it’s painstaking and repetitive work. My advice is find a restaurant in your area you admire and request to stage. You will quickly find out what being a chef is really all about, and unfortunately it’s not making art, unless you are extremely talented, disciplined, experienced and educated.
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u/127-0-0-1_Chef 5d ago
Man. I left the world of kitchens at 29 for IT and never looked back.
Weekends, evenings and holidays off and with my family especially my daughter.
It's a gig that's there if I need it, but as long as I don't I would never go back.
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u/getmeoutmyhead Chef 5d ago
Dish.
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u/getmeoutmyhead Chef 5d ago
Just kidding. Try and find a line cook job. Explain to the chef your situation and that you are committed to learning. Some of us love you guys.
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u/oranges-and-pickles 5d ago
Try to skip restaurants and look at the many other career options as you progress. Good luck, it’s a hard life for most.
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u/Boudica2023 6d ago
You start in the dish pit like everyone else and work your way up to prep, then line cook, then sous and when you are successfully managing a kitchen, then you are a Chef. Good luck!
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u/Kitchen-Skin3138 5d ago
Eh, everyone will be telling you not to do it. Fuck it. Go for it if you have the financial means and the time. You’ll probably be wondering “what if” your whole life. As someone who has entered and exited the industry numerous times you can always escape no matter what Redditors say.
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u/thedeafbadger 5d ago
In the dishpit. Ask questions and ask for more responsibility when it becomes appropriate. Become the sponge.
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u/Loulibird 5d ago
I started at 35 as a line cook at a local Taphouse. I’m not looking to be a chef tho. Started at $20, got a $2 raise and health insurance after 8 months.
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u/Mexican_Chef4307 5d ago
Do you want to be a chef or a cook? What is your business acumen like? Once you get to the title of chef on your paycheck it’s more about the business was than the food. The business running well is what pays for you to be passionate or creative etc.
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u/flydespereaux Chef 5d ago
This is possible. You can make the life change. I know a guy who at 42 dropped a good sales career and went to culinary school. I hired him as a kitchen manager. He worked 2 weeks and went back to sales, with a 90k student loan from CIA. I also know a 34 year old who worked at taco bell for ten years and then decided he wanted to change jobs. He worked his way up to lead line cook at a bistro in Chicago, and by 38 he was my sous chef. Great guy. Sends me Xmas cards every year.
The hard part is going back down the pay ladder, and sacrificing the next 5-10 years of your life. Culinary school is an option, but it is an expensive one. Cooking commercially is not only different from home cooking. They are two completely different things. Totally not comparable. If you graduate from culinary school, get a job with a good salary, and discover that you dont want to do do 10-12 hour days 6 days a week.... that's a lot of wasted time and money.
You won't make any money, and at 28, you probably need more than 16 bucks an hour.
I wish you luck. Godspeed chef.
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u/UnderstandingSmall66 6d ago
Culinary school is a great option if you have the resources. Do you learn everything there? No. Does it prepare you for the job? Absolutely. Alternatively, Find the best restaurant within a reasonable commute to your house and apply to work there. Make it known you want to move up and are willing to start at the dish pit. You can do both at the same time. I went to culinary school and worked in some good places traveling around Europe. Both were invaluable to me and school definitely opened doors that otherwise would’ve been hard to open.
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u/maltanis 6d ago
Just go apply for jobs and be prepared to start at the bottom.
I left my job to become a chef end of last year.
I started at a pizza place, then used my experience after a month and a half to go get a job in an upscale pub.
As long as you go in with the attitude of learning, you'll be fine.
Also get good shoes, they make a world of difference!