Chef's salary in New York

[lesanglierrouge]

I am planning to relocate to New York and I've started looking at apartments. This has made me very curious how much I could realistically expect to earn as a recent culinary graduate with a moderate amount of experience. I would be looking to work as a line cook or possibly even chef de partie in an independent, upscale restaurant. I don't expect to live like royalty, but I also don't want eight rommates! Any enlightenment would be greatly appreciated.

[newguy]

depending on what kind of place, but give or take you'll first probably get a garde manger position because most places in ny don't really care if you have moderate experience or not. they like you to learn from the bottom. as far as salary goes, you'll be lucky to get $25k year. or roughly enough to pay 4 months rent in a 400 sq. ft. studio in manhattan...

[alanamoana]

you can expect to make anywhere from $9/hour up to $12/hour if you're lucky. if you're good and you can prove it to someone, then you might be able to make more. and you can cross your fingers and possibly make overtime if the restaurant is nice about their labor costs. hotels are a good bet because they are often union or pay union scale wages.

a lot of places attempt to pay shift pay at about $110-$150 per day. this always sounds nice until you calculate how much overtime you're NOT going to get...and of course taxes.

even if you earn a salary of $32,000 a year (which is bottom end sous chef or "junior" sous chef pay)...and calculate that out to 52 weeks at 40 hours per week, that's only $15.38/hour. and you know you'll be working more than 40 hours per week.

it is an ugly picture to paint, but you can live reasonably if you're willing to commute from: the bronx, chinatown, queens, brooklyn. if you're male, this can possibly open up which neighborhoods you can live in due to safety issues.

i'm not saying it can't be done...i'm just saying you've got to be very good with your budget!

[tan319]

I worked about 90 to 100 hours a week for that 15.50 an hour salary.

Sounds great when it gets said then all of a sudden you realize you're making about 8 bucks an hour.

That shift pay thing ( although I never had it in NYC) was a charmer too.

How many times did you finish your stuff, the stuff everyone keeps giving you, in 6 hours or so?

Isn't that the idea?

One is hard pressed to get out at 8 hours.

you can expect to make anywhere from $9/hour up to $12/hour if you're lucky.  if you're good and you can prove it to someone, then you might be able to make more.  and you can cross your fingers and possibly make overtime if the restaurant is nice about their labor costs.  hotels are a good bet because they are often union or pay union scale wages.

a lot of places attempt to pay shift pay at about $110-$150 per day.  this always sounds nice until you calculate how much overtime you're NOT going to get...and of course taxes.

even if you earn a salary of $32,000 a year (which is bottom end sous chef or "junior" sous chef pay)...and calculate that out to 52 weeks at 40 hours per week, that's only $15.38/hour.  and you know you'll be working more than 40 hours per week.

it is an ugly picture to paint, but you can live reasonably if you're willing to commute from: the bronx, chinatown, queens, brooklyn.  if you're male, this can possibly open up which neighborhoods you can live in due to safety issues.

i'm not saying it can't be done...i'm just saying you've got to be very good with your budget!

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[nypork]

Not to rain on your parade but make sure you have a someone to back you financialy. Many if not all apartment leases expect you to make around 30-40 times the lease rate in order to be approved. I'm a cook and have never held a lease in my name due to the low ratio of pay to rent scale, but dont get discouraged there are hundreds of cooks in the same boat, it makes us stronger.

[Megan Blocker]

Not to rain on your parade but make sure you have a someone to back you financialy. Many if not all apartment leases expect you to make around 30-40 times the lease rate in order to be approved. I'm a cook and have never held a lease in my name due to the low ratio of pay to rent scale, but dont get discouraged there are hundreds of cooks in the same boat, it makes us stronger.

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Yup, you'll almost definitely need a guarantor...probably within the tri-state area. Depending on where your work is, you'll probably want to go outer-borough. I've found the commute to and from Astoria and Woodside to be really midtown and uptown friendly. Plus, the apartments are pretty cheap.

[JennyUptown]

It's much easier to do the roommate thing versus a guarantor (I say this from experience). Craigslist is your friend. Good luck!

[lesanglierrouge]

Thank you for all of your replies. This info is very helpful. If I may beg one more question, where could I go online to find discussions on NY and the different neighborhoods therein (I think this discussion would be well beyond the scope of a culinary discussion board).

Thanks again.

[Pan]

What kind of discussion are you looking for?

[scottie]

At the Union Square Hospitality Group restaurant where I did my internship last year, the recent culinary grads were making about $9.50. E.g., one guy had been there for about 6 months, was cooking for the casual side (you know how the USHG places generally have a more casual bar area menu, then the fancier dining-room menu), and was making $9.50. His gf was a pastry cook and made the same amount. The line guys were making closer to $12 and the sous chefs were making about $17, I think.

USHG is fairly strict about overtime. They don't like people to work more than 45 hours a week, but the butcher at this place was working 80 hours, so he was making fat overtime. He was an exception, though.

USHG is a good company to work for, despite the low pay, because of the benefits and health insurance. Plus their standards, commitment to quality, and care for the employees are all exceptional.

East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is cheap and easy to commute to downtown Manhattan from.

Good luck, lesanglierrouge. It will be tough but it will be worth it- I'm moving back to NYC because that's where everything happens in this industry.