...but how do I get started?

[KarenDW]

Hi Alexis.

I trust things are going well with your thesis.

There are myriad ways of working with food in this world, not all of them involving restaurant cooking. You don't mention your age & physical ability, but certainly the latter is a factor in the hotel and restaurant world.

There has been no mention on this thread (that I've noticed) regarding catering, personal catering, private chef or personal chef work. When I retired from the graphic arts industry 4 years ago, I wanted to further develop my professional culinary skills. For a middle aged single mom, the options of private culinary school (fast, but expensive) and public trade college (inexpensive, but more than 12 months of training) were "not really" options. I opted to continue with volunteer catering and theatrical catering, while working as a server & prep person for a banquet caterer. Some health issues have arisen, and so long hours "on the line" are out of the question for me.

So, my current business is personal chef, working in the client's home, and preparing everything on site. Other than a food handler's certificate, 30 years of cooking for groups, and seminar-style cooking classes, I have no formal training. I DO, however, have: passion for food, very good knife skills, a thorough understanding of classic technique, ability to translate portion sizes and calculate margins, artistic sense, and good (nearly fanatical) organizational skills. For me, Personal Chef is not full time work, but the $$ vs. hours worked are very good. I also work part time in FOH of a casual fine dine resto.

Unfortunately, I haven't found anywhere willing to take me on yet. Maybe I'm not going at the right times b/c I never get to talk to any kitchen staff. I haven't given up though biggrin.gif I'll do my rounds again the first week of March.

Keep in mind that Jan/Feb is typically a slower time for restaurants, so the need for staff is lower. Yes, try again in March, and then April, as the weather gets better. Our "summer hire" starts at the beginning of April. Then we do another round in August, to be ready when the students go back to school in Sept.

Good luck!

Feel free to PM me if you want/need more specific info.

K

[AlexisM]

Hi Alexis.  I trust things are going well with your thesis.

Things are a bit of a mess these days, but thank you for your well wishes!

There are myriad ways of working with food in this world, not all of them involving restaurant cooking. You don't mention your age & physical ability, but certainly the latter is a factor in the hotel and restaurant world.

I'm 23 and not too athletic these days, but I'm strong and I have stamina.

There has been no mention on this thread (that I've noticed) regarding catering, personal catering, private chef or personal chef work.

So, my current business is personal chef, working in the client's home, and preparing everything on site. Other than a food handler's certificate, 30 years of cooking for groups, and seminar-style cooking classes, I have no formal training. I DO, however, have: passion for food, very good knife skills, a thorough understanding of classic technique, ability to translate portion sizes and calculate margins, artistic sense, and good (nearly fanatical) organizational skills. For me, Personal Chef is not full time work, but the $$ vs. hours worked are very good. I also work part time in FOH of a casual fine dine resto. 

Those options are also interesting to me, I just didn't think that they would be a place to start. I'd be really interested to hear more about how you decided to work as a personal chef and how you got the business of the ground.

Keep in mind that Jan/Feb is typically a slower time for restaurants, so the need for staff is lower. Yes, try again in March, and then April, as the weather gets better. Our "summer hire" starts at the beginning of April. Then we do another round in August, to be ready when the students go back to school in Sept.

Good luck!

Feel free to PM me if you want/need more specific info.

K

Thanks very much K, when things calm down for me (April 17th) I'll start refocusing on this goal.

Thanks again to everyone for all of your input and advice!

[andrewB]

A lot of cooks secretly enjoy washing dishes.  I'm one of them.  It's a welcome break from the insanity of the line, and it's such a mindless task:  Get the stainless out of the way, stack the dishes, and then burn through them all in a glorious assembly-line run; change the water in the machine, run the glassware, and then pop out back for a leisurely smoke while you compadres are still getting hated on.

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dude, you are sooooo right!! i find Zen in soap bubbles and the smell of bleach...