This week’s job is dedicated to the man who helped me realize that the only place I should be cooking is my kitchen: Anthony Bourdain. For those not in the know, Mr. Bourdain is a badass writer and TV show host. Most of this post is based around one book and one episode* in particular. Cheers Tony!
The job: Chef
You might like this job if: You like cooking. And by like, I mean love. Personally, I’m a huge fan of it – I spent one semester at college doing nothing but watching cooking shows, reading recipes and trying out some interesting stuff.
The good: Hey, you get to cook! And be creative! You get to feed people your delicious culinary creations, and you get paid a good amount for it. And if you’re lucky, you could get your own cookbooks, cooking show, frozen food line, kitchen gadget series or even get to judge/host a reality show! Yes, the life of a chef can be pretty sweet.
The bad: If you haven’t read the book, here’s the gist of it: it takes a long time, a lot of patience, and a lot of effort to become a chef. The hours and work could kill most reasonable people, the spaces are cramped, working your way up can be a thankless task, and you have to be quick. Like, really quick. If your restaurant is good, it will be busy, and you’ll have to make sure that hundreds upon hundreds of plates get put out every night – not to mention other chef duties, which can range from getting up before the sun comes up to get in shipments to dealing with your employees’ shenanigans after you’re finished. You have to have thick skin and a thicker head to do it – and it’s not an easy road. Despite what Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee might tell you, not everyone can be a chef. Yes, you might be able to cook, but that’s not really the same thing.
Summary: Being a chef is a lot more difficult and less glamorous than one might think. If you really want to do it, you have to put in a lot of time and energy, starting from the bottom to (hopefully) work your way up. And culinary school won’t prepare you enough for it.
Rating: Two extremely sharp chef’s knives out of five
*The best I could find is this clip where he talks about it. The episode is called “Into the Fire NY” and it’s in reruns on the Travel channel every once in a while.
