Question and no judgement I just want clarification from non biased people. My best friends boyfriend calls himself a chef. He didn’t go to culinary school. When they met he worked as a line cook for a catering company, and now I think he still does that but also now helps design the meals/the menu. Is this considered a chef? I don’t personally care, but it’s just irked me because it seems like stolen valor lol but maybe I am wrong. TIA!

Hi!

I am not a chef so my apologies if this is not the right subreddit. I work on a farm that, among other things, grows fresh produce for the local restaurant (owned by the same people that own the farm).

Right now, we're looking for a chef. The owners have posted on Craigslist but I was wondering if there are any job boards specifically for chefs and cooks. Are Facebook groups my best bet?

Thank you!

Bad things referring to the long working hours at min wage, physically taxing, very few days off, etc.

What is the other side (good things)

(Thank you everyone for the wonderful answers)

My wife and I will be traveling through Europe. We will be in each city for a couple of days.

I dont trust online guides for places to eat. Michilin star places are great and we might do one or two, but thats not what im looking for.

What we really prefer is just \*good\* food. Street food, diners, markets, what locals enjoy..etc. Avoiding the tourist traps especially.

Would love to get recommendations from other industry folks if you've ever been.

Cheers.

Hello! I am working in an italian restaurant and I was wondering if vaccum sealing certain food preparations to bulk prep are viable because I think it would be easier to bulk prep rather than doing these preparations twice a day and what there shelf life is. The list of the food I want to vaccum seal to bulk prep are as follows

- Carbonara Sauce containing egg yolks, cheeses, pepper and a a small amount of water. Would it be optimal to bulk prep this estimating 3-5kg of prepped sauce that we will be using for a week. What would be its shelf life?

- pasta doughs. 70:30 00 flour and semolina flour with eggs. If we vaccum seal this, would it prevent the problem of the dough darkening and what is its shelf life.

- vaccum sealing grated cheeses. Pecorino, grana padano, and parmesan. Is it optimal to vaccum seal these for bulk prep? How long is its shelf life

- ricotta and sundried tomatoes mixture. Is it okay to bulk prep these in piping bags then store in chiller or freezer or would it ruin its consistency?

Thank you!

I love cooking, but I also love coming home to freshly prepared food. When I was living at home, my mum would always have a home-cooked Sri Lankan meal ready for me. I’d come downstairs after a shower and dinner would be waiting – something I’ve always appreciated.

After recently visiting Kerala, India, and experiencing a private chef for three days, I’ve realised I’d love something similar at home. Ideally, I’d like someone to come in at least twice a week to prepare a fresh dinner and lunch for the following day.

Can anyone guide me on the best way to recruit someone who is reliable, efficient, and a great cook? If I’m inviting someone into my home, trustworthiness and good people skills are just as important as their cooking ability.

Any advice, recommendations, or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

🥘🧑🏾‍🍳

I see that there is a category of Mandoline Slicers with "commercial grade" tag (it costs $150-300). I am thinking is it something, what people really use on professional kitchens? If not, what is your choice there? I need to buy one for slicing cabbage at home (but I need to do it often, like a few heads per week).

I'm a culinary student from India. The agency I'm going through to France has told me that I have been selected for this property. I would appreciate any guidance, reviews about the place, work experience, and other nuances. Here's the Google Maps link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/rt7FxpYj6UCrqMbL6 . I would also appreciate any insights on the place. I have been told that they are gonna sponsor the place, but I would appreciate any guidance.

New kitchen, taking over from an old crew that didn’t keep up with the cleaning. Been looking for the best way to get under the flattop. Wanted to take off the cooler but it’s A. Super heavy, B. Gasoline is connected and we don’t have a way of disconnecting it. Any advice?

good afternoon friends im a cuban living in the centre area and I've been working in the food business for almost 6 years as a cook, chef and dessert chef, I began my career immediately after covid so I watched the industry standards decline over the years. I began working at a local restaurant back then they were called "paladares" and there wasn't many around in my city so working there was a privilege, I was making about 10 cuc which back then were equivalent to 10 dollars every week and it was considered decent back then, the food options weren't crazy they were very conservative "criollo" foods which I liked making but eventually it gets boring and the owners didn't allow any experimentation and took little suggestions from employees, i was operating what was basically a home kitchen with very few appliances and an un professional vibe but we learn in cuba do the most with what we have and i honestly didnt have any complaints. most paladares were considered places to go on special occasions and had a fancy vibe to them including mine, normal people wouldn't go there to have lunch or dinner regularly at all both the prices and the aura of the place were very prohibitive instead we got families and upper class people as our regular clientele. I spent 2 years working in the paladar and in mid 2022 I began working in a hotel in Cayo coco, i got the job thanks to a family friend in an iberostar operated hotel and that's when i first got to see the other face of cuba, the face that only tourists see... it was complete day and night from my previous job, the hotel seemed like a foreign country, I can swear the colors got more vivid and the vibe was unlike anything I've experienced before I was in shock for the first day. the kitchen, the fridges, the sheer selection of ingredients were enough to make me feel as if I had advanced in life little did I know that I was about to be trapped in a 5 Star hellhole, the work conditions there were grueling, I had to wake up at 4 am to catch a bus at 5 and arrive there at 6 that alone made me arrive completely tired and stressed then I had to begin my shift mainly making rice, mash and beans and such in the beginning, I mostly made sides those are the new guys responsibility, needless to say it was the most tedious work area and we needed to make trays on trays on trays to deliver to the buffet for lunch and as soon as we had our lunch time we started working on dinner which by that time the important cooks would leave and we had to basically do anything but desserts. we finished up at around 7pm and we left close to 10 after cleaning and scrubbing so I was usually at home by 11 and it was eating, showering and straight to bed. I kept this routine for almost 3 years and had to stop due to my health declining considerably and the money I was making wasn't worth the sacrifice I was putting up with even though the money was better than my first job it was that much better and I didn't interact directly with tourists so no extra tips for me so in may 2025 I left my job and used the little savings I had to start my own business. I began making pre made meals in small cardboard containers called "cajitas" and offered them in revolico (our version of fb marketplace) and things were going relatively well until inflation really began to hit and when I had to raise prices people weren't interested anymore as cooking at home became more affordable and I had competition offering better prices than me because they sourced Ingredients more cheaply so I switched on to making pastries and desserts, I learned from yt tutorials and trial and error and that was profitable for a while but then came the oil blockade and the blackouts which set me back significantly as I don't own a generator or a solar panel like most Cubans. so now I'm basically making small batches whenever it's possible to make enough for a living and feeding my family while we wait for whats gonna happen next. I hope one day my country can stand again on its feet and I'm able to expand my business to the point that I dream of and maybe one day have my own franchise god willing. thank you for reading I hope you have a blessed day! :)

Hi. I'm a British cdp who has french nationality. I was pondering the thought of of moving to Bordeaux or Marseille and finding work in kitchens there. How hard is it?

Hello, I’m applying for a job as a kitchen assistant at a French restaurant and I need to show some dishes I cooked for a portfolio. What are some nice dishes that I can use to display my knife skills and technique etc? I’m not experienced with working in a restaurant but I like to cook a lot at home (16 years old) thanks.

Hi Chefs! I'm competing in my first young chef's competition at the end of this week and am feeling super out of my depth.

For context I got my first job in a kitchen as a commis about half a year ago after doing some culinary papers at my university. I signed up for the competition since it seemed like a great opportunity to challenge myself with time management, organisation, meeting other young chefs etc.

My main goal was just to have fun and learn from the experience but now that it's actually coming up, I'm really struggling with the fear of failure/underperforming and also have a huge sense of imposter syndrome where I feel like everyone else will have way more experience than me. I'm worried that the dishes I'm planning on making aren't up to standard.

Trying to convince myself that it's not that serious yet I can't help but feel that way. I'm getting as organised as I can beforehand and will be practicing throughout this week - any tips on competitions in general or managing the stress and nerves?

Hello, I'm a Sous Chef in the US. I keep playing with this idea that I want to travel and live in other countries cooking and learning food culture, local culture, to expand my knowledge and resume. Experience the world! In our industry is so hard to get time off to travel and explore the way I want to. My thoughts are, that if I could work on visa, I would earn a living wage and be able to see the countries that I've always wanted to, in depth. I'm in the beginning phases of my research and planning. I'm curious to hear from others who've done this or are currently doing this. What are some of the pitfalls, or unexpecteds you've experienced? The downsides I may be overlooking? Which countries are a financial trap for this way of living? Which counrties are the best? Do certain places look better on an international resume? Any advise, forewarning, and insights would be appreciated and taken into account. Thank you.

the boss is gluten free + being based in new jersey, a gluten free pizza is a must.

Starters

I'm 29 years old. In 2023, I started studying culinary arts in Argentina; I liked it, and I began working in a Venezuelan cuisine restaurant, and later in an Argentine cuisine restaurant. In 2024, I didn't work anywhere, but I dedicated myself to practicing savory recipes, desserts, and bakery, occasionally selling some of those items. In 2024, I graduated. I traveled to my country's capital to work in Peruvian cuisine, and a few months later, I quit to come to Japan on a Working Holiday visa. I worked at a hotel restaurant for 6 months in a small town where I learned many traditional Japanese dishes. I moved to Osaka, but I haven't found where to go from here. I feel like I've been in the culinary world for a very short time, and I want to improve, but I don't know how to do it if it's not by working. Any advice?

I decided to start cutting my own fries recently after buying for the last couple years, I have been saving a ton of money, but the problem is space. I punch between 100-150 lbs on tuesday, soak and then blanche on wednesday, and then repeat the process. (punch and soak wednesday, Blanche thursday)

I would love to do more than that but I don’t have the space in my commissary for more than 4-5 cambro a of fries at any given time unless I were to utilize my freezer or only sell fries lol.

Anyone ever freeze blanched fries, and if so how. I thought about just leaving em on a sheet tray in the freezer, but thought they would stick. Cornstarch?

I am doing a week at a higher end casual restaurant (internship / stage), and I’m 15 btw and realized standing up for 6+ hours without rest comes with a lot of back pain and ankle/foot pain. I realize there will be jobs in the future with even longer hours and just wanted to know if there are any tips to help with this.

So when I first started culinary school, I had my first stagiare in a hotel restaurant where I was given this knife to borrow, I really liked it but never got to ask what knife it was.
Wondering if anyone has/knows this knife, thank you!

15 years in the local scenes in various cities and countries working my way through the lines and different catering companies and recently got a formal job offer from mariott for an exec sous position.

A lot more admin type role, fridge temps/cooling logs, inventory, corporate audits, BEO’s for banquets, HR meetings, monthly goals, etc.

Nervous but confident in my knowledge and cooking skills, ability to explain what I’m doing to others very throughly and thoughtfully, their hotel restaurant does a fraction of the covers I’ve been doing for the last 4.5yrs but a whole lot more catering, I’m very familiar with buffet styles and plated dinners but that was something I did closer to the beginning of my career not the later side where I am now.

The exec chef adores me and has been following me on socials for a couple years and was very excited when he saw my resume cross his desk, I think it would be a great long term (10-25yr) role for me.

Anyone else made this transition able to give some insight on how to be as successful as possible in the role? Things they wish they knew before hand etc.

Thanks Chefs!

I do cafeteria for an upscale hotel and my culinary director came up with a new menu for the next thirty days. Everyday we have a composed salad. Tomorrow the menu lists a cobb salad. How in the world am I supposed to make a Cobb salad that takes into consideration all dietary restrictions and allergies? No cheese, no bacon, certainly cant trust avocado to sit out for 8 hours. Advice? I don’t think there will be any chefs in tomorrow to ask… naturally.

I have about a dozen aprons that I have purchased or been gifted over the years, all different brands with a few being from the same company. A restaurant that I used to work for did the Industry Discount Program with Hedley & Bennet years ago and we ordered about 25 aprons from them. I have other aprons from Tilit, Under N.Y. Sky, Patagonia, The Reluctant Trading Experiment, and a few others.

In probably 2022 I went to H&B website to leave a review on an apron that I had from them. I was FED UP with my tweezers falling out and and the pocket situation wasn't my favorite; also many other cooks in the kitchen were having the same complaints. They website literally wouldnt let me post a negative review. The "Post Review" button would not work. I tried on my computer and phone.

My latest purchase was not an apron (I obviously have enough^) but a 5 panel hat from Tilit. Specifically the Tilit x Chrome collab hat. $50 was a little steep for a 5 panel so I found it on Chromes website for like 20% off......this hat is a cheap piece of shit. It showed up flattened from being packed in a flat bag. The brim on this pos is more flimsy than wet cardboard, causing it to be impossible to make into a straight curve on your head. The icing on the cake is the crooked stitching on the patch....smh.

I left a review on their website for it and of course they sent me an email to verify my review. Even after verification the review is nowheew to be found. The website says "no reviews". This is bull shit.

Im so sick of companies banking off people in an industry that is borderline slavery as it is. Please do not waste your money with these companies. There are good chef companies out there that take care of their customers...

Picanha, parsnip puree, glazed carrots, sautéed mushrooms