What it takes to become a chef. Cook, money, career and success. Effective techniques for a successful career as a chef. Professional knowledge and skills

Recipe for a successful chef: “If you want to cook professionally, you must give up normal life!"

What do you need to know to become a successful chef and make a career out of it? Which practical steps what needs to be done for this? A well-known pastry chef with 20 years of experience shares her experience with us. summer experience- Shuna Fish Lydon.
From 2012 to the present, Shuna has been working in New York at a restaurant "Calliope". Shuna is currently 45 years old, and has been since the beginning of her career, namely in 1992, when she worked in a restaurant " G.B. Ratto & Co. International" in Oakland, she changed 26 establishments, having also worked in London in a restaurant "The Modern Pantry" And "The Bread Factory / GAIL's", in New York in restaurants "10 Downing Street","Peels", Hudson River Club and other 6 establishments in New York, in San Francisco in restaurants "Citizen Cake","Sens Restaurant" and in other US cities.

You know, I get a lot of questions from chefs or future chefs all over the world. People want to know how they can become chefs, pastry chefs, or at least start cooking professionally for themselves. People want to know what to do when the kitchen they work in is no longer serving customers' needs. Female chefs want to understand how much harassment they are prepared to face when working in the kitchen. Many people want me to advise them on the best culinary school. Many people want to know what the level is wages from chefs and pastry chefs. According to Google search statistics, many people find me to find out how much time they need to spend in the kitchen to become successful and famous...

But the most main question which interests people the most - how to find your very first job,internship or where and from whom can I become a student.

Here is my list of practical tips that, despite being used almost 20 years ago, still work!

1. Eat as much, how much you can afford. Take a small notepad and pen with you wherever you go. Take notes. When you find a menu you really like, ask the waiter for the first and last name of the chef or pastry chef. Check the restaurant's opening hours and the chef's work schedule.

2 . Print your resume and come with him to the restaurant. Ask to see the chef or pastry chef by his first and last name. Come to the restaurant ONLY during non-working hours, for example 20 minutes before opening. If this place is open for lunch... best time The visit will be between 15:00 and 16:00 hours. Never, hear me!, never go to a restaurant during work, especially during peak hours!

3. Flattery will help you in everything. Tell the chef or pastry chef that you fell in love with his/her dish when you dined there recently and that you would be delighted to work in his/her kitchen. The questions you should ask should be something like: “Are there any entry-level positions open?” "Perhaps there is a place for an intern?" “Can I do an internship with you?” You are modest. You agree to any position. Yes, you still don’t know much. But you are persistent and you have understanding. You come to the “back door” every day and ask to talk to the person you need if this is the establishment where you dream of starting to work.

4. Not wait for a call back!

5. Not Send your resume by e-mail as an attached file.

6. Until all options and approaches have been exhausted - do not give up.

7. Don't take rejection personally. Don't celebrate being hired as a complete victory. Smart chefs love equal and free labor. Chances are, if you're hired for an entry-level position, you'll have to work hard for a long time to earn trust and respect.

8. Read as much as possible about the “dream restaurant” and about the chef of this restaurant. By doing this, you will be able to operate with knowledge and facts that may pleasantly flatter your superiors. Read blogs, social media profiles, articles and reviews.

9. Immerse yourself in the process everything related to food, food, cooking...

10. Always write everything down.

11. Buy yourself the following tools and never go to work without them: thin pencil for writing, and thick for highlighting, and small notebook, which fits in your pants or shirt pocket.

12. Always leave some time before entering the kitchen to mental peace. This is as important as your sharp knife, favorite spatula and shoes, in which you can sometimes stand for up to 16 hours.

13. When you're in the kitchen remember the names of all employees and find out their contacts. Make friends with them on social networks and continue communication even after leaving for a new job. 98% of all the places where I had to work were found through friends and acquaintances who work in this field.

14. You should only have a few knives, but they should always be sharp.

15. Come to work early and stay late. Watch and learn from the best chefs in the kitchen. Male chefs don't usually talk or give advice, but the way they move and move around the kitchen, set up equipment, and the way they flit through the air during peak hours will tell you more about them and their experience than they themselves could.

16. Stay humble. People who have been cooking for decades die knowing less than most people think they know in their first few years of cooking. Cooking food is a craft, not an acquisition.

17. In your first 5 years of employment, stay at least 1 year in each kitchen where you work.

It doesn't matter how old you are, what gender you are, sexual orientation And social status when you're at the bottom collective work- you are actually at the bottom. Learn how to wash dishes even if it's not your calling. Be open to any job.

People keep writing to me about their scary kitchens. Chefs write to me about terrible, disgusting kitchens. Kitchens that put the lives of staff and visitors at risk every day.

If you work in a kitchen that is not safe for workers and visitors - go away. If you want to change this, contact government officials. Although, you won't be able to make an anonymous complaint. If you are planning to sue, take courage! I filed a complaint with the NLRB (note profood is an independent government body that regulates workers' rights in the USA) to the network Whole Foods Market, where, to my shame and joy, I worked for some time. I was 22 at the time, so don't say you're too young or afraid to get involved in legal proceedings. If you want to change something, act, if it is for the benefit of everyone, you will definitely win!

Stop watching cooking shows on TV.
If you want to cook professionally- you must either have money in the bank, or small monthly payments if there is no money in the bank, or a spouse or sponsor who will support you financially.
If you want to cook professionally- you must be ready at one moment to give up a “normal life” with “normal” working hours.
If you want to cook professionally-you must really want it. Despite everything listed above.
If you want to cook professionally- achieve this. Don't stop there.
If you want to cook professionally- you definitely will, if that’s what you think about 24 hours a day. If you can afford it. If you're up for it.

• When will you become a chef?

I can't say that. There is no algorithm, advice, recipe and, accordingly, answer for this.

I didn't start cooking professionally to be a chef. I started cooking because it was all I wanted to do at a certain point in my life. I didn't go to culinary school, I didn't even have my own knife.

I learned everything on the job. So can you. Or you can go to school. Or take the amount of money that you were willing to give to school, put it in a bank account and go to work for the chef whose food and whose establishment you like and live for the first time on the money from the bank deposit.

I would like to point out that flattery is real. The best way so that your foot can cross the door of the kitchen of the establishment you like. I often take my resume with me to restaurants I visit. I used to say the following: “Hello. I ate with you several times and I really liked it. By the way, I’m in catering myself - I’m a cook, and by luck I have my resume with me. But I want you to know - even if you “If you don’t hire me, I’ll still come to dine with you. I recommend XXX (such and such a restaurant) to many and will continue to recommend it. Just if the chef needs any help, I’m ready to take any available position in your kitchen.”

Usually after that they called me and I at least went for an internship.

In that moment, when I had no idea what was going to happen, a lot had already happened because I had the opportunity to work 12-hour days inside the most inspiring kitchen I have ever had the privilege of being in.

When the chef asked me why I gave my resume to the restaurant despite the fact that there were no vacancies in it, I replied: “Where I am from, if the person’s resume suits me, but the current employee also suits me, I will pass it on.” resume to someone else I know in the industry. If I give you my resume and I like your food and you like my resume, I trust that you will tell someone else about me who might have it. work for me."

Practical advice: how more people looked at your resume, the greater the chance of finding a job. If you never burn bridges when moving to a new job, it's very correct solution, because the culinary world is very small. Recently I traveled 13,000 km just to have the opportunity to cook with a pastry chef with whom I had taken courses earlier and met in the kitchen several people with whom I had worked before. different years in different establishments.

• Be brave!

Catering is not for the faint of heart. It is for passionate, crazy, leading people, not driven and gambling people.
Public catering is an intricacy of human connections, where, as in small towns, everyone knows each other.
Catering is my home, my soul, my love, my friends, clan.

But this is not a part-time job. You can’t just pick up and come here.

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As the character from the cartoon “Ratatouille” stated: “Anyone can cook!” And this is not a joke, because if you have a desire to join the high art of cooking, everything is in your hands.

Even if up to this point your signature dish has been a sandwich, the road to the world of great cuisine is not yet closed.

What does a cook do? Responsibilities of cooks at various levels in the kitchen

No one has any doubts when answering the question “What does a cook do?” Of course, the chef cooks. But not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance.

There are three classification systems for chefs in the world: American, European and for the CIS countries. The latter applies in Russia.

Classifications of chefs in Russia:

• Chef- the highest level in the profession. A high rank means great responsibility, so the chef does not only prepare delicious dishes. He runs the kitchen and supervises the work of the cooks and waiters. The chef creates technologies for preparing new dishes and refines old recipes. Responsible for purchasing products for each dish.
• Pastry chef. This person specializes exclusively in preparing culinary masterpieces, which requires taste, imagination and ingenuity.
• Cook-technologistcontrols the preparation and quality of the resulting culinary and confectionery masterpieces. Their responsibilities include creating new recipes and signature dishes, as well as drawing up technological maps for different dishes.
• Cookis directly involved in the preparation and decoration of dishes.

In Europe, the chef's "crew" is much larger due to the more detailed division and includes (for example):

• soushef or sous-chef, who is his right-hand man
• saucier or sautechef who is responsible for sauces
• fish cook, meat cook, grill cook and vegetable cook
• cold appetizer chef
• baking chef

Categories of cooks in Russia

In cooking, there are chef grades, from 2 to 6, which are a kind of levels, steps from beginner to pro.

The categories are specified in the unified tariff and qualification directory.

Let's tell you more about each category of cook

• The highest rank -6th chef rank. For the sixth grade cook, you must have a higher professional education. Such chefs work in gourmet restaurants and trendy cafes. They know the peculiarities of cuisines of different countries and dietary nutrition.
• Cooks 5th category— highly qualified specialists who, in addition to preparing complex dishes, can create a menu.
• Cook 4th categoryknows how to prepare dishes that require complex processing. From salads, hot dishes to baked goods!
• Cook 3rd categoryprepares simple dishes: cooks porridge, fries vegetables, pancakes, prepares fillings.
• Cook 2nd categoryperforms mainly auxiliary work: peels vegetables for preparations, washes and sorts vegetables and fruits, prepares ingredients. This is a novice chef.

Who is the chef profession suitable for?

Except useful information In the article you will also find advice from experts on how to become a chef. We interviewed Vladimir Inzhuvatov, chef of the online culinary school "ShchiBorshchi", and Pavel Zavarzin, brand chef of the restaurant "Vinokurnya".

Many people think that being a chef is simple: mix the ingredients, put it in the oven and you're done.

It’s easy to find a recipe these days if you have the desire. But talent, imagination and a sense of taste, together with professional skills, distinguish a real chef from an amateur.

What qualities should a chef have?

• physical endurance, because you have to work 10-12 hours in a hot room and on your feet;
• good memory to know by heart recipes for simple and complex dishes;
• attentiveness and good eye are also necessary to determine the required amount of ingredients, chop food evenly, etc.;
• accuracy, cleanliness and organization here there will be not only not superfluous, but practically obligatory qualities;
• a good chef must have high sensitivity to tastes and smells;
• have good imagination, aesthetic taste and creative spirit so that, looking at the recipe, you can already imagine the future dish.

Professional skills are developed during training and are honed to perfection with experience.

In the chef profession, experience is of great importance, so be prepared to spend a lot of time acquiring it.

Where can a novice chef get experience?

According to our experts, experience only comes with practice! Therefore, you need to constantly try new unknown techniques and technologies, study basic recipes of world cooking. This can be done even at home. You don’t always even need to go on an internship or course.

However, you still need to understand what goals you want to achieve!

You can train either in chain restaurants, where a novice chef will come into contact with routine processes and train his skills to automaticity, as well as learn to work in a team. Or it could be hotels, since they have their own specifics for ordering products and planning supplies. Pavel believes that it is ideal for chefs to experience both areas. For more professionalism.

How to become a chef after school

Many people dream of trying themselves as a chef with early years. For those who managed to maintain this desire by the end of school, the opportunity to enter culinary colleges and universities is always open.

Is it possible to become a chef after 9th grade?

After the 9th grade, you can try yourself in the art of cooking by entering college. As a result, you will not only receive a diploma earlier than your peers, but you will also be able to earn money by starting a career in cooking.

To enter the culinary college after the 9th and 11th grades, you will need to pass mathematics and Russian.

In addition to school exams, some colleges may conduct interviews for applicants. The applicant needs to tell as convincingly as possible why he chose this particular profession. At the interview, they can introduce you to the nuances of working in the culinary field. If you already have some knowledge, don't be shy to show it.

After 9th grade, studying at a culinary college lasts 4 years. During this time, you can become a chef with all the basic knowledge. However, people also enter the technical school after the 11th grade, then the training will last less, 3 years.

The reason for faster learning lies in the fact that the program for those admitted on the basis of 9 grades includes general education subjects, which are studied in grades 10-11.

What will you get by studying to be a chef in college?

After technical school you will receive not only a certificate of... general education, but also a 3rd or 4th category cook diploma. This means that you will be able to do more than just peel potatoes for harvesting; you will be able to prepare full-fledged meals.

Is it possible to become a chef after 11th grade?

You can study to become a chef after 11th grade. In this situation, since you have passed the Unified State Exam, you have access to not only culinary colleges, but also universities!

Unfortunately, in Russia there are no higher educational institutions exclusively focused on culinary arts. Higher culinary education can be obtained at some trade institutes in Russia. To enter a culinary university in Russia, an applicant will need to pass the Unified State Exam.

In this case, you need to try to dial high scores in mathematics, Russian language, as well as chemistry and physics, which a particular university may require for enrollment (this should be clarified on the website of the institution of your choice). On average, the total score for the three exams can range from 150 to 200, depending on the institution.

You can get a quality education in culinary schools in Europe and the USA. In this case, you will receive an international diploma and broader career prospects.

Note!

Studying at a culinary university lasts 4 years and provides more opportunities than a technical school. A specialist with a diploma from a culinary university has specialized knowledge about organizing the cooking process, can calculate the number of necessary components and the cost of one dish, knows how to create technological maps, and knows how to create a menu. Such an employee is valued higher.

What will you get by studying to become a chef at a university?

After graduating from university, you receive a diploma as a specialist chef. In foreign schools, graduates can receive not only a certificate, but even an academic degree in cooking.

Professional and advanced training courses for chefs

If you decide to become a chef, you cannot do without professional education. To save time without wasting it in culinary colleges and universities, you can enroll in culinary courses.

IN The option with courses is also suitable for those who graduated from school a long time ago, but have not lost hope of becoming a chef. After completing your studies, you will be given a diploma with which you can start working in a small establishment or in fast food.

If you just love to cook and want to improve your skills, cooking classes are also a great solution.

According to Pavel, it is also important to gain basic knowledge of food processing, preparation of basic dishes, bases (sauces, broths, dough, minced meat, etc.). You also need to pay attention to the presence modern equipment Do the teachers know the chefs? modern technologies preparations, says Pavel.

Cooking courses are good, first of all, because in a short time you gain not only theoretical, but also practical knowledge. The teachers, of course, are professionals in their field - chefs with extensive experience and a good reputation.

On average, courses last 2-3 months. During this time, you are taught the basics of culinary skills, primary processing of products, preparation of ingredients, preparation and presentation of dishes. Great emphasis is placed on practice: you will have the opportunity to try yourself in a real kitchen!

Upon completion of the courses, you receive a certificate, depending on which course was chosen, you are assigned the rank of cook. The costs of the courses are more than recouped.

The job of a chef is prestigious and in demand on the labor market. If you are determined to take this path, do not be afraid of difficulties and strive for excellence. A chef must know and be able to do a lot, but the main thing is to do his job tasty and with soul.

“I would like to become a cook, let them teach me.”

Many in childhood, looking at sweets in the store and admiring the beauty and size of the cake, thought, if I were a cook, I would bake myself a hundred cakes. Today we won’t teach you how to make a hundred cakes, but we’ll do something more important, we’ll teach you how to become a chef. So let's get started.

How to become a chef - where to start

Write a plan to achieve what you want. And be sure to start doing it. Life will make its own adjustments, but you will definitely achieve success if you put in all your strength.

So, here's the plan!

We are looking for work in a cafe, restaurant, fast food. The most important thing in being a chef is experience!
We train at home and cook for others. It is worth paying attention to which dishes excite your soul.
We master kitchen equipment and knife work. Modernity has given us a large arsenal of kitchen gadgets, so don't forget to keep up with the times.
Expanding our culinary knowledge. Our number one goal is to study two dishes every day!
Let's go to training. To achieve your goal, it is not necessary to have a “crust”, but it is precisely such “pieces of paper” that help you get the desired job in a good restaurant.

How to become a chef without education

For this you need, firstly: a strong desire, and secondly: right choice where to begin.

Those. You can’t storm an elite restaurant without knowing anything, hoping that maybe they’ll take it.

First of all, you need to choose catering establishments that do not require culinary knowledge - this, of course, is fast food. After working there for about six months, you can count on finding a vacancy in a restaurant.

If someone is a culinary genius, then even without special education he can rise to the rank of chef.

How to become a chef in a restaurant

With effort, in a year you can become a cook and, moreover, even a shift supervisor. The keys are patience and obedience, and soon you are a chef.

How to become a cook in the army

Despite the popular belief that in the army, if necessary, they will make a cook out of anyone - this is a wrong opinion. Such people can be hired as helpers to peel potatoes and bring food.

In fact, they are also looking for a person with an education to be assigned as an assistant to the head cook and subsequently transfer the duties of the kitchen.

In this case, you need to declare yourself and your desire. But even if you do not have an education, but have a strong desire, also declare this and, who knows, maybe they were looking for you as an assistant to the cook.

How to become a chef at home

Self-education is a great power, but not everyone can do it. If you still choose this path, then the advice is as follows.

Fortunately, we live in the information age and finding courses via the Internet and special books is not so difficult. Add to everything else a large number of video lessons. And you can gain a decent amount of knowledge.

The main thing is to practice it with your family, hoping that they are well motivated by you and will patiently go through the entire path of your training with you.

Another tip: go to restaurants and see what’s trending there, this way you will enrich your knowledge and move with the times.

How to become a chef

The first step to achieving a high position as a chef is, as I hope everyone understands, what it takes to be a good cook.

Simply, without doing anything, it is impossible to fly up to the pedestal of a chef, unless you are the owner of a restaurant.

For all others the path is:

First of all, you need to undergo training in a specialized educational institution;
get a job and gain important experience, at this time you need to come to the realization that you like everything, whether it brings you pleasure, this takes about a year;
establish yourself as a good cook who knows the entire “kitchen” in the restaurant, how and what is done, at this stage you can become a shift supervisor;
attract the attention of the chef so that he chooses you as his assistant. Here everyone must show their Creative skills to attract attention;
You can become a chef no earlier than you have worked for at least 3 years, but the term itself will not give you anything, you need special education;
it is necessary to pass certification and become the owner of a personal certificate, it is obtained from the Federation of Restaurants and Hoteliers;
After that, you can’t stop for a moment, namely, delighting customers with the quality of food and surprising them with new dishes.

How to become a sushi chef

First of all, you need to get a culinary education and get a job to gain experience (about a year).

Then go to work in a place where they make sushi and be a patient student.

Over time, people will pay attention to you and your dream of being a sushi chef will come true.

The main thing is great desire and perseverance. Although there is an exception - only a man can express himself here, the Japanese do not trust women to prepare sushi.

How to become a pastry chef

Do you know how a cake differs from bread?

Just the amount of ingredients and technology.

• Be sure to memorize the proportions; adherence to them is the key to impeccable desserts.
• Learn special tools, look up techniques for using them online, and practice them at home.
• This will help you feel confident in the kitchen and will improve you in the eyes of your colleagues and superiors.
• Increase your rank as you work. Only confectioners of the highest (that is, 6th) category will definitely work in a prestigious establishment.
• You might be interested in:

A cook today is not only a satisfying and interesting profession, but also a creative one. You can simply become a cook, a chef, a cook who specializes in a certain cuisine, or a food stylist. However, in order to obtain this profession, you must go through a number of certain stages.

How to become a chef - step by step

The basis is self-education

If you are not an unprepossessing cook, and the desire to cook deliciously haunts you, start learning and honing your cooking skills. To do this, learn to use kitchen appliances and utensils (stove, oven, blender, etc.). You must master all this. Also cook at home as often as possible, as much as possible and as varied as possible. Cooking TV shows, special newspapers, magazines, recipes from the Internet can help you. Try easy recipes first and gradually move on to complex ones. Don't despair if the first pancake is lumpy. Only those who do not follow their goals firmly enough give up easily. But you’re not like that, are you?

Education in a special institution

If you manage to get a chef's qualification at an educational institution, your chances are Good work increase significantly. You can enroll in a culinary college in your city. After 9th grade, training lasts 3 years, after 11th grade - only one. If you don’t have time or don’t want to study for so long, take short-term paid cooking courses. There they will explain to you in what proportion you need to take products for a particular dish, how to perform their primary processing, how to choose the right products, etc. Such courses last 2-3 weeks, and can cost up to 16-20 thousand rubles.

You can hire an individual teacher - tutor. Just to make sure it’s not in vain, choose a tutor carefully. Let him have a chef's crust and experience working in a good restaurant.

If you want to earn a high salary, in addition to special education, study abroad with famous masters. It’s expensive, of course, and not everyone can afford it, but you will have the right to demand a premium for prestige when applying for a job.

How to start a career

You can start a career as a chef even as a waiter. After working as a waiter for several months, you will understand and experience all the intricacies of a chef's work and learn a lot of new things. You can get a job as a cook in some cafe or restaurant; usually there are always such vacancies. There you will gain invaluable experience and a lot of knowledge about the art of cooking.

Desired goal - chef

How to become a chef? Becoming a chef is not easy. Experience in cooking is a must, and the more, the better. First you work as a cook, earning a reputation for yourself. Then you can become a sous chef, that is, an assistant chef. Well, if everything goes well, then the position of a chef in the future is not far off. You can become a chef in Russia after just three years of active cooking practice.

But don't delude yourself. Being a chef is a very hard and responsible job. He is responsible not only for the quality of all products and dishes in the kitchen, but also for the work of his assistants. Often the chef has only one day off per week, which, moreover, can be floating. The work schedule itself can be very stressful - shifts sometimes reach up to 12 hours a day or more. In addition, the chef must have a stock of original recipes.

A chef's salary depends on the establishment in which he works, the presence or absence of education, work experience and position. It is clear that an ordinary cook in a public canteen earns less than the chef of a gourmet restaurant with French cuisine.

This is what the profession of a cook is like! Despite its simplicity, it may be too tough for many. But if you are sure that being a chef is your calling, go for it! We hope that our tips on how to become a chef will certainly help you.

This book is for those who love to cook, want to devote their lives to cooking and are going to work as a chef. You probably now have a choice to make: go to college or go straight to college. But I won’t recommend either option to you now. For two reasons.

Reason one:

The education system is so outdated that after you graduate from college or college and come to work in the kitchen, the first thing you hear is: “Forget everything you were taught there. Forget it. Everything is completely different here.” And in reality this is what happens.

Reason two:

Most people in the world choose a profession to which they want to devote their lives, study for several years, then work for a while and realize that this is absolutely not what they need. But there is no turning back. And people have to do something they don’t like all their lives. If you want to avoid this mistake, then follow my advice.

And the advice is this: go right now and get a job as a cook in a restaurant. Or an assistant chef. Yes, no work experience, no education. It's real now. I know a lot of chefs who work in the kitchen without education, some have already become chefs, others are sous chefs, this successful people who received such an opportunity in life. You can get the same thing.

How to do it? Very simple. You write out a list of the coolest restaurants and cafes in your city that you would be interested in working at. Call there, find out if there is a vacancy for a cook or assistant cook, come and say that you have no experience or education, but you really want it, you are ready to go into the kitchen right now and do everything they tell you there, and you will do it there when They will let you in there, into the kitchen.

And in ten days, or maybe earlier, you will definitely understand whether this is right for you or not. If this suits you, if you understand that cooking is really what you wanted, you stay to work there, gain knowledge on the spot, practical and theoretical, and at the same time earn money. And then you can get a degree at an institute or college with the money you earn.

And one moment. If you do as I tell you now, then you will learn how, by getting a job as a cook now without experience and without education, in six months you can become a sous chef in this restaurant. This is my experience and I will share it with you.

How to become a chef. Right way! Part 2

About how to become a chef, for those who are now planning to enroll in college or any other educational institution for this specialty.

I recommend that you do not waste your time and do not go to study at these educational institutions. And go straight to a restaurant, ask to be an assistant cook, a cook's apprentice, or a cook. Let the chef and his cooks take you there as an apprentice and teach you.

Yes, in the first days, in the first week, while you know nothing and can’t do anything, in other words, do not represent real value for the restaurant, you will not receive money there.

This is training and this is normal for a chef - skill level “zero”. We need to look at this situation from the other side - after all, when you come to school and study, you spend money on this training. And in a restaurant they will teach you and will not charge you money for it, only your diligence in learning.

This is me now answering the question of those people to whom I have already recommended to immediately get a job in a restaurant. These people told me, how can it be that I will work there, but they won’t pay me a salary?

When you go to school to study, you pay tuition. You come to a restaurant, people there teach you, and this guarantees you that in 2 weeks, maximum in a month, you will be able to make money on the knowledge that you receive directly in the restaurant.

No school can guarantee you that it will teach you exactly what restaurants now need from graduates of these schools, and that it will help you make money in the future. No school guarantees you employment in a restaurant. And if you get into a cafe or restaurant right away, and establish yourself as a proactive, interested, motivated and hardworking person who wants to become a cook, grow to a chef, maybe open your own restaurant in the future, then this practice will immediately guarantee you , that if you are such a person, then you can make money from this.

And voila - your dream has come true. Moreover, after 5 days, probably even earlier, during this internship in the kitchen, you will understand that maybe this is not your thing at all. Maybe cooking isn't what you really wanted.

Because what is taught in schools and what happens in practice are completely different things. Absolutely two different worlds, absolutely, existing, as if in parallel, without intersecting. They intersect only when a graduate comes with a diploma and says - I’m a cook, I want to work as a cook.

To me, as a chef and restaurateur, more interesting person who just wants to be a chef, is ready to learn, develop and grow in his career, than a graduate who doesn’t know how to do anything, comes and starts telling me what he learned there, for example: category 1 eggs weigh 40 grams, and some other nonsense , which is economically useless or not applicable in real work.

Much of this theoretical background is unnecessary. Take an egg, break it, mix it with milk and make an omelette - that's what you need. And we do it right now, we sell it to guests, the guests eat, they like it, then cool. All theoretical knowledge can be obtained in parallel with training in the kitchen in an operating restaurant. There are a lot of modern books about cooking, the authors of which reveal the really important basics and subtleties of working with products. I can immediately recommend the books of William Pokhlebkin, they can replace the standard annual course of study at the school.

Therefore, my specific recommendation is to think about what the school will give you, what it guarantees you. At the same time, think about what training directly in a restaurant kitchen will give you, and what this will really guarantee for you in the future.

How to become a chef. Right way! Part 3

Again, for those people who dream of becoming a chef, this will be the 3rd part.

I’m probably here mostly answering questions that people often write to me. And this is what they write:

“How do you know, what if I do everything for free in a restaurant, peel potatoes, wash something, and in a week, two weeks, taking advantage of my work, they will throw me out, they will say, you are not suitable for us, that’s it, get out of here.

And all the people who are concerned about this issue write what they are told - it all depends on you. That's right, it all depends on you. Show yourself well, learn everything quickly and be of value to existing chefs, then you will be accepted into the kitchen and to work in a restaurant. In my kitchen they will also tell you - everything depends on you.

There are two important points, which will allow you to answer this question yourself. How to find out whether they will throw you there or not, whether they will take advantage of you or not.

First important point.

Let's say you want to become a chef, and you are now not 25, but 17 years old. You are entering a school or institute. Who pays whom? You pay money to an institute or school, and they teach you there for this money. What will happen to you, how you will learn, is your responsibility. After you graduate from this school or institute, look for a job. Somewhere, maybe someone will take you. You are left to your own devices, you have no guarantees of employment, the knowledge that you received in an educational institution is, in most cases, not applicable in modern restaurants. The most popular faculty is “food technology”. In more than 15 years of working in catering, I have never come across a restaurant that has such a position as a technologist. Draw your own conclusions.

Second important point.

When you come to a restaurant for training, you don’t pay anyone. Not every restaurant hires students from the street. If in one of 10 restaurants there is an adequate chef who will undertake to train you, then this is luck. There are a lot of people in public catering who do not want to develop and do more than their job description requires of them.

You will agree with the boss, who will tell you - man, will you study? We are ready to teach you. We will spend our time, our nerves, strength, products on you, and train you. You don't have to pay for it. If you study well, we’ll hire you, we need people who are interested in this. This already guarantees your further employment if you study effectively.

But if you do everything from scratch and don’t show interest in working in the kitchen, then you will be kicked out in the coming days. And don’t think after this that becoming a chef is impossible without education. Behind Last year I had about a dozen such people who came and said: “I want to become a chef, the dream of my life.” After three days in the kitchen, everything changes, a person no longer has any interest in cooking. Moreover, it turns out that there is no interest in working in principle.

No interest - get the hell out of the kitchen. What are you even doing to us here? That's why I recommend going to the kitchen of a restaurant before deciding to go to culinary school. In a couple of days you will understand for yourself whether it is for you or not, and you will not waste time studying.

When you go to a restaurant, you ask for a guarantee that you will work as a cook. Moderate your show-offs. At the same time, you do not guarantee that the time spent on you will bring results, that you will become a professional in your field, a combat unit of public catering.

And you have to have too much opinion of yourself, worrying that your work will be used and driven away. No one takes advantage of anyone, no one needs left-handed people in the kitchen, because of whom you take risks, waste time, and nerves. Nobody wants that in a restaurant. Restaurants have chefs who want to find people who will be happy and effective at working on their teams. And often these are people who received some kind of education not related to catering, under pressure from parents, society, and so on. Who realized that the profession they were studying did not bring them joy, and they really want to be chefs. Most people who come from culinary schools, when they get into practice, understand that the kitchen is not what they want in life, so I suggest that people who have realized their vocation as a cook, but have worked in other areas, go through this.

I had students do internships at my restaurant, none of them were planning to go into the profession. They came to the restaurant and completed tasks from the chef, they just did it to get credit for the practice. Without showing any interest in the processes taking place in production, from bell to bell, they worked and left. And this is how they spend several years on useless training.

Most of the people who have achieved success in their careers as chefs, whom I have trained, are people from the street who studied to become accountants, programmers, and so on. They wanted to do cooking, came into the kitchen and trained, now they work in restaurants, have fun and earn money. One of these students is now my business partner. He and I together own and manage our own cafes and restaurants.

They will deceive you, they will not deceive you, they will deceive you, they will not deceive you. Think, on the other hand, who should pay whom for training, and who should produce what results. Any boss who takes you on for training will work for results so that you learn. There is no need for an extra person in the kitchen; there are always people who have something to do and who know what to do.

Therefore, do not make brains, as they say. If you really think that the kitchen is your thing, go to a restaurant, ask for training, for free, until you learn there. When I moved to St. Petersburg with my culinary training, I had experience working as a butcher, but I had no experience working in restaurants. It turned out to be a discovery for me that no one needed my culinary diploma as a ship’s cook-baker. I looked for a job for a month, visited three restaurants a day and had interviews, I didn’t even have to get a diploma, everyone needed a person with work experience. And in the end I found an institution where it didn’t matter whether I had experience or not. I was accepted for training and after two weeks of free internship, I trained as a hot shop cook, I studied the menu in grams, learned to cook all the dishes, and my career took off.

If you feel that the kitchen is yours, then please go ahead to the restaurant kitchens.

Learn more about how I looked for a job in St. Petersburg.

In 2004, I came to St. Petersburg to go to college, and I had a diploma from a culinary school. As soon as I entered college, I began to look for a way to earn a living. And according to the stereotypical thinking that I have a professional education, of course, I began to look for a job as a cook. Moreover, at that time I had about a year of experience as a butcher. I looked at job advertisements, called, arranged interviews and went to them, at first confident that my diploma was the ticket to admission. But it turned out that this is not the case at all.

I could visit a maximum of three restaurants a day, because I lived in Kronstadt and the journey took about two hours one way. The procedure is standard - filling out a questionnaire, sometimes an interview and the usual feedback: “We will call you back.” Familiar, because already in the second week I realized that my diploma had no meaning for all types of establishments that I came across: cafes, restaurants, bistros and others.

Everyone needed someone with restaurant experience; no one wanted to deal with an inexperienced chef. My experience in cutting up carcasses was not applicable. By the way, I disassembled the carcass of a small pig in 30 minutes, with cutting into pilaf to boot.

In general, I was dumped everywhere.

And already, when more than a month of fruitless searches had passed, and my confidence in the success of this enterprise was coming to an end, I came for an interview at one of the restaurants of a large international chain. This is an Italian restaurant, it was called Patio Pizza. I walk in, the administrator meets me, seats me at the table and brings me a form!

I couldn't stand it here. Another dumped profile! I became so angry inside myself, I freaked out, I couldn’t see these profiles anymore, they infuriated me so much.

I tell her (the administrator): “If this form is so important, then I will, of course, fill it out, but after you let me into the kitchen and I show that I can be useful in this restaurant, despite the fact that I have no experience working in a restaurant. I’m a very fast learner, I need a job and I’m ready to start now.”

My words, the determination with which I said them, played a key role in this interview. I received the answer: “Tomorrow you go for an internship.” I filled out the form and agreed to come tomorrow.

The next day I went there for an internship.

After two weeks of training and practice in the kitchen, I knew how to cook all the dishes in the hot shop and knew their composition by gram by heart. I was hired and my career took off. I was delighted with this job and this restaurant. It turns out that this network has long practiced hiring people without experience; they have their own training program, which suited me perfectly. After three months of working in this restaurant, I received an offer to become a sous chef there.

By the way, someone might say that I should have gone to work as a butcher, but no, I physically could not work in production due to back problems. I had a draft blow through my back when I was working in a meat shop in the Krasnodar Territory and could not stand for more than two hours cutting up carcasses and making semi-finished products.

What conclusions can be drawn from this story?

A diploma doesn't solve anything.

Persistence pays off.

I could have ended up in this restaurant from the first day of my search.

There are several guys who a few months ago asked me to become a chef, interned for a day in my kitchen, and I sent them further into this network. And they are now successfully working there. So, if after this story you don’t understand what to do, you, a person who wants to change his life and become a chef, then the kitchen is not yours, you don’t need to go there.

And for those who have already mastered this technique, left their hated job, which did not bring you satisfaction in life, and have now embarked on the path of a chef with the goal of becoming a chef or owner of their own restaurant, I wish you guys success. You are handsome.

I would like to especially mention one young man, his name is George. He came to me as a student, a very good, sensible guy. Came from the Krasnodar region to St. Petersburg. He spent a day in the kitchen of my cafe, another day he went to an outdoor buffet, then he went to a well-known chain that I recommended to him, and now he is successfully working and developing there.

These guys are so handsome. Respect to everyone, good luck. I wish you good luck, develop, achieve your goal, open your own restaurants.

When you already work as a cook. How to deal with the headache! Four principles of success

I will tell you what you need to do, what principles to follow in order to calmly and easily cope with a large volume of orders.

The first principle is to know the menu exactly in grams and Full description technological process preparations. Yes, this is cramming, and you can’t do without it. Take technical maps, layouts and learn. Some chefs say they don't have time because they're always at work. It is impossible to work effectively without an exact knowledge of the ingredients in the dishes, at least economically, and even more so if you are faced with a situation in which you do not know how many tomatoes go into the salad.

The second principle is that you must know exactly where and what products you have stored. In refrigerators, on shelves, everywhere in the kitchen where they are. To do this, it’s enough to come every morning and check the availability and quality, check everything you have. Or what you don’t have and place an order or preparations after writing a list of necessary products and semi-finished products.

The third principle is that you need to properly organize your workplace. That is, if you use greens for decoration, then it should be as close as possible to the distribution, where you work, so that you do not have to run to another workshop for a sprig of parsley to decorate some dish.

And the fourth principle, I think, is very important and one of the most key, but not effective without the others - this is the principle of effective logistics.

You should try to do several things at the same time and make the most of every second of your free time in the kitchen. That is, when you serve three dishes in one course and you have a split second between chopping the onion and draining the pasta through a colander, and use that split second to chop garlic, for example. We must learn to make the most of every second.

Or, if you go, for example, to the refrigerator for beef sauce and you know that you also have pasta, chicken or salad in your order, and you can also take something else with it, then be sure to take it. Let it lie on the table for a while, a couple of minutes, no big deal. The main thing is not to waste time and energy running around for one ingredient or another. There is no need to waste a lot of time on empty actions, on walking from one place to another, all these transitions affect the speed of delivery of dishes. And by the evening your legs will fall off and you will be mentally exhausted because you have done more useless body movements.

A properly organized workplace, as much as possible efficient use time between cooking processes. For example: the pasta is boiled and the frying pan is heating up, at this moment you can chop something else, go somewhere else, take the necessary ingredient, or help your colleague. Make the most of it. Never go empty-handed. If you went to the refrigerator and took the sauce, then take something else for decoration, if necessary. There's always something needed.

But in order to know what you need to take somewhere, you need to follow the first two principles. That is, precise knowledge of the menu, knowing exactly where everything is. And in order to have less running and racking up kilometers in the kitchen per day, you need to properly organize your workplace, as compact as possible. All you have to do is reach out and take what you need.

By following these four principles, any problem will be a game for you, not a torment. You will be able to give away 12 different dishes at the same time, and maybe more.