The End

My Final Entry When I started this journal almost two years ago, I was a frustrated cubical worker wondering where my life was going. Well, now I have an idea. I ended up taking the line cook position with the corporate fine-dining seafood h

My Final Entry When I started this journal almost two years ago, I was a frustrated cubical worker wondering where my life was going. Well, now I have an idea. I ended up taking the line cook position with the corporate fine-dining seafood house. After trailing at the Belltown district restaurant, the Chef said he would like to have me join the crew but it would take him a week or so to figure out how many hours he could offer. He was pretty sure it would be 30 a week tops in the beginning. My response to the seafood house offer was expected the following morning, and since I needed a paycheck, I accepted with them. That decision turned out to be the better decision because I felt my fit with this chef was better. Another reason I felt this was a better fit was something that I turned my nose up to in the beginning. I wasn’t too hip on working in a corporate restaurant, but because it is a corporate restaurant, the recipes and line are very structured. This has made learning a little easier and a good place for me to start building up knowledge. It is kind of a “minor league” until I build up confidence. And there is that little thing called a one-week paid vacation every year. If I didn’t conclude my final entry with some personal reflection on my experience in the restaurant world to date, I wouldn’t end this run in full. In the first journal I posted, the “Intro” journal, I wrote that anyone considering culinary school should get a cook job first. I want to refine that statement just a little. Anyone considering culinary school should get a real, fulltime cook job first. And I REALLY stress this to anyone changing careers, especially if their desired career path is on the restaurant route. Before I went to school, I had a few part time jobs, but part time jobs show you a tiny fraction of what to expect as a full time employee. As a part time employee I was putting in 28 hours a week, usually over 4 days. As a full time employee I am working 42 hours a week over 4 days. Which in total isn’t too bad at all, except two of my days are back-to-back 13-hour shifts. Those 26 hours (with about a 1 hour total break) are really hard on one’s feet and back and now I understand why other people ask me “You chose to move into this business?!?!” Of course this isn’t anything new. You can scan the ChefTalk boards and see the topics on coping with long hours, feet pain, etc., but it is different when it is your feet that hurt. If you work for someone else in a restaurant, be prepared to work 5-7 years minimum of hard labor (sounds like a prison sentence) until you see decent money. For a 22 year old out of culinary school, that isn’t an issue. For a 32-year old, it is. I know that I cannot physically do this work night after night until I’m 40ish to finally make decent money. I am in the process of developing my own career so that I can live more comfortable, sooner. How long will I be in the restaurant business? Probably not long, a year or two. How long will I be in the food business? For a long time. I want to thank Nicko for allowing me to post for the past couple years and the readers who kept checking in on my progress. I had a blast writing it and hopefully Nicko and I can work out a quarterly update on how things are turning out. The food business is a business of connections so I hope to keep in touch through the ChefTalk boards. If anyone has any school questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a ChefTalk IM. Thanks for reading and good luck!! -Logan

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