no kitchen/restaurant experience

[pumpkingrl]

so after reading the msn article with bourdain and the other guy (i'm blanking on his name right now), i'm thinking getting some experience would be a good test to help me determine if i want to go to culinary school.

so if you have no experience in a kitchen/restaurant environment and still need to keep your day job to pay the bills, where do you go from here????

[ZEN!!!]

Hey Pumpkinrl,

I'm actually in this situation right now. I have worked in finance for about four years and decided that it was eating me up. I have always loved cooking and have been told by my friends that I should open up a restaurant before I die (I'm only 27, so I've got some time).

So, just before x-mas, I decided that I needed to figure out if the restaurant business is the right place for me. I decided to seek out an internship/apprenticeship in the evening so that I could stop talking the talk and start walking the walk.

I started by making a list of restaurants in my local area that serve the type of food that I would be most interested in and I did a lot of research on these restaurants. Who were the chefs? How long have the restaurants been around? What kind of food did they serve? What kind of reputation did they have? Did the chef go to culinary school? Do the chefs have any sort fo reputuation?

From there, I did cold e-mailing and cold calling. Eventually, I got to sit down with the chef de cuisine at Chez Henri (here in Cambridge, MA). We sat down and I told him that I was looking for an internship of some sort, so I can get some kitchen experience before deciding on culinary school. He told me that he couldn't really offer me a job, which is when I said the magic words, "I'm not looking for money at this point in time." Which is when he said, "Well, you can come an hang out in the kitchen if you want..." And thus began my two to three day a week internship, which has had me working garde manger most nights, working with the pasrty chef on weekends, and going to benefits and special events with the executive chef occasionally. Aand I've only been doing this for about two to three months. t's the most amazing thing that I have ever done.

So, the only thing that you have to do is figure out who is willing to help you, make sure you're willing to give up chunks of your free time and energy, and be willing to not get paid. Don't be afraid to take nights at different restaurants too. Once you get into one restaurant, it's pretty easy to get into more as long as you prove yourself to a personable person and a hard worker. The cook scene is highly incestuous. People have connections, and networking is easy.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message. I'd be happy to share any of my meager experience in the field thus far.

Cheers

ZEN!!!

[DanBrown]

Get a job as a part time dishwasher, or part time PM prep cook if you can find it (I don't know where you are or what the job market is like there). Pick a restaurant that you'd like to work at, don't just go out and find a job at any old place. If you begin in the industry by working in the type of environment you'd like to be in, you'll have a clearer understanding of what the job entails. Working as a backwaiter or busser might be good exposure as well. Just remember, these are hard jobs that aren't praised frequently, and don't pay that well. Go in with the intention of being the absolute best you can be at the job, be acutely aware of your surroundings, take notes and ask questions if you need clarification. Work hard, and focus on what you're goals are, even if it's just determining your goals.

I have to repeat, it's difficult thankless work in stressful situations, but for me, in the long term, cooking is the most rewarding thing I've found to do that I can get paid for, because I've neither the physique or psyche for work in pornography. I'm including my post on why I love cooking for a deeper explanation.

Originally Posted by DanBrown

I love cooking for so many reasons that's it's sometimes difficult to dissect the whole beast and see it as the sum of it's parts.

1. The processes of making food. Caramelization, emulsion (remember the first time you made mayo? I was giddy), searing, frying, freezing, molding, dicing, mincing, roasting, steaming, grilling, deglazing, proofing, liquifying (always satisfying), tasting, tasting, tasting, and the are plenty more where that came from.

2. Eye of the hurricane. There's a real sense of power that comes from maintaining control in a situation that seems too large to be dealt with, and remaining calm and collected while delegating tasks in the exact order they need to be executed in. Balancing becomes a sort of spiritual ascension as turmoil is replaced by focus.

3. Food. I'm not sure how to convey the love I have for the products I receive and seeing that they're used in a manner that fits something provided for us by the Earth. There is for me, a soulful, quasi-religious connection to food, beyond the fact that it is nourishment and delicious. Just the fact that we eat to live makes me feel that my profession is sacred.

4. Community. There's small group psychology at work here, and by testing your limits with a unique group of individuals, you become as tightly bonded as soldiers in a foxhole. There's intelligence, humor, charisma, and many lesser traits that bind you to your co-workers. There's a feeling of belonging which is difficult to describe and impossible to explain to anyone who hasn't been in a group in that type of stressful situation.

5. Plating. There's no sense of accomplishment that I've felt that compares to finishing a plate exactly the way you want it, all elements balanced, and you get that moment to look at it objectively, getting out of the way and letting the food do the talking.

6. Sensuality. I don't think there's anything you can do that connects you more to another person than preparing their food. It requires an immense measure of trust, and your work becomes a part of another living breathing person.

7. Creative fullfillment. I can have the spark of an idea in the morning, and be making money on it by lunch. I can see all my leftovers and create something which is delicious and profitable. I can create with only my imagination and will as limitations.

8. Learning/teaching. These are the two sides of the same thing, and in cooking the only limitations to what you can learn are self imposed, and being able to easily disseminate that information and experience gives others the spark of passion that I feel for what I do. Even if cooking isn't what they want to do forever, I can help them look inside to find what it is that they must do to make themselves whole.

There's more, I'm sure, but those seem like the key points to me right now.

[pumpkingrl]

thanks for your suggestions!!!! i really appreciate them.