Is it strange to want to be a cook but not a chef?

I have been working as a short order cook now for about a year , and I really enjoy what i'm doing . I would like to get into a larger resturant where I can learn more about the buisness . The thing is that as much as I enjoy cooking professionally , I really dont think that I would enjoy it as much if I was an actual chef . Now I know it takes a long time to work your way up to the top position just like in any field , and somewhere down the line I may change my mind . I just really love the cooking end of things and dont want to have to worry about keeping track of inventory and food cost , and labor costs , and all the other things that go along with being in charge . I have been cooking as long as I can remember and have always loved the hands on experience , and the feeling of pride when others take pleasure in the things I make . I want to learn more and continue on in this field , but I just want to cook . Is it strange or wierd to feel this way ?

thanks for the responses yall . i really do enjoy working in the kitchen , it gives me a feeling of acomplishment . i've learned a lot doing the short order thing , and it has done wonders for my speed working the dinner shift by myself 4 nights a week . the other 1 night and the one day shift i do a week i work directly with my boss , so i have been able to learn alot about technic(sp). what i'd like to do now is move into a larger scale operation . something like a with a full staff where i can learn the different stations on the line . where i work we dont really have a line so much as just a one man show in the kitchen most weeknights . saturday nights we do prime rib so it me and the head cook(my boss doesnt like to be called a chef) and thats as close to a line as it gets . he does all the main dishes , and i cover sides and fryers . i have no real idea what its like in a kitchen where there are 6 or 7 cooks working all at once . i would like to get into something more like that . it seems thats where the real lessons would start .

the problem i'm running into is i dont see that there is that much more to learn at the place i'm at . i want to move on to better (doesnt nesisarily have to be bigger) opertunities . i can continue to work on my technic(sp) where i'm at , but i've pretty much got the full scope of our kitchen operations down pat . i want to learn some of the finer points in cooking that we dont really go into where i'm at .

there isnt a lot of room for creativity where i'm at . the crowd we get here tend to be very set in their ways , and new or different is not a good thing to them . because of this we are pretty much stuck with the tried and true as far as menu items and daily specials go . every time we try to introduce something new to our clientel(sp) we generally have to change the name of it to something that sounds less threatening . as a rule , if it has more than three sylables in any words in the name , they wont eat it .

i'm not real worried about the money side of things . what i want is to be able to learn . i've been cooking for my whole life(40 years) at home and at various parties and such . i already know that i could never get tired of it , i just have a very strong appetite for knowledge . where i'm at things are very basic , and i need more information to digest . i have been creating my own recipe's at home for many years already , and some of them are even good to eat . i get bored if there isnt some variaty and a few challenges for me to overcome . it would also be nice to work someplace where the cook is not also the dishwasher , janitor , and handyman .

i know i want to do more than i am now , i guess i just havent convinced myself yet that i've honed my skills well enough to move into something like fine dining . up until a year ago i had never even considered becoming a cook . cooking had always been a hobby until i sort of fell into this job . i went in to see if my cousin needed any bartenders as that is something i have done at a few places in the past . they had no spots open for a bartender , but were in desperate need of a cook . i told them i had no exp. as a cook , but my cousin has eaten a good bit of my cooking in the past and insisted i would do fine . so now i'm a cook . i find that it is one of the most satisfying types of work i have come across . the problem is , i have no idea what to expect in a fine dining establishment . i dont know if the time i have spent cooking in my cousins small bar has prepared me to go into someplace else .

thanks everyone for your input . i guess its time to dust off the ole resume and see what happens .

well , it looks like i can put the ole resume back in its file again . last monday(couple days before we got hit with isabel) my boss called me into his office after i had closed and cleaned up the kitchen . i figured i had done something wrong and had a butt chewing coming . instead , to my great surprise and delight , i was promoted and given a nice raise . now granted there are only 4 of us doing the cooking here , but i am now the assistent head cook(my boss still dont like to be called a chef) . my boss said that i had surpassed all his expectations , and that i have a natural food sense . he also said that i am as fast and efficent on the line as he is . i was completely taken by surprise and still find it hard to believe . the other 2 cooks here have been here a good bit longer than myself (one of them over 10 years) and there has never been an assistant head cook here before . i was also told that due to the continuing growth of our food sales over the last couple years , we are going to be expanding the kitchen and the staff . we may even hire actual dishwashers . the boss is expecting to hire 2 or 3 more people (part time to start out) to work as cooks , and i am expected to help in their training . i am also expected to learn how to keep track of food costs and ordering of stock , and various other aspects of the job that i had just recently on this board questioned whether i wanted to get into . the boss wants me to be involved in menu and daily special planning too . i guess i will find out for sure if this is what i want to do or not . though i still have doubts as to my ability i am looking forward to being able to learn more about this buisness .