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TIPS for young SOUS

post #1 of 10
7/27/07 at 5:09am
Thread Starter 
I am 22 years old and currently chef de cuisine of a very nice boutique hotel in maryland but am leaving to go to nyc this weekend to become a sous at a much nicer restaurant. i have always gotten flack about my age and want to make sure this doesnt happen right away upon arriving. any tips?
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post #2 of 10
7/27/07 at 3:51pm
Be a strict player and don't let the age become an issue. I'm sort of going through the same thing where I work, but after a while of them realizing that you aren't going to change and that you actually do know what you're talking about...the older people start to listen.
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post #3 of 10
7/27/07 at 4:14pm
Chef B- Stay professional!! After you get to know people, you can relax. I work with many younger folks- ages 19- 23, and when we are in the kitchen, I don't even notice or think about their ages. We are all professional and working together- team effort. It's not until we are just BS ing that their ages become apparent....LOL Just work hard and you will gain their respect!
Bon Vive' !
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post #4 of 10
7/30/07 at 2:42am
If you don't mind me asking, what path did you take to get to being a sous chef so early in your life? Did you start working in restaurants early in your job experience? Or did you do something else? I'm curious to see what options there are beside just toughing it out for what might seem forever.
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post #5 of 10
7/30/07 at 8:00am
hello mate, dont worry about people thinking your too young for the job, that will become self evident later on! they should be consentrating on what they are doing.
let your skills, maturity and control do the talking, if you are good you will progress faster than the lazy haters!

keep it up mate.
squads
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post #6 of 10
7/30/07 at 8:49am
don't worry about it bro i've been cooking for 6 years i'm a saucier now and i'm only 20, the harder u work it will pay off and other chefs will respect u for how far u have come, show them what u can do man

keep it up bro
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post #7 of 10
7/30/07 at 12:28pm
Be prepared! The jump from Chef de Cuisine to Sous is enormous. Have you worked through all the chef positions in the kitchen? ie: saucier, poissonier, garde manger, etc.? There are considerable headaches involved in orchestrating an entire kitchen as opposed to one station. How many years do you have in the kitchen? Have you run a kitchen before? I do not judge a person by their age, rather their experience. Good luck with the move.
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post #8 of 10
7/30/07 at 1:46pm
Remember that the two most important words in the English language are "Oui, chef." :lol:


No, seriously, nothing much to add to the other good advice. Just want to wish you luck, and hope your new job works out well. Really good NY restaurants have high standards; they have people begging for jobs, and wouldn't have hired you if they didn't think you could do it.
"Notorious stickler" -- The New York Times, January 4, 2004
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post #9 of 10
8/4/07 at 6:13am
I am a young Sous as well. I am 25 but was 23 when I got the position. It is hard and very demanding. I worked my way up and have never looked back. Granite I am not in NYC but the restaurant I work at is the nicest in the area. Gook luck to you and stay positive.
Later
Bigsimp
One last thing to remember, When making desisions a bad desision is better than no desistion at all!!!!!!!!!
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post #10 of 10
8/16/07 at 6:38pm
I started my first Sous job at a 3 star place at 21 with EVERYONE even the line cooks not giving the title or me any respect even though I gave everyone all the respect they wanted. So I said screw it did my job and did it well. Showed the cooks how to COOK the Chefs way and turned them into true SYSTEM-D bastards who can destroy anyone. I guess what I'm trying to say is you didn't get the job because you won a raffle you got the job because you have talent. Teach everyone everything. Show them what you know. Dont get fustrated. I'm only 23 now and I'm having articles written in many of the papers and the magizines around here about me, not the Chef. BUST YOUR ***
"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a dam*. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demiglace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living."
- Anthony Bourdain
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