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Trial by fryer
Some cooks think that because they throw a mean dinner party, they can run a restaurant. Until I tried to manage an overworked kitchen, an angry staff and an untested menu, I was one of them.
By Gabrielle Hamilton [2006-11-14]

  • Neimon's right

    The chef profession is a calling.

    I wanted to be a chef because I love to cook. I worked my way up to the point that I was subbing on the line and I was miserable. I worked with chefs, noted their obsession with food and realized that I didn't have the calling. Now I work in a completely non-food related industry and I'm as happy as can be. I still love to cook and am told that I cook very well, but making a nice dinner for your friends is not at all the same as developing a menu and cranking out dozens of perfect dishes a night.

    If you aren't a chef (or have never worked in a professional kitchen) you will never understand why anyone would do it. If you are a chef, you know that you have no choice.

    -- kitster
    [Read kitster's other letters]
    Tuesday, November 14, 2006 09:21 AM
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