Making the Chef

You have to be a slut to get ahead ...

One of the dirty little secrets of the restaurant industry is that you have to get around to get ahead. Not sleep around (although those escapades are well documented ... I think of the tales of the floured asses in Kitchen Confidential or the sex in the bathroom incident ar Rocco's in NBC's The Restaurant), but whore yourself out, work wise.

You do that in one of two ways: the trail and the stage. A stage is basically French for "apprenticeship" or "training." It involves volunteering your time at a restaurant for a significant duration. In lieu of pay you are expected to be happy, to bask in the magnificence of the chef working there. This happens only at the most prestegious institutions in a town. At the French Laundry in Yountville, CA, your stage will pretty much consist of making brunoise out of tomatoes and every so often having Chef Thomas Keller come over, look at what you are doing, and say, "You are not a chef," and walk away (at least that's what I've heard). Some better restaurants would shut down if they didn't have their little serfs in the back of the house (at least the Mexicans get paid).

A trail, on the other hand, is less involved. You go for a day or to into a kitchen and you basically follow one of the cooks through their station on a given evening, helping out when you can. It's a great way to get into a kitchen that you want to check out, network, and learn new techniques. But again, you're in a kitchen, selling yourself for nothing.

I have met some chefs that don't believe in this tradition, but they are in the minority. After all, the modern restaurant has its roots in France and has a history of free labor apprenticeships. So you just keep on whoring until one day you find yourself in the position of being the pimp instead of the whore.

posted by LindyChef @ 11:16 PM