Life after the line
So my father sent this to me the other day:
Oddly enough, one of my focuses in university was creative writing ...
But for me it does bring up the question ... what are my choices for life after the line? This question is only brought further into focus after a chef I work with talked with me about how working in a kitchen is like playing game of chess. You're never thinking about what you're doing now ... you're thinking three, four steps ahead.
For me, I still don't know what that goal is five years down the road. Normally, for someone like me that would be sous-chef in a fabulous kitchen ... and that is a viable goal. Another five years after that, you're looking at being the executive chef (whose job consists more of paperwork rather than cooking). Honestly, I know that I don't want to be on the line forever, and I love learning new things, diving into them and totally immersing myself in them, so I know that being an exec might not be the best choice for me.
So what does that leave?
- Food Critic (I love to break things down)
- Getting a job at FoodTV (not as a host, but somewhere in it)
- Becoming a food writer (love of writing)
- Working at a restaurant launch/consulting firm (a nice way to use my detail oriented side)
- Food scientist (given my geeky leanings, this has some promise)
- Restaurant manager
And that's all I can think of. I confess to having a certain lack of imagination when it comes to this and I'm interested in what other people would say.
10 Comments:
It seems like almost everyone I know, whether it be in the culinary field or not, are going throught the same things. Me included, that frustrating thought process when you are trying to figure out what you will be doing in five years.
Anyway, how you liking Seattle? I was up there last summer for a week, and absolutely loved it. Will be up there for that thing in May.
At least I love the town :) So you're coming up for CJ? Have you arranged housing yet?
you forgot one important one...
personal/private chef
a great private sector choice, one in which my soon to be husband (as of this saturday) and i are both currently employed!
One thing you don't know at the moment is what working on the line will do for your natural skill set. You already know about your detail oriented side, your abilities to analyze. But it's possible that your multi-tasking and crisis management will be enhanced in these coming years, making you an effective executive chef. I wouldn't close it out, knowing your love of creating a vision and how to see it through. It could be just the perfect place for you...in the future.
I think you have misspelled "cabana boy"
yeah, I'm staying with Andrew...he lives in Capitol Hill also...
Stacy - I think that goes along hand in hand with Rik's suggestion of cabana boy :)
Heidi - Multi-tasking is something that is going to be an on-going struggle with me ... first step in helping with this - getting a watch.
I am going through the same thing, though I am a journalist. I want to work food in there somehow. I am considering either going to cooking school or getting a master's in food science...I know I don't want to cook (uncoordinated, slow moving and have a bad back).
But what I do want to do is beyond me right now. Good luck!
Sue, let me reassure you about one thing - this is a skill that can be taught. There's not a whole lot about it that's really innate ... it's simply all about years and years of practiced habits ... basically, you could take anyone off the street and get them to cook ... it's a matter of making sure that they want to do it. You want to be involved some way ... the rest will come :D
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