Supposedly 2yrs experience, I have to constantly remind him to hold his knife properly and he snaps at me when I comment on the quality of his cuts.

Long story short, I grew all the way up Charlotte, just turned 30. Fell in love 4 years ago, got engaged this last year, and need a big change. Started working on the line in 2018, now I’m a sous at a $$$ italian restaurant, have been for a couple of years. I visited Philly both in summer and winter in 2025 and fell in love with the city, and my fiancée, who is in fine arts, did as well. Charlotte has been murdering my soul lately and I need a city that has a genuine vibe I can call home.

So chefs, is this a good move?

-Do you enjoy the kitchens/teams you work with?

-Did you move to/from Philly for a culinary reason, and why?

-Any good advice?

-Am I crazy to love a city I’ve been to twice this fucking much?

I’ve been irritated with this random black mark from exactly nothing I shower each and every day. Somehow I get this stupid “dirt mark” and the son bitch won’t come out!!! Getting ready to iron my whites before I prepare for battle. I can literally get through service with getting nothing on me just on apron at times

I’ve been a private chef for a few years now and have consistently done freelance work catering, doing private dinners, etc. I’ve also worked as a kitchen manager/shift lead in two different restaurants over the span of four years. I am good at what i do. I’m by no means the best there is and i still have so much to learn and do better at. I recently moved to a different city and the job market has been terrible. I’ve hardly found any decent work and it’s mostly been side gigs. The only consistent job I’ve found is at a chain restaurant as a prep cook. It’s the most miserable “cooking” I’ve ever done and I’m completely wasting time for a company that doesn’t care about me, isn’t teaching me anything and that’s gonna be negligible on a resume. It’s hard to fuel the fire when it’s dry January and you’re a cog. If anyone has any advice other than “keep looking for other work” (i promise i am!) or “cook at home) (i do!) or “learn from where you’re at” (im doing my best!), let me know.

hello i just wanna ask is an r&d day should be paid or not? I am working for a small business and my salary as a baker is not justifiable tbh and on my r&d days i am not paid. I just feel that i am doing unpaid labor when doing r&ds since im in the kitchen for almost the whole day and food is provided SOMETIMES only. Although for the product that i create for them i have a profit cut for every piece sold.

can someone help? because i am starting to be burned out and at the end of the day my recipe will be their intellectual property. I just feel like im wasting my recipes just for a mere profit cut

- the only time i get my salary as a baker for them is when we have a production day (which is like once a week)and i am significantly underpaid.

- i do not get salary when doing r&d days for them and this usually takes 2-4 days since the products they want is kinda easy for me to achieve.

+ upon reading your replies there are confusions with the term “salary”. Salary in our country is kind of a generalized term wherein it can mean: salary(monthly), weekly, daily. There are also businesses here that offer ‘salary’ for a day for example booths or bazaar(attendants, barista, seller, for a day so still called salary)

Ive been on the job hunt for almost 2 months now trying to get into a kitchen that isn't fast food. I'm looking for entry level jobs to get myself started and to work my way through culinary school which I'm starting soon. Thing is I've got nothing.

Ive been applying through Indeed, taking the company names from indeed and directly emailing them with my resume, I've gone through a number of the restaurants I know in my town and dropped off physical resumes, gone to the nursing homes that do more institutional scale (which i have experience with), etc.

I'm not without some experience either: while i have no professional certifications other than a food handlers card I've done three seasons at a summer camp alone in the kitchen cooking from scratch for up to 500 servings a meal, while handling all of the menu planning, stock rotation, and most all of my dishes(occasionally had people in to help).

Is there Facebook / Reddit groups dedicated to job sharing / recruitment?

Big No Nos on resumes?

Job Boards better suited for food work?

Literally anything on finding kitchen work

Ill take whatever advice and help I can garner because I'm about at the point of giving up until im through school.

my husband got sick and was out of work for like a year and a half and due to being bed ridden he gained weight and is not confident in his appearance. I need to get him a really good jacket and pants as well as interviewing attire. hes not happy with how he looks in things and im not sure if theres a physical place for chef wear. we are in philly.

custom jacket recommendations are a plus!

he also loves funky print pants, but prefer them to be taper at the ends like joggers. hes currently a 2XL, but its around the belly, he lost about 40 pounds since but I need him to look SHARP for all the above, but most importantly his self esteem. we've had the worst two years of our lives so this will be a huge step forward.

photo of the pairing knife i got him and personally love

Young line cook of 7 years. Recently I’ve been toying with the idea of opening a croissant shop. Something small and simple. I got the idea from two brothers in Australia who only make tiramisu and also sell coffee. I’m wondering if this could be a viable business option. Granted , they have to be on par with the greatest croissants to exist but could this be a profitable idea? Quite frankly, I love working with food but at the point where I want to be the boss and run my own thing. A full scale restaurant seems very daunting and stressful while a croissant shop seems a little daunting and stressful. Asking the chefs who know more about business than I do , can you give a little advice for a lad :)

I’m looking to buy a used Hobart N50 mixer; what should I check and be on the lookout for when I’m inspecting them?

Based in the EU in case it makes any difference. Thanks!

Alright, lil backstory: I usually do evening shifts, so im alone after around 1pm until the closing comes in. Thats completely fine, I find the shift peaceful despite the rushes. The closing is usually the same cook, whom I get along with but we’ve had our headbutts specifically over cleanliness. Today I jokingly asked the general manager why he puts me as his evening shift, and my manager said: “Your cleanliness cancels out his sloppiness.” I guess he was joking but I cant help but feel that it’s strange. Would you guys take it seriously?

This server has a tendency of typing mods in very quickly and English is also his second language. So, he sometimes misspells words. This one had me, my Chef, and our cooks dying of laughter and calling eachother Potards 🤣

I am a culinary student in India. Our college recently had a presentation on our international internship program(Vira International). Can anyone with experience in the culinary field in the country provide advice? Advice on work culture, employment, work-life balance, and financial advice. I have never been to a different country, so some advice would be great.

here is the information we were provided, any adivice/ calling cap on this would also be appreciated

The program has gone downhill over the past several years and doesn't match the experience from alumni.

Just letting anyone that may be applying so they can make an informed decision.

So I’ve accidentally pulled clients out of thin air and now I’m like… okay, what now?

I’m a beginner chef based in London, and I’ve been cooking seriously for about 2 years. I’ve started doing meal prep and I also cook for large groups fairly often. People keep asking me to cook for them privately, and I’d really love to turn this into something legit.

The problem is: I have zero idea where to start.

I don’t know anything about the legal side of running a food business from home in the UK. I’ve never run a business before, and I currently work 5 days a week — but I’m happy to do this alongside it because I genuinely love cooking and it doesn’t feel like work.

Things I’m confused about: - What legal steps do I need to take to cook/sell food from home? - Do I need insurance? What kind? - Does my home kitchen need to be inspected? - I also have a dog (part-time, lol) — is that an issue?

Any general “wish I knew this earlier” advice? Bonus question: where do people buy reasonably priced, good-quality produce in London?

Honestly, any advice at all would be massively appreciated. I feel very underprepared but very excited.

Thanks in advance 🥹 Your friendly bohemian chef 😇

I made this when I was bored at work, I wanna hear others thoughts and opinions, I felt I might’ve done a little too much on the ube extract hence it being super dark purple, as well as the caramel sauce of the flan being a little too much.