Working as a Restaurant Chef with The Chef Tree
Mastering the culinary arts is a skill that could take you wherever you want to go. Top-quality chefs are in high demand around the world. It’s the perfect career for those who demand perfection of themselves and those who take pleasure in providing the highest quality service and culinary creativity to their clients. Have a look at some of these benefits of being a chef in a busy kitchen.
1. Career Options Aplenty
Chefs have the opportunity to hone their skills in restaurants and resorts, country clubs and private homes. Those who enjoy travel can pack their bags and find work on cruise lines, convention centres, casinos and many other exciting destinations.
2. Creative License
Chefs are in charge when it comes to determining what goes on the menu and how it is prepared for guests. This creates plenty of opportunities to get creative and try recipe and menu combinations that will set the venue apart from the competition.
3. Every Day is a New Experience
While there are routines in every kitchen, each day creates plenty of possibilities for breaking the mold and trying something new. Whether it’s a special event or a special’s menu, chefs have the ability to shape the day to their liking.
4. Bonuses, Free Food, Free Drinks
Chefs are often given bonuses based on the performance of the restaurant. As the reputation of the venue grows, these bonuses can become significant. Many venues also offer chefs free food and drinks as part of the compensation package.
5. The Student Becomes the Teacher…and the Teacher Becomes the Student
Chefs are responsible for training those in the kitchen to properly prepare the meals in accordance with the chef’s wishes. From knife control to quality control, chefs have an opportunity to teach others every day. At the same time, chefs have an opportunity to learn from the line cooks, sous chefs, and others in the kitchen who each bring their own unique skills and techniques into the kitchen.
6. Instant (or near instant) Gratification
Whether it is a special event or a special recipe, chefs know right away whether their efforts in the kitchen bore positive fruit. The smile on a customer’s face, the messages relayed into the kitchen by wait staff whose pockets are full of tips, and positive reviews online let the chef know that they’re on the right track.
7. Opportunity to Open Your Own Shop
Many chefs hone their skills in someone else’s kitchen for years, even decades before hanging their own shingle. This experience and time in the kitchen teaches everything from inventory management to reliable HR practices. As your skills grow and you learn all of the aspects of operating a restaurant, catering operation, private chef service, etc., you can use these skills to open your own operations and achieve personal success.
8. Becoming Part of a Family
The kitchen is a close-knit family, and chefs spend hours working with one another and socializing with their colleagues after the shift ends and the last customer has gone home for the night. This creates a close relationship that can lead to strong teams and a positive work environment.
9. It is a Title of Respect
Chefs are held in high regard for their knowledge and ability to perform miracles in the kitchen. Chefs command respect and often find themselves being asked advice on this recipe, that technique, and anything related to the culinary arts. Sharing this knowledge is a great way to make new friends, impress your neighbours, and create opportunities for socializing away from the office. A lifetime title never goes away and doesn’t require renewal of a license to maintain.
10. Chefs Earn a Solid Income
As of 2022, the median salary for chefs in the UK was £47,000 per year. This typically increases based on the chef’s education and experience.
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What skills do you need to work in a restaurant kitchen?
No doubt, you need to be able to cook, but being a chef is more than putting food on a plate. You also need to develop and master some key skills. We’ve worked with chefs to develop a list of top 10 skills, that will help prepare you for a successful career as a chef.
1. Willingness to Learn
Becoming a chef can be a hands-on learning experience, and as they say, practice does make perfect. You must master the flavours and techniques of different dishes which can take time and a lot of energy. In order to become a great chef, you will need to be open to constant learning.
2. Genuine Passion
The life of a chef is demanding as the busiest working days are often those when other people are out celebrating – Christmas, Valentine’s Day or Mothering Sunday to name a few. Therefore you must have a real desire to be the person who makes other people’s dining experiences special. Protecting and encouraging your passion for all things culinary will keep your artistic flair alive, and help you enjoy your work.
3. Organisation
We know that kitchens can be a very busy environment to work it, and so it is essential that you have the ability to always work clean and tidy.
Take the time to tidy up as you go so that you don’t get overwhelmed in your section, wipe your surfaces down and put everything back where it belongs. Stay organised to stay in control. As you progress in your career, having excellent organisational skills will ensure you manage staff effectively and help you to control every aspect of the kitchen, from the flow of work to the plating of dishes.
4. Ability to Skilfully Multitask
There can be many elements of food on one plate to make up a complete dish. Now think, that plate belongs on a table with three other mains, plus sides. If that table had starters as well, that’s possibly four other previous dishes that need factoring in to how and when this one dish comes together. Being able to think about everything at once, and to understand and know what each section of the kitchen is working on, is a skill that is very hard to master. A Head Chef will be able to do this very well, they will also understand and know what the customers are experiencing, and what the front of house team are doing at any point during service.
5. Creativity
Becoming a chef involves more than just following a recipe. A chef will be creative in terms of putting a menu together, how the dish looks on the plate, and how it tastes to the customers. They will also be creative in planning how the kitchen works. Some chefs will even take charge of décor, tableware and seating arrangements in the restaurant. The creative reputation of a chef is often what brings customers through the door, so don’t be afraid to experiment with your creativity!
6. Time Management
Our sixth skill comes from Victor, who has over fifteen years’ experience as a classically trained chef before setting up his own business in commercial kitchen design. Victor highlights the importance of time management; he says this skill has been additionally beneficial to him outside the kitchen.
7. Teamwork
The professional kitchen can be a melting pot of people, with many people from different backgrounds coming together through a shared love of cooking. Being able to both work and get on well with your team is an essential skill for a smooth cheffing career. Being a chef in a kitchen is like being a cog in a machine, every person has a role to play for the success of the service. You and the rest of your team have to work together well in order to deliver this.
8. Leadership Skills
As well as being a team player, experienced chefs should know how to lead the team, and get the best out of them. The Head Chef has the responsibility for the kitchen, and so they have to be able to give direction and have it followed immediately. At the same time, they need to maintain an upbeat atmosphere in the kitchen. They may also need to mentor and coach junior staff members during service, whilst ensuring everything runs smoothly.
9. Resilience
Chefs will frequently receive feedback from other chefs, colleagues and customers on the food they produce, and not all of the feedback will be positive. You need to be able to handle criticism, look at it honestly and decide whether or not it is valid. Chef and business owner Ira remembers when she started her career:
10. Stamina
This skill might surprise you but chefs need to have an excellent level of physical and mental fitness. Working in a kitchen can be very physically demanding – working long shifts on your feet in hot temperatures and without many breaks – is tough. On top of that, the mental energy required to cope with the pressure and be on top of your game, your section and your kitchen, can be huge. An experienced chef will have excellent stamina to remain focused and consistently produce dishes for customers.
You get to go to different venues, you’re not stuck in the same job endlessly, not boring. You don’t have to go back when you don’t like somewhere and there is a variety of jobs.
Working for The Chef Tree is completely different from being a full-time chef. You choose the hours you want to do, fill in your portal, and everything is arranged around that.
What does The Chef Tree Pay for a restaurant kitchen Chef?
Our rates are dependent on your experience but a CDP can expect to earn £14 p.h, a sous chef, £16 p.h, a Head chef, £18 p.h and a Executive chef or weekend care home chef, £20 p.h.
What are the benefits of working for TCT?
When you join The Chef Tree you will be entitled to the following amazing benefits;
Competitive rates of pay. Our current rate for a cook is £16ph.
Our Monthly Bonus Scheme - Complete 166 hours per month (just under 38.5 hours per week) and you will receive £100 bonus. This will be paid monthly.
Our Refer a Chef scheme – If you refer a chef to us you will receive £150 when the chef completes 5 shifts. The chef you refer will receive £75 on completion of 5 shifts.
Access to our online benefit partners, Pirkx - a benefit scheme for courses, health, wellbeing, shopping and more! For more information visit www.pirkx.com
Where can you work as a Restaurant Chef?
What our Chefs say!
I like working for The Chef Tree because of the freedom and the flexibility
You get to go to different venues, you’re not stuck in the same job endlessly, not boring. You don’t have to go back when you don’t like somewhere and there is a variety of jobs.
Working for The Chef Tree is completely different from being a full-time chef
You choose the hours you want to do, fill in your portal, and everything is
arranged around that
Dont just take our word for it
Dont just take our word for it, This is what our chefs say about working for the chef tree
Call us: 071 8604 611