Ms. Machamer, 37, believes that the demanding conditions at many independent restaurants could be contributing to the labor shortage in the industry by discouraging workers from staying. (Statistics on restaurant pay are hard to come by, but wages for cooks appear to be fairly uniform, on average. TDN2K, a restaurant analytics firm, said the average hourly wage for line cooks at full-service chain restaurants was $13.75 in the third quarter of 2019. The average hourly wage at both chains and independent restaurants was $13.26 in May 2018, according to the federal Department of Labor.)

After working for chains, some of these chefs continued their education at culinary school, while others went straight to higher-end restaurants.

Ms. Damon, who did not attend culinary school, said a chain experience can be just as valuable as schooling, especially considering the high cost of education.

“You have people teaching you how to sauté and store foods, and it is strict because there is a whole nationwide system,” Ms. Damon said. “And a lot of the curriculum in culinary school is not reflective of what is going on in the everyday world.”

Ms. Machamer is still paying off her loans for culinary school. “And when you graduate and work for that Michelin-star chef, you aren’t going to make enough to be able to pay your loans.”

There may always be a divide between those who work at chains and those who go to culinary school. A spokeswoman for the International Culinary Center in New York reported that every one of its professional culinary arts graduates placed in restaurants in 2018 went to independent restaurants, not chains. A spokesman for the Culinary Institute of America said that of the graduates across its three United States campuses in 2018, 97 percent of the 400 who reported working at restaurants ended up at independent businesses.

But Ms. Derry believes that the more casual, business-minded approach of chains is the future of dining. A number of chefs with high-end restaurants, like José Andrés and Rick Bayless, have started their own chain operations.