This is how you chef, buy some knives, not too many. A chef knife and paring knife will do for the first 5 years. You may buy a slicer or boning knife after some time but they are not essential, though a good vegetable peeler is, I recommend Swissmar.

Travel light, one large wheeled hockey bag will store a great deal and serve as a bed on occasion. Have a good backpack that totes a laptop for transcribing and spreadsheets. You won't need the spreadsheets until later but I can tell you now, you might as well get started.

Don't be a dick, the circles are small and people don't forget. Do everything that is asked of you like your ass is on fire and don't stop until someone tells you to leave. This is easier than it sounds, you’ll get the hang of it.

Pay attention to everything, the kitchen is a feedback loop, the patterns are the same, prep, execute, wash, repeat. After some time you will get a sense of pace and quality, don't be afraid of unexpected changes, if you fight that you will lose.

If you are going to drink stick to cheap beer, liquor will get you in trouble, a lot. Don’t do cocaine, it's fun as hell but it can get you killed. Most other drugs are fine and are generally accepted, but if you can avoid that too it will speed things along. If you have to smoke, keep it to once before service and once after, anything more will slow your pace.

Stay focused and present at work, a wandering eye or imagination can ruin the food, which will get you fired, or hurt. There is the added benefit of producing really good quality product, which is the goal of this part of your training.

Read everyday.

Stashing rags and salt on your station never hurts, but don’t hog it. Sharpies and green tape for labeling should be in your kit along with whatever notepad you intend to use, use it.

Learn to check incoming products and rotate food properly, doing this well comes into play later, learn to read an invoice. If you sign it, someone will hold you accountable for it.

Don’t complain, it’s just noise, get an outlet and do your job, try not to be angry about it or you’ll piss people off. The job is hard enough, do not make it worse.

Be funny, know when to goof off, and when not to.

Show up early, really early, do whatever it takes to be ready for service and then do it over and over. I am sure at some point the days get shorter.

Be clean, weird clean, the sooner you get weird about cleaning the better, settle in for the idea that you are now a professional cleaner, who also cooks.

Taste everything, it all needs salt, even dessert. Use fresh lemons, and herbs, avoid powders and spice blends until you can make something taste good without them

Do not worry about money, it comes later, if you do it well, there will be lots. Some debt won't kill you, this is your tuition, pay up. It is typical to spend anywhere from eight to twenty thousand over 5 years. Choose your own path, there are many styles and there is time to learn a great deal, don't be so picky, a diverse skill set is valuable.

Don't rush to be the guy in charge, that job is harder than you can imagine. You will need a level of mental resilience you do not yet understand, try to do it too early and you will break, or suck. Let it happen naturally, you will know you are ready when nothing scares you anymore, a new role, better cooks, bigger service, new trends, new bosses, asshole sous chefs. The day you just shrug and tell them to “bring it” start looking to head up a kitchen as a sous. The jump from line cook to sous chef is hard but it’s a chance to build more mental toughness. Do not be a sous chef for longer than four years, make no mistake, it is the worst position you will have.

A good sous will run defense for the chef, make yourself the blast shield and do it well, solve day to day problems fast, if you need to bring it to the chefs attention give him no less than two solutions to choose from, if he sees a third you will know.

Be clear with the staff, do not use loose terms, be direct and train people with a heavy hand, don’t belittle them, it just gives them a reason to do a bad job, show them, if they don’t get it show them again, people deserve a second chance, but only a second.

Stop all fights immediately, if there is fighting there is no teamwork. Cooks will need a place to get it out, give it to them, just don’t let them do it unsupervised, or worse during service.

Be good with the service staff, solve problems for them and do not let the cooks begrudge them, they are there to engage your guests and provide a vital part of the guest experience, if they make a mistake the kitchen suffers for do not treat them badly, they will return the favor.

Learn to call the board with clarity, be clear on pickups and new orders. Be loud, the kitchen is noisy and the cooks can’t hear you. Make the cooks call back, no exceptions.

Spend as much time training your cooks as possible, let them solve problems you do not need to, how they set their station is vital but let them have their own style or they will resent you more than they need to. They will need some freedom to fail but not too much, knowing the right amount comes in time.

If someone asks you where something is, ask them where they looked first. Even if you know the answer.

Adrenal fatigue is real, it happens when you have too many services with a jackhammer heart rate, uncontrollable drowsiness, blurred vision, auditory hallucinations, trembling and sudden mood changes are the symptoms, do not ignore them. They are easily corrected with diet and breathing exercises, this is more important than you know.

Eventually you will lose faith in the chef, it doesn't always happen but there is a good chance that it will be the case. When he starts to let you down, it’s an indicator that you know his job better than he does. You can look for a new job or wait until he leaves but either way you’re ready.

Different people are ready at different times, do not be discouraged if you take an extra year or two, trust me, you cannot rush into it with good results. Some other indicators are when it’s been months since you had a problem you could not fix, or the cooks all turn to you for answers over the chef.

Take your first executive chef role, you will fuck it up, it’s nothing at all like being a line cook or a sous chef. Remember the spreadsheets? I hope you do because they rule your life now, scheduling, invoice tracking and inventory are your new skill sets, master them fast, by now you should be a very proficient learner.

Treat your sous chefs well, they are about to undertake an ungodly amount of work on your behalf, buy them beer and squeeze in extra days off for them when you can. They are your arms and legs, without them you are useless.

Do not cook on a station, at least not if you do not have to. Call the board, work the pass, maybe work proteins, something where you control the pace and can oversee service, you need to see the food go out, there is something wrong with every plate, it is up to you to find it.

Talk to the service manager at least once an hour, and of course all through service, you cannot know enough about the guests and their needs, learn their names and their favorite dishes, make a point to meet regulars, they are the lifeblood of your business.

Keep a good relationship with owners, they all believe they know what is best for business, they do not, neither do you so you better work well together to figure it out.

Know the cooks, take an interest in their lives, know the names of their girlfriends and boyfriends, know what school their kids go to, where they grew up and what they like about cooking, you cannot pay them much and that relationship breeds loyalty.

Hold your suppliers accountable, delivery times and product quality are paramount to your success, let them know you are watching both.

Get good at hiring, after you hire and train one or two shit-bags you will learn the value of a quality person. Hire for attitude, look for positive energy, a blank resume means nothing, neither does a full one. Pay extra attention to anyone who grew up playing sports, they are streamlined for teamwork. When you interview, ask if they want to be a chef and avoid people just looking for a job, they lack direction, you are hiring chefs make that clear.

Get good at firing, don’t wait too long, fire people who are consistently late, toxic to teamwork or lack significant improvement. Do it privately and do not shame them, tell them they are being fired, don't say “let go” or “no longer needed” it leaves room for argument, stand up for your decision and have a sous chef discreetly walk them out, if you do it yourself they might try to stab you in the parking lot.

Your menu is not your own, do not try to impress anyone with your food knowledge, trust me, they don’t care, douche-bag technical terms and exotic ingredients will only get you so far. Instead give the guest what they want, focus on time, temperature, consistency and quality, whatever that means, if your selling cheeseburgers they better be damn good. Your menu should look like this, 80% what sells, 10% what you want to sell, 10% testing, do not underestimate the testing, this is where leaps are made in quality.

Knowing the competition is less important than you think, pay attention but do not dwell on it, If someone has the same dish as you, who cares, just make sure yours is better.

Carve out one single day a week for you and one for the family you by now have, guard those days fiercely, if someone calls you at home, tell them never to do it again, quietly and clearly.

If you feel you are not making progress think back to when your ass was on fire, you have come a long way and looking back helps you remember where you came from. Keep a few close chef friends, no doubt by now you have many and they vary in skill, do not underestimate the power of reaching out to your peers, the struggle is real and you will need emotional support, they get it, talk to them.

Treat your team better than you were treated, cook without fear, have an exit strategy.

Start with the knives.

This is how you Chef







