Chef Salary

[Jesse]

I was wondering the same thing, lol...

[EatinAintCheatin]

Me too. Probably a leftover line from another post for some I.T./ data position.

[Gourmondo]

I see your point. But the problem, as told to me, is that most of those who "train" end up leaving the city and taking a better job elsewhere. My friend was offered positions outside of New Orleans, but leaving was not an option.

Another problem is that there are so many recent grads from culinary schools around the country that show up here and work for next to nothing but a resume line.

There's both good and bad to this. Since we are blessed to be one of the few cities that has it's own indigenous food we will always have fresh talent coming in...but someone from here, wanting to make it their career, will find it very, very difficult with the competition.

My nephew is a chef de cuisine at a resort on the East Coast. He and his wife would love to come home to be closer to family, but it's just not gonna happen because of the economics you cite. Throw in high insurance and school costs here and you can understand why many of our talented young people have to live elsewhere. Sad.

[Jerry]

How can you telecommute as a line cook/sous chef?

Come on now...haven't you had Digi-Cakes with Broadband Sauce or CyberSalads?

Deep fried Twitters...but watch the bones.

[chefairline]

Again, I'm not condemning the biz. I know it's capitalism. But do you see the irony? I thought artists were the ones "starving" in their profession.

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/fbh/1247343121.html

Have a great 4th everyone!

Well. aren't chefs truly "artist" with a little science thrown in?

[eatin' good]

It is the same for the hotel busniess too. Only a select few managers make good money and the rest make $8 - $14 per hour. I mean like a cook a front desk agent is a very advanced customer service representative, needs to be skilled with technology - has to deal with constant issues - and really needs a degree to do that job.

I have been in the business here and have seen sous chefs making as little as $10 per hour and have seen others making $48K. In hotels I have seen sous making about $60K. It all depends on the owner and whether the place is corporate or not...

I have seen many grads from culinary school spend a lot of money for that degree and not make very good money.

[hungryone]

Isn't low wages the not-so-secret downside to cooking? Line cooking is blue collar work--hot, physical, demanding, time-pressured: kinda like being a FedEx guy with food. Despite increased media attention focused on cooks, it's still a low-wage livelihood for the rank and file. When I see the tuition charged by some culinary training programs, I am amazed: how do the schools find students willing to pay top $$ when the potential annual income won't equal a single year's tuition, even after several years in the field? Crazy. Public law schools are cheaper than many of the mid-range culinary schools.

[Tchoupitoulas]

Public law schools are cheaper than many of the mid-range culinary schools.

Yeah but then you'd have to be a Lawyer

[EatinAintCheatin]

Isn't low wages the not-so-secret downside to cooking? Line cooking is blue collar work--hot, physical, demanding, time-pressured: kinda like being a FedEx guy with food. Despite increased media attention focused on cooks, it's still a low-wage livelihood for the rank and file. When I see the tuition charged by some culinary training programs, I am amazed: how do the schools find students willing to pay top $$ when the potential annual income won't equal a single year's tuition, even after several years in the field? Crazy. Public law schools are cheaper than many of the mid-range culinary schools.

A good sous chef does much, much more than just line cook. He runs the place when the head chef is out. He orders product and schedules deliveries. He handles crisis as they arise. And much more.

[eatin' good]

I believe the only way you make real money being a chef is if that person owns their own restaurant - and they need to have serious financial & marketing savy to do it...