Teen is a gourmet cook--could he stage somewhere?

[Anonymous]

He is a really talented chef and wants to work in a kitchen. Does DC have apprenticeships?

[Anonymous]

Being a good cook at home (which is subjective) and becoming a line cook are not 1 in the same.

How about a culinary class for starters? Does his school offer like a gourmet cooking elective?

[Anonymous]

That's wonderful, OP. To become a professional cook, he needs to have incredible executive functioning skills. It's like in music, where playing in rhythm is more important than playing in tune when you're part of a group. For the kitchen, getting all your dishes ready on time is more important than having them all taste great. That part of cooking is not adequately taught in a home environment, so he'll have to see how good he is with that in cooking school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being a good cook at home (which is subjective) and becoming a line cook are not 1 in the same.

How about a culinary class for starters? Does his school offer like a gourmet cooking elective?

He has taken culinary classes since middle school. He's really eager to get some hands-on cooking experience.

[Anonymous]

He may have to work his way up, despite any talents he has, simply because he has no practical work experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He may have to work his way up, despite any talents he has, simply because he has no practical work experience.

Right, hence staging.

[Anonymous]

Wtf is staging?

[Anonymous]

Does staging mean doing the food prep?

If so, there are jobs at restaurants for that kind of thing- although when my kid was applying at age 16, didn't get any callbacks.

[Anonymous]

Staging is doing an unpaid internship in a restaurant kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a good cook at home (which is subjective) and becoming a line cook are not 1 in the same.

How about a culinary class for starters? Does his school offer like a gourmet cooking elective?

He has taken culinary classes since middle school. He's really eager to get some hands-on cooking experience.

Can you say where? I have a 12 year old who loves to cook, but obviously is too young for a restaurant kitchen. I haven't found classes that would work for him yet.

[Anonymous]

Does he have ServSafe qualifications? His own knives/chef's coat and apron?

Get him prepped and then I would just walk into local restaurants and ask to talk to the head chef.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like it could be a “who you know” thing. I’d ask where he’s taken culinary classes to see if they have any advice or connections.

[Anonymous]

Most of the good cooks start as dishwashers. Let him see how a kitchen works to determine if he can handle the environment. I suspect most kids whose parents post on DCUM could not cut it in a restaurant kitchen

- 15 year line cook

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the good cooks start as dishwashers. Let him see how a kitchen works to determine if he can handle the environment. I suspect most kids whose parents post on DCUM could not cut it in a restaurant kitchen

- 15 year line cook

Bingo

[Anonymous]

Its not really like working at Bloomingdales. I worked as a busboy as my first job at 17 and the dishwasher named Victor threatened to
stab me for looking at him the wrong way. This was at a fine dining establishment.