Am I crazy for wanting to be a chef?

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So, with the subject line in mind, let me explain: I've worked in the restaurant industry the large majority of my life. Before I was legally old enough to work(from age 12), I mopped, cleaned tables, etc. at the restaurant my mother used to work at. When I was 16 I started a job as a fry-cook and I loved it. I have absolutely no clue as to why, it was a fry-cook job after all, but I did. I worked at fast food joints for about four years and then moved from that to real "sit-down" restaurants. I love working at these jobs. It's everything from being expected to know how to cook without timers to getting compliments from customers who eat the food I cook to seeing the order ticket and letting my detailed-orientedness guide everything on it that i cook. One customer was so impressed that he gave a waitress and myself a $100.00 tip($50.00 each).

I've loved to cook as long as I can remember(my mother has pictures of me at age two helping my grandmother make cake), and I love the work I do as a line cook at the job I'm currently at. Not only that but, as far as I can tell, I'm good at it to. I've been promoted at every restaurant job I've ever had. Manager, assistant manager, RGM, etc. I don't try for any promotions, nor do I ask for them, I always get pulled aside one day and praised, then asked if I want to step up to <insert position here>, and, within weeks, I'm promoted to that position.

In addition I've studied extensively on culinary school training, and I can make most any dish you could think of, and describe the exact techniques I used to make them, which brings me to the question for this long-winded post:

I know my limitations as someone with ASD, and, if you've never worked as a line cook or chef, trust me when I say there is a total difference between working in the capcity of a line cook and the capacity of a chef of any kind. There is just this different level of everything. And thus, my problem: There is a restaurant in my town in which I could work as a chef(one of two career dreams I have) that is looking for applicants, but I am paralyzed to turn an application in because i don't know if I can handle it. I am qualified, of that I have no doubt. I suppose it is the same feeling I got when I applied for my first real "sit-down" restaurant, because I hadn't ever experienced working in that capacity before. But then again, this is a whole new level, not to mention one of my dreams.

So, I guess my questions are: Is there anyone here who is or has worked as a chef? If so what advice can you give me? And, am I absolutely insane for thinking I might make the cut at this restaurant(be honest)? P.S. thank you for reading this unusually long question!

Zach, maybe you aren't crazy for YOU wanting to be a chef, but I have worked in food service and I would say for more than 90% of us with an ASD, it is a world to stay away from. You might be the exception. Here are my reasons:

1. Commercial kitchens are sensory hellholes on Earth. You will be yelled at, spoken to abruptly, and expected to work as a team. You better have a VERY "thick skin." Management will not help, because some actually find the chaos and noise and the mistreatment of one another entertaining, as the late Anthony Bourdain did.

2. Because of the above, there is a lot of drugs and alcohol and the bad behavior associated with alcohol and drug abuse. Especially alcohol, as it is right there and there is high stress. I for one really have a hard time dealing with drunks. Again, management will not intervene to make it better, they have drug and alcohol problems too. There is often a lot of laughing and joking about alcoholism, which is no joke to me, my younger brother died from liver damage from alcoholism. In fact, often a chef will go to rehab and meetings and counseling and may be advised to go into another profession because of the prevalence of alcohol in the hospitality industry.

3. The machinery is quite noisy. Worse for me was the powerful ventilation system, with the drone that goes on ALL THE TIME.

4. Constant communication is required, such at "it's up" and "I need a fish" and "what's this". And you have to keep this communication up ALL SHIFT, which can be 12-14 hours.

5. All this is the "back of the house" but management did not feel I could handle "front of house" because I had a "thin skin". I would have liked to have been a host, but was never given the chance when other people were.

So what are your answers to all this? Thank goodness for NT people, or none of us would be able to eat in restaurants.

Hey Zach. I like cooking too.

The only reason I can think of for your NOT applying for the chef job has to do with your feelings about failure. I'm not saying you will fail, but it might be that fear of failure is holding you back.

Will you be upset if you apply and don't get the job? More important, will you be gutted if you do get hired but it is determined that you're not a good match for the position?

If you are willing to take those risks, then I say go for it. Keep in mind that the other applicants might not be that qualified! It seems like your employment stability and record of getting promotions will be the relative strengths in your application. I also love your enthusiasm for the kitchen scene. Let us know what you decide to do - and what the outcome is.

Bon appetit!

As long as you don't get caught like the Frugal Gourmet, you should be good

By the way, I liked the Frugal Gourmet.

No, you are not crazy for wanting to be a chef. If an opportunity comes your way for you to wanting to go to culinary school, take it and maybe your opinion could change.

Go for it!

I do agree completely with BobinPgh though as far as my fairly brief experience in my late teens to my early twenties working first as a dishwasher, then busboy, then waiter in a handful of restaurants.

I was good is a dishwasher because I had my station that I didn't have to really move from and I knew what was expected of me. I could focus on that and be effective. I've always been a hard worker.

Busboy was OK because there were specific expectations and I was dealing with people in a peripheral manner.

Waiter? It was sensory overload for me. I would frequently get "in the weeds" where it would happen to other waitstaff only occasionally. I also didn't make very good tips and resented how some of my female co-workers would make up totally bogus stories about themselves to schmooze with their patrons and rake in the tips. I acknowledge they were certainly more personable that I was. They were better at schmoozing than I was. That's life.

I also love to cook and I'm very good at it, but I do it at home for my own enjoyment. I make a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner each year for 11-15 of us in which I start planning weeks in advance and I have every aspect timed out. I do it all myself with all the trimmings. BUT....when I'm "in the zone" and hyper focused on pulling the dinner all together, I can't have people asking me questions at all. By doing so, I have to mentally completely shift gears, lose my concentration and then focus on the question and how I would answer it. I'm not a quick answer person as it is.

My point is, I personally could NEVER be a line cook or a chef in a restaurant. I could focus on my work, but only if I was able to block out everyone else, which you can't do in a commercial kitchen.

Not only is every Aspie different, but restaurants come in all shapes and sizes.

I remember talking to a chef who was working in a little restaurant in Vermont. He said he did it as a sabbatical to get away from the pressure involved in high $$ cooking.

I say go for it, we only live one life so don't be afraid to follow your dreams. Just for "the record", I've worked in fast food before and in the kitchen of the jail I was locked up in and I enjoyed working in those environments. The sensory overload didn't happen much. Although I wasn't actually a chef, it did give me some good experience.