Restaurants facing a lack of cooks

[who?]

To become a chef requires some long apprenticeship program, becoming a cook is much easier.

 

[glenn1]

To become a chef requires some long apprenticeship program, becoming a cook is much easier.

"Chef" is almost always just an honorific in the U.S. This isn't like Germany with it's vocational training system where you might have to possess a certificate after an exam and long internship to claim a professional title like "Geprüfter Küchenmeister". Sure places like Culinary Institute of America and whatnot offer some programs that offer "certificates" with fancy names but you could be cooking eggs at the local Waffle House and still call yourself "Chef" if you really wanted to.

 

[JulesMaximus]

"Chef" is almost always just an honorific in the U.S. This isn't like Germany with it's vocational training system where you might have to possess a certificate after an exam and long internship to claim a professional title like "Geprüfter Küchenmeister". Sure places like Culinary Institute of America and whatnot offer some programs that offer "certificates" with fancy names but you could be cooking eggs at the local Waffle House and still call yourself "Chef" if you really wanted to.

If I take a music appreciation course can I call myself maestro?

 

[PokerGuy]

What a stupid article. If there is a shortage of cooks, then supply and demands would dictate that you raise wages to increase supply. The answer in the past seems to have been "instead of raising wages, lets get more illegals in to do the job at low wages". That's a stupid answer that hurts the US worker. The right answer is, pay more and pass the cost on to consumers. If they won't pay that much, then your demand for cooks will decrease and the marketplace adjusts automatically.

Problem not found.

 

[K1052]

"Chef" is almost always just an honorific in the U.S. This isn't like Germany with it's vocational training system where you might have to possess a certificate after an exam and long internship to claim a professional title like "Geprüfter Küchenmeister". Sure places like Culinary Institute of America and whatnot offer some programs that offer "certificates" with fancy names but you could be cooking eggs at the local Waffle House and still call yourself "Chef" if you really wanted to.

Uhhh no.

Just because there isn't an officially endorsed structure doesn't mean there isn't one based on long tradition that is widely respected in the industry. It's generally accepted that you need to have graduated culinary school and worked under a chef for a decent amount of time before you could be accorded that title. In some cases just working closely under an extremely renowned chef for a long time will also do the trick but those are more rare.

 

[michal1980]

"Chef" is almost always just an honorific in the U.S. This isn't like Germany with it's vocational training system where you might have to possess a certificate after an exam and long internship to claim a professional title like "Geprüfter Küchenmeister". Sure places like Culinary Institute of America and whatnot offer some programs that offer "certificates" with fancy names but you could be cooking eggs at the local Waffle House and still call yourself "Chef" if you really wanted to.

germans and their titles. So uptight.

 

[glenn1]

Uhhh no.

Just because there isn't an officially endorsed structure doesn't mean there isn't one based on long tradition that is widely respected in the industry. It's generally accepted that you need to have graduated culinary school and worked under a chef for a decent amount of time before you could be accorded that title. In some cases just working closely under an extremely renowned chef for a long time will also do the trick but those are more rare.

Thanks for proving my point that it's an honorific title.

 

[glenn1]

If I take a music appreciation course can I call myself maestro?

Sure if you want, it carries as much standing as calling yourself Chef. Neither are proper recognized professional titles like Doctor, Reverend, etc.

Hell, if we turn Chef into an actual professional title without some sort of certification regime in place, we might as well just all just introduce ourselves by our occupation type as a habit. "Chef Igor, meet Systems Analyst George. Systems Analyst George, meet Unemployed Dave."

 

[Hugo Drax]

I bet if you raise wages, cooks will appear out of the woodwork.

 

[halik]

Pay peanuts, get squirrels

I'm definitely gonna borrow that phrase 🙂

 

[Ichinisan]

I bet if you raise wages, cooks will appear out of the woodwork.

Yup. Let the businesses raise wages as they deem necessary. No need for government to regulate something that regulates itself.

If the pay / work is worthwhile to the cooks, they will come. If it's not worthwhile, they won't come.

 

[JSt0rm]

"Chef" is almost always just an honorific in the U.S. This isn't like Germany with it's vocational training system where you might have to possess a certificate after an exam and long internship to claim a professional title like "Geprüfter Küchenmeister". Sure places like Culinary Institute of America and whatnot offer some programs that offer "certificates" with fancy names but you could be cooking eggs at the local Waffle House and still call yourself "Chef" if you really wanted to.

CIA is literally the best school in the americas for cooking. Everyone I met who came out of that program was very good. Of course I probably only met the top people from the program but never the less it is very similar to the vocational training you find in Europe. In fact after school is done those chefs spend years more working in different kitchens under different chefs, cooking and preping until they are ready. There is a saying "The best chefs work in many kitchens" This can hold true for a lot of industries as well.

 

[Hugo Drax]

Yup. Let the businesses raise wages as they deem necessary. No need for government to regulate something that regulates itself.

If the pay / work is worthwhile to the cooks, they will come. If it's not worthwhile, they won't come.

I wonder how long before they try to get congress to open up the H1B program for cooks. Then they can hire cooks cheaper and they cant leave or they lose the visa.

 

[K1052]

Thanks for proving my point that it's an honorific title.

I like how you can selectively forget 90% of what you post while simultaneously being willfully obtuse.

 

[K1052]

Sure if you want, it carries as much standing as calling yourself Chef. Neither are proper recognized professional titles like Doctor, Reverend, etc.

Hell, if we turn Chef into an actual professional title without some sort of certification regime in place, we might as well just all just introduce ourselves by our occupation type as a habit. "Chef Igor, meet Systems Analyst George. Systems Analyst George, meet Unemployed Dave."

As a social experiment I suggest you get a job in a decent restaurant as a cook and demand that everyone call you chef. It will not end well.

 

[JSt0rm]

There is only 1 chef per restaurant. There is also a sous chef (2nd in command) The whole thing runs very much in a military way. If the chef asks you to do something the responses you hear from the staff are "Yes Chef!"

 

[Murloc]

If raising the wages means less eating out and less restaurants, so be it. In my country the lower tier wages are quite high compared to the high ones if compared to other countries, the consequence is that eating out is not something people do as often as in other countries.

Sure if you want, it carries as much standing as calling yourself Chef. Neither are proper recognized professional titles like Doctor, Reverend, etc.

Hell, if we turn Chef into an actual professional title without some sort of certification regime in place, we might as well just all just introduce ourselves by our occupation type as a habit. "Chef Igor, meet Systems Analyst George. Systems Analyst George, meet Unemployed Dave."

well this varies depending on the country, and I guess that's why people prefer to just write MSc or PhD these days....

 

[feralkid]

Ahh the logical liberal solution - more illegals. Story uses some outdated immigration numbers.

And theres no problem here. Lack of cooks @ 10 dollars an hour, well raise the salary, cant make it paying a cook more, then its closing time.

Typical michal1980 liberal/socialist response..."just throw more money at the problem".

 

[glenn1]

As a social experiment I suggest you get a job in a decent restaurant as a cook and demand that everyone call you chef. It will not end well.

The worst that will happen is some junior line cooks will roll their eyes. As compared to someone who would bestow upon themselves an actual non-honorific title like Medical Doctor or Esquire, in which case they could go to jail for doing so. You're not going to get arrested for "practicing deglazing without a license" if you call yourself "Chef".

 

[piasabird]

That is not a livable wage. Cheap liberals dont want to pay $15 Hour. Heaven forbid.

A hamburger flipper is not a chef.

 

[K1052]

The worst that will happen is some junior line cooks will roll their eyes.

No, they'll make your working life hell until you quit or get you fired. There is a clearly defined order inside any decent kitchen…violate it at your own peril.

 

[glenn1]

No, they'll make your working life hell until you quit or get you fired. There is a clearly defined order inside any decent kitchen…violate it at your own peril.

There are no formal certification programs or even defined requirements to be called "Chef" in the U.S. unlike some other countries. That's what I said earlier and what you yourself have agreed to. I'm unsure why you keep arguing the point.

 

[K1052]

There are no formal certification programs or even defined requirements to be called "Chef" in the U.S. unlike some other countries. That's what I said earlier and what you yourself have agreed to. I'm unsure why you keep arguing the point.

And your argument is entirely moot because "chef" is a position of actual (often unquestionable tyrannical) power in any real kitchen, not an honorific. The fact that the system that determines this is entirely unofficial doesn't make it any less real.

 

[JSt0rm]

There are no formal certification programs or even defined requirements to be called "Chef" in the U.S. unlike some other countries. That's what I said earlier and what you yourself have agreed to. I'm unsure why you keep arguing the point.

Cool. Walk into Per Se with that and see how it goes.

 

[Ns1]

Meh, you want to pay everyone a living wage welcome to $30 pizzas.