Hi. I posted a couple weeks back about going to school. i also posted in that thread how i wanted to learn at my job and enjoy that. well the opportunity has presented itself once again.
backstory. im a cook. i enjoy cooking in restaurants. love the rush and love learning under chefs. i've been at my current job almost 2 years. i went there because i met a chef from new york (keith) who brought me under his wing and taught me a ton of stuff. it was great untill 5 months ago when the owners could not afford to keep him. he was only being paid 300 a week but he had money from being a stock trader years ago so it was no biggie. he also was done working for free seeing how the owners owe him 5 grand. i drive 20 minutes to this job and am the manager of the kitchen making 375 meager dollars a week or so. i now am getting overtime so figure it will be 430-460 a week on the next paycheck. thats with 6 days one of which being a close saturday night work a double sunday. that is shit. means im there till midnight, come home, eat, take a sleeping pill and wake up at 9:30.
this place has run its course on me. there is no more i can learn there and it is just the same shit every day. i love the people i work with but im tired of doing the same shit with nothing new to learn. as someone who can not afford culinary school, learning new things is huge, esp from someone who went to the french culinary institute and worked in new york for awhile.
keith, my old chef, has taken over another restaurant. he called me and offered me the job as sous chef. i am going tomorrow to check it out. i will meet the owners, look over the kitchen, taste the food hes doing there, etc. everything sounds great and barring unforeseen circumstances i would have taken the job right away. only problem is, the place is an hour away. interstate driving. i live in florida and season is coming so traffic will get bad. i will have a pay raise. probably 550-650 a week working 10 hours a day, +2 for driving. he offered to drive me to work, meaning i drive 15-20 minutes to his house and he drives and pays for gas. that would be alright but we'll be working together. thats a lot of time to spend with 1 guy. i would probably do that 2-3 days a week and drive myself the rest.
thats a long day with a long drive, 5 days a week. on the other hand, i will be learning a great deal from this man. i know whichever way i go ill regret it. if i stay at my current job, it'll be the same mindless crap and ill be pissed i didn't take it. if i take it, ill be cursing every day i drive an hour to a restaurant job.
there aren't many privately owned restaurants in florida. most are corporate with a lot of cooks and a chef who does what the guys upstairs tell him to. there is nothing to learn there. he takes me under his wing and teaches me lots. this is the main reason i want to go, followed by money. i make enough now to live comfortably with my girlfriend but im not saving anything.
and then theres the situation with my current job. the owners owe a lot of people money. they just got a liquor license that will go into effect in a few months. that is 250-300k they just took on in debt. plus they need to purchase everything for a full bar. currently it is just wine and bottled beer. so basically its a lot of debt, plus people they owe to, plus them never giving me a raise and no real chance at one. i have a great relationship with them but i can tell they are struggling with money, plus they are very unorganized. usually we are always out of something on the menu because they just dont get it. thats bullshit. often out of wine and such too.
so i dont know what to do. i very much want to take this job but i still have to see it, meet the owner, etc. if all that is ok then i still have the hour drive. thats a long way for a restaurant job but it is a nice opportunity.
backstory. im a cook. i enjoy cooking in restaurants. love the rush and love learning under chefs. i've been at my current job almost 2 years. i went there because i met a chef from new york (keith) who brought me under his wing and taught me a ton of stuff. it was great untill 5 months ago when the owners could not afford to keep him. he was only being paid 300 a week but he had money from being a stock trader years ago so it was no biggie. he also was done working for free seeing how the owners owe him 5 grand. i drive 20 minutes to this job and am the manager of the kitchen making 375 meager dollars a week or so. i now am getting overtime so figure it will be 430-460 a week on the next paycheck. thats with 6 days one of which being a close saturday night work a double sunday. that is shit. means im there till midnight, come home, eat, take a sleeping pill and wake up at 9:30.
this place has run its course on me. there is no more i can learn there and it is just the same shit every day. i love the people i work with but im tired of doing the same shit with nothing new to learn. as someone who can not afford culinary school, learning new things is huge, esp from someone who went to the french culinary institute and worked in new york for awhile.
keith, my old chef, has taken over another restaurant. he called me and offered me the job as sous chef. i am going tomorrow to check it out. i will meet the owners, look over the kitchen, taste the food hes doing there, etc. everything sounds great and barring unforeseen circumstances i would have taken the job right away. only problem is, the place is an hour away. interstate driving. i live in florida and season is coming so traffic will get bad. i will have a pay raise. probably 550-650 a week working 10 hours a day, +2 for driving. he offered to drive me to work, meaning i drive 15-20 minutes to his house and he drives and pays for gas. that would be alright but we'll be working together. thats a lot of time to spend with 1 guy. i would probably do that 2-3 days a week and drive myself the rest.
thats a long day with a long drive, 5 days a week. on the other hand, i will be learning a great deal from this man. i know whichever way i go ill regret it. if i stay at my current job, it'll be the same mindless crap and ill be pissed i didn't take it. if i take it, ill be cursing every day i drive an hour to a restaurant job.
there aren't many privately owned restaurants in florida. most are corporate with a lot of cooks and a chef who does what the guys upstairs tell him to. there is nothing to learn there. he takes me under his wing and teaches me lots. this is the main reason i want to go, followed by money. i make enough now to live comfortably with my girlfriend but im not saving anything.
and then theres the situation with my current job. the owners owe a lot of people money. they just got a liquor license that will go into effect in a few months. that is 250-300k they just took on in debt. plus they need to purchase everything for a full bar. currently it is just wine and bottled beer. so basically its a lot of debt, plus people they owe to, plus them never giving me a raise and no real chance at one. i have a great relationship with them but i can tell they are struggling with money, plus they are very unorganized. usually we are always out of something on the menu because they just dont get it. thats bullshit. often out of wine and such too.
so i dont know what to do. i very much want to take this job but i still have to see it, meet the owner, etc. if all that is ok then i still have the hour drive. thats a long way for a restaurant job but it is a nice opportunity.
