10 Questions You Must Answer Before Becoming A Sous Chef

Can you train new cooks and implement the Chef’s directions on cooking and plating menu?

Can you always make sure safety and sanitation standards are met?

Can you check inventory on a daily basis?

Can you research, prepare, refine, and plate the Chef’s new recipes for him?

Can you deal with personnel conflict and bad staff behaviour?

Can you be all of these everyday: opener, closer, soup maker, kitchen schedule maker, “the daily special” creator?

Can you save a floundering sauté cook in the kitchen or a forgetful grill cook who left food cooking for too long?

Can you survive the required years of work experience as a learning cook before actually being a sous chef yourself?

Can you accept the fact that you will work for long hours and receive little overall credit?

Do you still want to be a sous chef after reading this: “No matter where your work is, it is a challenging job. It may be the simplest menu in the world, but when you get a ton of chits thrown at you, special requests, you run out of mise en place, someone gets hurt, has to go the bathroom, etc. The air goes out, the suppression system fires, there is a fire, you’re short staffed, you get buried, the person next to you is new and getting buried, you run out of pans, plants, you’re hung over, etc.”