Working day - Chef Experience Four
So you have decided to leave the hot sweats of a restaurant kitchen in search of a more balanced and less stressful life. Well you are in for a shock - more balanced certainly, but it is as stressful!
If like most of us you want to move out of the restaurant trade to further develop your career, then this is a great way to go. You will work with the kind of people with the same background as yourself - as they say, "You can take the chef out the Kitchen but you can't take the kitchen out the chef !" Your kitchen skills and repertoire of recipes are challenged daily.
Product Development gives you the opportunity to further your career and move into the world of business. As part of your role you will be involved in developing new and innovative products for the retail customer and would be heavily involved in presenting products to your site team and also your client. Sourcing of ingredients and how much they cost plays an important part of your day. If you make a mistake in the restaurant world it costs pounds, but do the same in the factory environment and you could add a few zeros on that figure!. You would also be expected to work closely with the factory teams and the supply base to ensure product quality is delivered through the factory once recipes are scaled up from a individual dish to a full production line - it's never quiet and good organisation is critical.
One area that is great for us foodies is that you get to eat in some of the world's best restaurants as part of your product research. Your briefs will vary as with the various types of cuisine you will be asked to deliver on, ranging from Indian, European, East Asian, Traditional to Modern British. Your abilities as a chef will be put to good use and the business skills will come with experience.
To summarise, this is a great career path and would be a natural progression to someone who still has the desire and drive to succeed outside of the restaurant environment."