# Best Things About Being A Chef.



## number2 (May 30, 2011)

A counter thread to the "Worst things about being a chef" thread. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif

The best things for me are-

Seeing people eating and enjoying your food

Knife work, I just love using my knives.

Sharpening my knives, I find it therapeutic

Creating new dishes

The kitchen banter, it just doesn't exist in most other lines of work

The rush of a busy service.

Sampling good food everyday

What is everyone Else's favourite things about cheffing?


----------



## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Garlic and/or herbs hitting hot fat. I love that explosion of smell.

Clean plates coming back to the dish pit.

Turning a bunch of unwanted veggies and some stale bread into $ via the soup kettle..


----------



## number2 (May 30, 2011)

Also cooking fresh trout that i have just caught myself.

Last Wednesdays catch.


----------



## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Gonna do trout ala bleu? I've always wanted to try that, but I'm not much of a fisherman.


----------



## kitchenchef (Jul 27, 2009)

Returning customers, requesting the same dish

Also I agree with number 2 preparing something you caught or grew yourself


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I like getting paid, on a regular basis, for doing a quality job much better than most others. I'm funny like that.


----------



## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

IceMan said:


> I like getting paid, on a regular basis, for doing a quality job much better than most others. I'm funny like that.


I'm just happy getting paid, at all, lol. Had one job where some hours got left off my check, so the MOD paid me out of petty cash, but he rounded down to the nearest dollar. Never been more torqued over 27 cents in my life. It just ground on me, dunno why. Then the ever popular 'owner isn't around to sign checks, you'll have to wait' bs...


----------



## allium (Dec 8, 2010)

Throwing the root-end of onions at someone's head. Locking people in the freezer. Being able to get away with things like this at work.

And knives.


----------



## yepitschidd (Jun 27, 2011)

I love the rush of doing 10 things at once.

I love the after work exhaustion.

I love the customers who make it a point to compliment their meal.

I love how fast time goes by.

I love the feeling of seeing a beautiful plate and know I did that.

Now if I could only find a second job to pay for my expensive culinary school. Times are tough these days.


----------



## guts (Jun 22, 2011)

I love seeing all my mise en place organized and ready for dinner service.
I love seeing a dish we're about to send out, and then having to take second glance because "Wow. That looks just incredible."
I love butchery. Need I elaborate?
I love that the coffee I get at work is not only free, but tastes great. Not some office coffee pot bullshit.


----------



## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

Putting a plate of food in the window that I'm proud of.

I don't need the owners or servers to give me kudos, I just need my ego to let me know that I nailed it.

And when he tells me I did a good job, I feel good, because I know he's right.


----------



## cacioepepe (Apr 3, 2011)

Doing what we love.

Adrenaline rush of service.

Happy, drunk, and full guests.

Pride of product.

Informality of work environment.

Working harder and longer than most i know.

Drinking with friends after work, talking shit.

Knowing other cooks, bartenders & chefs at other restaurants and eating like a king.


----------



## unintended boy (Jul 4, 2011)

If you would've asked me about 3-4 years ago, I would've said "nothing" or "pay day." A lot has changed now that I'm creeping out of my early-mid twenties.

-Being given the freedom to experiment with a variety of seafood, meat, produce on a daily basis. (Given that I don't decimate the food cost.)

-Knowing that someone out there is paying good money to sit down and ENJOY what I'm making.

-Trading ideas and recipes with other like-minded cooks and chefs.

-Pay day...haha

-An excuse to buy and test out new knives without being looked at like a weirdo. (Nothing like owning some good knives.)

-Quality assurance/control (A fancy way of saying "I'm allowed to taste this awesome food I'm putting out.")


----------



## georgehill (Dec 1, 2014)

Great, except there is no such word as “cheffing”  only used by amateurs who show they do not understand the trade.


----------



## westbigballin (Jun 3, 2014)

I love it all. Sure there are days or aspects that I may not like (deep cleaning when there's no time), but at the end of the day I'm proud of what I do and could not have envisioned myself happier at this moment.

My all time favorites though...

-Opening at 9am hungover as f*ck and shooing away the hangover with some bacon and whatever else I'm feeling for breakfast

-Sitting down at the bar after my shift for 50% off drinks

-Pranks and joking with coworkers

-Super chill bartender is the closing manager and he hooks me up with a pitcher of beer for the last ~30 min of service and while I'm closing the kitchen. Only when there's no patrons though

-Taking pictures/snapchats of my food and hearing compliments from non-restaurant peers


----------



## mgm0 (Nov 27, 2012)

I loooooove when there is a big whatever it is and things come just right (A-team anyone?). Just like if it was an orchestra, everything in its place and running without a care in the world.


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

correct quote:
*Hannibal*: _"I love it when a plan comes together!"_


----------



## cheftux (Oct 12, 2011)

georgehill said:


> Great, except there is no such word as "cheffing" only used by amateurs who show they do not understand the trade.


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cheffing # 3. I still use the term all the time, but a co-worker shared that delight with me. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Also use "cheffed" (reference How I Met Your Mother with "lawyered"

- The fact that work is more like play time than anything, constantly working with different recipes or products until you get the best outcome.

- Knowing that even though I'm not on the line every single day, I can still jump in and crank it out

- Collaborating with other chefs/cooks to find the best possible way to do something, we don't know it all!

- Knives & Fire /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

- Impressing the s**t out of my girlfriend when I actually do cook, and loving the fact that she cooks for me 6.5 days out of the week

:cheftux


----------



## chefboyog (Oct 23, 2013)

"cheffing" only used by amateurs who show they do not understand the trade."

Necroing a post by being Cheffy or " cheffing ". Haha #3 FTW 
That too far. Typical Chefs.

#2 also;
Cheffing
Overflowing, typically in a non-literal, metaphorical sense. Origins lie in the *inability to use real words at important occasions often experienced by artists and philosophers.*
"I'm cheffing with relief that I am not you," he said.
by Samuel Wilkinson April 08, 2004


----------



## grande (May 14, 2014)

I'm never cheffing, I'm always "¡chefando!"


----------



## mgm0 (Nov 27, 2012)

@IceMan that's exactly it.

Afterwards with a beer on hand and the immigrant song playing in the back ground somehow, would be the perfect end of a perfect day. Best feeling ever.

Problem is, that usually when everything is that good is because I forgot exactly in how much s**t I am tomorrow.


----------

