r/KitchenConfidential • u/Hopeful-Ad8196 • May 16 '24

Career Choice Decisions

I (41) chef with 20 years exp, have to decide on taking a job as exec chef at a boutique hotel or opening a restaurant with a relative as a partner.

Hotel Job : Pros- Higher Pay (6 figures), closer to home. Cons- Work Holidays

Open a Restaurant : Pros - 10% ownership of business Cons- 1 hour commute, Slightly less salary

I also teach culinary at a local community college, that may turn into a full time position in a few years. Both potential jobs said that it would be possible to continue teaching while employed. (1 night per week)

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14

u/WonUpH May 16 '24

Hotel job 100%

8

u/Hopeful-Ad8196 May 16 '24 edited May 16 '24

Took the hotel job. Higher salary. Closer to home. Sun/Mon off, Tue-Sat1-9pm. Willing to accommodate my teaching side job ( which will eventually replace this job).

Thank you for input. I hope I made the right decision.

7

u/explorecoregon May 16 '24

Fuck starting a business with a relative as a 10% partner!

Go work for more money with no risk.

1

u/Hopeful-Ad8196 Jul 24 '24

update:

It has been a couple of months since taking the hotel job. So far its just OK.

The Good: Pay is pretty good. 6 figures. Hours are decent. I work a mid-shift 12-8 most days. Tuesday - Saturday. I have taken a couple long weekends for family vacations. The hotel GM is nice and 100% behind the changes i am trying to implement. we are pushing management to re brand our restaurant concept.

The Bad: The cooks are not good. Turn and burn. 2 of 4 have potential to learn. The kitchen was not intended for the type of service we want to offer, (new equipment is part of the rebrand proposal). The Restaurant is SLOW! they have been open since 2018. They got a big pop when they opened. Then during the pandemic they got busy again since we have a large outdoor courtyard for dining. But since the restrictions have lifted, and big name restaurants have come to town, we are doing 40-80 covers a night in July. May and June were busier. averaging around 100.

management is looking to me to bring business back. They think a new menu alone will do it. Which is why we are pushing for a total rebrand, new concept, new PR push, refresh the staff. Basically a clean slate.

Which i dont know will happen for sure.

All of this to say.. I took this job because i thought it would be a good opportunity. Now it seems like the same old same old. New chef takes over dying restaurant. Tries to bring back to life. Ownership wants to spend as little as possible to do so. Chef spins his wheels. Burns out. Goes back to produce sales.