where’s the respect?

This week I have been working in a beautiful Michelin star hotel called Whatley manor, whos head chef Niall Keating  just won young European chef of the year at the Michelin awards in Budapest. A far cry from Tescos! (no offence) The kitchen is a thing of beauty, two floors, one for a service kitchen and a lower floor for prep, pot wash and 4 walk in fridges! It’s a massive operation and clearly money is no issue for a hotel that did have two stars and I’m pretty sure with Niall at the helm it’s gonna be getting that star back!

Going to work in a Michelin star kitchen isn’t a new thing for me and I was very excited to go and see what all the hype around Whatley manor was about.  Normally I am either in such places as a stagier – I’ve emailed and asked if I can come and work for free and see what they are doing or I’ve asked for a job and I’m on a trial… this time I’m a temp.

As a head chef you have respect, sometimes you need to gain it, if you are taking over from some  one else for example. Your team might be waiting to see you first dish or watch you command a service before they give it to you. Others simply give you respect because they are told your the head chef. Its a good feeling, it made me feel like all the hard work, all the hours, all the hours spent scrubbing mingin extractors was worth it.

When you walk into a place as a temp chef things are very different! The problem is that the chef or temp chefs before you have set the tone for how you are received. Now the vast majority of temp chefs have not been in a Michelin star kitchen in the last few months or have maybe never worked in such a place and so they maybe treat it like the pub they were temping in last week or the staff canteen of a 24hr supermarket…

The respect is zero, the attitude towards you is of low expectations and of course the bottom end kitchen jobs. I’m not bothered by the shit jobs although its a bit boring, its more upsetting that someone had to show me how to shell a lobster instead of saying “can you de-shell these lobsters please chef” the surprise on their faces when I say I’ve finished the job they gave me two minutes ago however does make me smile and reminds me I’m not a temp!

So am I egotistical….? Do I crave respect? Maybe yes it turns out! To some degree or another because I do miss it, I miss being the guy with the answers and the guy who knows how to fix the fuck ups and the pressure of being the person who has to fix the fuck ups! Is it a bad thing to want respect in a profession I’ve been working hard at for 16 years?! I don’t think so.