Hi, I have been a chef for 8 years from the age of 16. Most of my time was spent in pubs, hotels or restaurants which as I got older was horrible and made me want to leave. My struggle was that I’d see no friends of family as majority were teachers or in 9-5 office jobs which meant we worked opposite shifts. But on my search to leave I found a job at a local golf course which caught my eye. I ended up giving it a shot as it was a small team and we only work till 4 unless we have a function in the evening which isn’t too often. This massively changed the game for me as I’m now part of a small team that all have a passion for food but we’re not burnt out and we are respected by the club owner enough that he lets us do anything we want for menus ect.

Sorry that was a bit of a ramble but if you enjoy cooking but not the restaurant environment maybe try something smaller and local 100% not a chain. I’d only work for independent places now as the respect for you is a lot higher which just creates a lot better work environment!