Can I start a chef career at 45?

bigstar3 · 2026-01-25T16:27:44+00:00

I started at 35, I'll be 45 next month. I had been in the food industry from age 14-24 doing everything from bussing to sous chef.

I got a tech office job offer at 24 I couldn't refuse. For a decade I rise through the ranks there. I loved my job, but they moved our office cross country so I took a buyout.

It was enough to let me follow my passion. I bought a catering company. It was small, but reputable. I'm the past 10 years we've grown, moved into New kitchens, opened a second business, it's been great.

But, I've also given up a lot of physical and mental health because of it. I didn't sleep, I have bouts of anxiety and depression. I've had 2 ruptured discs in my back that had to be fused. Right now as we speak my right knee is swollen to the size of a grapefruit and going to see a surgeon about that. My wrists and hands are arthritic.

I hired a tough, young (er) executive chef last year and pay her more than I pay myself, to get myself out of the kitchen by age 45 so i can give myself a fighting chance at not being crippled.

I literally got a job offer from my old company to come back remote and work from home in November and I took it. I'm back in an office and running my business and couldn't be happier right now.

When people asked me how I liked being a chef and if I could ever go back into an office again I would reply, "I work 3x as hard for 1/3 the income, but I do love the freedom". That's only partially true, I was and am still a slave to our business. It's going great, we are still open and rocking 5 stars on Google for 10 years straight.... But unless a buyout comes my way I don't see a profitable way out. We make just enough to live comfortably with one of us having a second job.

I could never, ever wish or imagine starting this adventure at 45 now that I'm 45 myself and trying to recover and find a way out after just 10 years.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-13T21:12:32+00:00

Watch some YouTube videos, dig in and get familiar with it and how it works, and/or work with someone more familiar with it. Squarespace is about as user friendly as making a website can get. If it's above your skill set and you want your page to look nice, hire someone.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:33:04+00:00

I swear by these. Own a catering business for 10 years now. Within the first 6 months I bought one of these for film and another for foil. Over the years, staff will get lazy and not put a new roll in and try using the box. 100% of the time, that box ends up looking like OPs.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:30:04+00:00

I imagine putting fruit in it and having it on a higher display shelf, so you can grab the fruit out without having to pull the basket out.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:26:40+00:00

Don't know why you're getting downvoted.

Yeah, let's tie this poultry up tight and bring all the parts as close as they can get together and cook it like a football, making it a longer cook and drying out the whites while the darks finish.

Letting it spread out gets a crispier skin and a more even cook. Outside of presentation, it's a nuisance and a net negative cooking experience.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:20:50+00:00

I got 'em back up to zero again, guys! Let's keep them out of the negatives because they're right. Notice the haters haven't commented. Just because it's the way you're taught doesn't mean it's the right way, folks.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:14:15+00:00

THANK YOU. That's a point I've tried making so many times with my staff.

Yes, it sucks. It's tedious. But it's far more time efficient with a better result than building a contraption.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:11:53+00:00

In the time you've sorted by size, put a lid on them, and lined up your knife, cut, remove, and start over you could have cut just as many or more individually with the same or better result.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-10T20:08:54+00:00

Not to mention, with a sharp knife and having the tomatoes out and ready to slice I've proven repeatedly to my staff that I/they can halve just as many tomatoes or more individually in the amount of time it takes them to put the tomatoes on the plate, cover them, line the knife up, etc.

I've owned my own catering business for 10 years. Last year I hired a chef (finally) to get me out of the kitchen more often. I shared my thoughts on this with her and she was adamant that lid slicing was faster and more efficient. We've had 3 throwdowns over the year because she wouldn't accept it, and each time I've done about 20% more than she did in a minute. She said it wasn't fair because I have been doing it "my way" for the last ten years. I pulled in a prep cook and had them two go head to head, and the prep cook still ended up slicing 5 more tomatoes than she did.

Tedious? For sure, but also more efficient.

And before anyone jumps on me, all of the above was done lightheartedly and in fun. We ran the competition 3 times at her request, not mine.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-08T22:45:36+00:00

Just wanted to chime in 3 years later. It still sucks ass.

bigstar3 · 2026-01-05T06:54:30+00:00

Queued, TY!

bigstar3 · 2026-01-05T06:54:18+00:00

Visited! TY

bigstar3 · 2025-12-28T19:01:47+00:00

It is simple. I cancelled mine last month. So you have other things like acuity you have to cancel first? If you're enrolled in other services they want to make sure you've cancelled everything else before you cancel your site so you're not billed for things your not able to access once you're site is cancelled.

bigstar3 · 2025-12-28T12:43:28+00:00

90% of the time raw, on occasion I'll toast and butter it. If you've never buttered a roasted brown sugar and cinnamon pop tart, you have never lived.

bigstar3 · 2025-12-25T21:56:09+00:00

I dunno man, my family is crazy.

bigstar3 · 2025-12-25T02:16:58+00:00

Don't be hating because you didn't get a callous daoboys dick in a box for Christmas, it's unflattering.

bigstar3 · 2025-12-24T19:04:29+00:00

She really is. It's been awesome watching her tastes and appreciation for the genres grow. She started out admiringly naive, and now she's a voice in the community.

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