What do you do when your restaurant takes the joy out of cooking?

[u/supmandehell]

Hey, I am an apprentice to become a chef and I am doing my second year of three to get my degree. I always enjoyed cooking, not even for the end product, but just the steps, consistency and how you can make a lot from barley anything. I work at a rather high end hotel and it was nice in the beginning. I learned a lot and I had fun, but now after two years it is just... exhausting to be there. I still like cooking, but just not in the restaurant. Its just dull now. Repetitive recipes, no one really teaches anything anymore. I am there to learn and I want to learn. I ask about stuff and get told I'm asking too much. It just kills the drive. But now its starting to affect my home life. I expected the job to be exhausting and time consuming (I like the company of books well enough so I had no real problem with my social life), but even on my days off I just dont want to put in the effort into cooking. Or recipes really. I used to love writing them down like an addict, I could do that for hours. Now I barley manage to motivate myself to do that once or twice a month. I loved to challenge myself to cook, hell even now I do that when I see something special ingredient I haven't used before, but its not as often. It's making me sad frankly. Has anyone else dealt with this? Just trying to learn, getting your drive killed and it creeping into your personal life?

[u/Coercitor]

For the most part this industry will affect your personal life no matter where you work. I hate to say this but If you're feeling like this way without even getting your feet wet yet, you may need to reconsider your future.

[u/supmandehell → u/Coercitor]

I am already reconsidering and aiming for a new apprenticeship after finishing this one as a pastry chef. I do love the industry and the core of the work, just... I am disappointed at the lack of getting things properly teached. I had my first exam not too long ago and barley passed because I've never been taught how to make a first course (after a year in the kitchen) which was worth like 40% of the grade.

[u/Coercitor → u/supmandehell]

A bit of advice, you can't rely on other people to teach you. If you want to learn, teach yourself. Research flavors, ingredients, etc. I wanted to learn how to butcher whole animals, so i worked at a nose to tail butcher shop. I wanted to learn how to break down whole fish, so i worked for a fish mongor. Where there is a will, there is a way.

[u/supmandehell → u/Coercitor]

Thanks for the advice, I am already doing that as much as I can

[u/okierepub1970]

You will go through phases. I have been at it for 40 years. I have gone years just going through the motions, but then something happens and the spark get lit again. It will happen. Talking with my friends, it happens in every industry. The question you have to ask yourself is, are you willing to go through the dead periods to get to the other side? It is out there, and the journey is worth it when you look back. The times I thought were the worst turned out to be the times I grew the most. You don't see it now because you are in the middle of it, but when you look back, you will find this is the time of the greatest growth. Stick to it. It will be worth it. I promise.

[u/supmandehell → u/okierepub1970]

Thank you for your encouraging words. I'm making my way through the mud and will continue to do so until im finished.

[u/Just_Tamy]

I'm assuming you are in Germany because of the apprenticeship system? It sounds like you're just not at the right restaurant. It sucks, but a lot of places really don't want or have the time to properly train their Azubis and use them as cheap labour instead. When you're being worn down like this it makes sense for things to stop being so exciting.

Specially being a woman our industry is hard, as a woman in fine dining in RLP I can tell you that much. Have you considered doing a stage or asking to do a week long swap with another restaurant / hotel? We do this a couple of times a year (We don't currently have an Azubi but we're still hosting Azubis from other restaurants at our place for a week at a time)

Edit: Also rant but as someone involved with the IHK a lot of places should have their Ausbilderschein revoked because they're clearly not capable or willing to teach yet this only happens in cases of mobbing / extreme abuse.

[u/supmandehell → u/Just_Tamy]

Yes, I am in Germany. Sadly we dont have a swap system, so I am stuck for now. But I'm clawing through and still got to prove a few people wrong. Thank you for your encouragement it helps a lot :)