What is a typical day like as a chef?

This answer is based on the time I worked in the hospitality industry which included being trained as a chef.

Being a chef is very rewarding work. It is also physically taxing as well as well as mentally challenging as a chef has to multi-task almost the entire time they're working.

A typical day would involve starting with a significant amount of "prep work". Prep work is the preparation of whatever ingredients and implements you will need for whatever eventuality might arise throughout your shift. This involves understanding what the typical expectations of demand will likely be and preparing for those while also bearing in mind that out of the ordinary requests could arise so there has to be a contingency plan in place at all times. Good examples of this would be to have vegetarian or vegan dishes as backup options for people who request something that you might not do normally. However, times are changing and Vegetarian and Vegan dishes are much more commonplace so it's much more likely that you will have those types of ingredients already in place.

Obviously, most chefs work of a restaurant menu but more senior chef's often have to re-create a menu and also come up with daily "specials" to offer, so creativity is also a strength for any chef.

Once prep work is complete, in a standard restaurant kitchen the chef and the kitchen staff would then react with efficient action to any orders submitted by the floor staff on behalf of the customer. This will repeat, with a range of different dishes, throughout the shift.

This is where the multi-tasking aspect of a chef's role is at its peak as, when you have responsibility for several different dishes that are cooking simultaneously, you have to be on top of the timing so that the food comes out just right. While you will be working with a team, each of whom should have responsibility for their own work station (grill, fryer, salads, etc.), keeping an overall eye on things is a great trait for any chef to have. This does not happen overnight so, to start off with, make sure you have your own area sewn up tight and then, when it's second nature to you, you can start looking around to ensure you are understanding other stations and ensuring that, if you see a potential issue, or something missing that the team might need a little later, don't wait for someone to get it, or to be asked to get it, just jump on the issue and solve it at your first opportunity.

Whether you are working a shift to hand off to another chef, or whether you are working the last shift and the kitchen will be closing when you're done, thorough cleanup is absolutely essential. Every aspect of the kitchen needs to be so clean you could...eat your dinner off it. Keeping a kitchen hygienic is also a chef's responsibility (both throughout the shift as well as after) so ensuring all work stations are spotless before closing down is an absolute must.

Most importantly, a chef must take pride in what they do. The highest reward comes from a customer showing genuine appreciation for your creation in the form of whatever dish you prepared for them, but that same standard of pride has to be allocated to every duty a chef has for success to be truly achieved.

Outside of the primary kitchen responsibilities, more senior chefs often have to part manage the location they're working, i.e. a restaurant. So, a head chef will have additional administrative responsibilities like kitchen staff shift allocation, ordering stock (food and equipment), ensuring accuracy of hours so payroll can be correctly processed, and several other administrative duties that, the more senior a chef becomes, will become more a part of their overall responsibilities.

The hospitality industry is a fun industry to be a part of and as long as you maintain health and wellness, you will be able to deal with the hours (a lot of chef's work evenings) and steadily establish yourself as a creative, hard working, dedicated chef which will afford you more opportunities as you grow.

While you find that at the end of a shift, you will feel that you have exerted proper energy, the satisfaction levels for a job well done are a true achievement and all kitchen staff and hospitality staff are to be respected for a job that's harder than people know but is truly fulfilling if it's your passion.