Since the site has started I’ve received quite a bit of feed back on the choice of the name MilitaryChefs.com. To my
surprise, many feel (including other military cooks) that there are few to no chefs in the military. I highly disagree with this
opinion and have decided that one of our sites goals is to prove to all military food service members that they are chefs
or they are on the path to becoming one.
Up until five years ago I have held the same opinion as many others: “Chefs in the military are few to none.” There is no
way the majority of military cooks could come into a restaurant and be anything more than a line cook or at best a sous
chef.
Was I right??? Yes.
Was I wrong??? Yes.
I still believe the average military cook will have a hard time walking into a restaurant and land himself an executive chef
position.
So what’s missing?
--> Everything else in the food service industry besides restaurants <-- The world needs banquet hall chefs, off site
catering chefs, personal chefs, institutional chefs, business style food service chefs, yacht chefs, cruise ships chefs,
noncommercial food service chefs and many other platforms that, believe it or not, the military cook fits right into.
5 years ago I was transferred to my first land station. My only cooking experience was as an underway duty cook. My
new Chief told me to apply at a high end catering company he worked for. I was hired and started right away.
The skills I had learned underway fit perfect with the objectives in off site catering. From the first day on, for 5 years, I’ve
felt comfortable in this environment. I have heard this same story from other cooks who left the military to try out many of
the jobs listed above. We thrive in these positions. As for the military cooks who go to the high end restaurants… they
tend to find things harder.
Over the past 5 years as a Chef at www.athymetocook.com I have seen restaurant chefs come and go. They are a
different breed. The mentality of a military cook works in these environments. We are adaptable, resourceful,
knowledgeable in mass quantity food production, we’re clean and sanitary in the worst environments, we understand
pressure, we understand “hurry up to wait”, we know how to work with vendors, we load stores better than anyone, we
are extremely organized, we understand the “7 Ps” (proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance),
we keep a sharp appearance, we act respectful to our costumers, we know how to act around powerful people, we don’t
do drugs, we have security clearances ----I could go on forever--- most of all we know how to cook well and when it
comes to cooking for large groups of customers, we are the best.
We know the basic of cooking and our other skills are endless. The only gap between a military cook and a many
nonrestaurant chefs is the small adjustment to a finer cooking style.
In the last five years I’ve seen it happen time and time again. I’ve seen the sparkle in the eyes of a cook after he takes all
his military food service skills, and accomplishes something only a “Chef” could achieve.. proving to himself and others
that he IS a chef. I’ve never seen this happen to so many cooks (in such a short period of time) as when I attended the
Advance Culinary Skills Training Course – ACSTC at Fort Lee Virginia.
Check out the video here.
Many of these students were the average military cook.
After watching this video and seeing what the average military cook can produce with a little fine tuning, do you still
believe there are few to no military chefs???
surprise, many feel (including other military cooks) that there are few to no chefs in the military. I highly disagree with this
opinion and have decided that one of our sites goals is to prove to all military food service members that they are chefs
or they are on the path to becoming one.
Up until five years ago I have held the same opinion as many others: “Chefs in the military are few to none.” There is no
way the majority of military cooks could come into a restaurant and be anything more than a line cook or at best a sous
chef.
Was I right??? Yes.
Was I wrong??? Yes.
I still believe the average military cook will have a hard time walking into a restaurant and land himself an executive chef
position.
So what’s missing?
--> Everything else in the food service industry besides restaurants <-- The world needs banquet hall chefs, off site
catering chefs, personal chefs, institutional chefs, business style food service chefs, yacht chefs, cruise ships chefs,
noncommercial food service chefs and many other platforms that, believe it or not, the military cook fits right into.
5 years ago I was transferred to my first land station. My only cooking experience was as an underway duty cook. My
new Chief told me to apply at a high end catering company he worked for. I was hired and started right away.
The skills I had learned underway fit perfect with the objectives in off site catering. From the first day on, for 5 years, I’ve
felt comfortable in this environment. I have heard this same story from other cooks who left the military to try out many of
the jobs listed above. We thrive in these positions. As for the military cooks who go to the high end restaurants… they
tend to find things harder.
Over the past 5 years as a Chef at www.athymetocook.com I have seen restaurant chefs come and go. They are a
different breed. The mentality of a military cook works in these environments. We are adaptable, resourceful,
knowledgeable in mass quantity food production, we’re clean and sanitary in the worst environments, we understand
pressure, we understand “hurry up to wait”, we know how to work with vendors, we load stores better than anyone, we
are extremely organized, we understand the “7 Ps” (proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance),
we keep a sharp appearance, we act respectful to our costumers, we know how to act around powerful people, we don’t
do drugs, we have security clearances ----I could go on forever--- most of all we know how to cook well and when it
comes to cooking for large groups of customers, we are the best.
We know the basic of cooking and our other skills are endless. The only gap between a military cook and a many
nonrestaurant chefs is the small adjustment to a finer cooking style.
In the last five years I’ve seen it happen time and time again. I’ve seen the sparkle in the eyes of a cook after he takes all
his military food service skills, and accomplishes something only a “Chef” could achieve.. proving to himself and others
that he IS a chef. I’ve never seen this happen to so many cooks (in such a short period of time) as when I attended the
Advance Culinary Skills Training Course – ACSTC at Fort Lee Virginia.
Check out the video here.
Many of these students were the average military cook.
After watching this video and seeing what the average military cook can produce with a little fine tuning, do you still
believe there are few to no military chefs???
| MilitaryChefs.com hosts news stories, photos, video clips and other forms of Multi Media pertaining to military food service, and hence we provide military chefs with the tools to display their recipes, training courses, culinary competitions, events, talents and accomplishments effectively promoting and motivating military food service operations. |
| The internet is full of information pertaining to civilian food service with very few web pages dedicated to military food service. Why not make an all in one web page EMPOWERING the military chef with the ability to promote their galley/kitchen, training programs, culinary teams, or culinary achievements on a Do-It-Yourself basis using a medium everyone is already familiar with. We can give you the resources to permanently display your own, your people's or your operation's food service success. Please submit your food service multi media here. |
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