What advice can you give me as someone who aspires to become a professional chef?

I'm not a chef myself. However, my younger brother is a chef and a restaurateur who own a successful restaurant in San Diego, CA. Below is my brother's answer and I thought it would be helpful to share here!

"I strongly advise that you first experience the restaurant kitchen, which can feel very different from your home kitchen. Before getting into culinary schools, I suggest that you find a part-time restaurant job (i.e. kitchen helper), to taste how it's like to work in a restaurant kitchen. You'll be able closely watch the chef and confirm/grow your passion in the culinary art!"

Hi Anastasia,

Not a chef myself, but my family owns Asian/Chinese restaurant in Sydney so I might be able to give you some advice.

• If you haven't started working in a restaurant,

you will probably start as assistant to the chef, in this period I will recommend you to observe, as much as you can. Try to find out what's unique with the cooking style/receipt and ask as much questions as you can.

• If you are currently working as a chef,

if possible, try to learn different cuisines ( french/Italian/chinese etc.), and see if you can develop some kind of collaborations with them. In Sydney, there is a fine-dining restaurant called Tetsuya's, which combines Japanese cuisine with classic french cuisine and had made great success.

All in all, wish you best luck in the path of being a pro chef and please do let me know when you open your own restaurant, would love to go and try it out!

Cheers,

Tony