What It Is Like To Go On Vacation As A Chef
Many people tel me that I am silly for not wanting to open up my own restaurant. Of course I would love to have my own restaurant. Things would be the way I wanted them to be, people would answer to me at all times, but I would also have “no life”.I would be responsible for all of the financial burden, I would need to be on call 24/7, and I would rarely ever get to go on vacation if ever at all.
I have been in Florida for the past 4 days, and I am currently in the airport waiting for my flight to board. Prior to vacation I was an absolute mess. I made charts, sheets, checklists, I prepped and over prepped, gave instructions and was still worried that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my vacation fully. I even pulled a few late night shifts.
Right after my first flight I turned my phone on and I already had one voicemail. I thought ohh boy is this what the whole vacation will be like? The call was from a repair man who was coming to look at an oven, and wanted to let me know that he would be arriving shortly. Once I got off the phone the lady next to me goes “ohh do you own a restaurant”? I replied, “no, I’m just tha pastry chef at a restaurant in Boston”.
Yesterday, the day before I was scheduled to come back home I had a huge catering event; that I would be unable to attend because I’m on vacation. This was the first time my crew would be at the site ( alone)and I was sure things were going to get complicated eventhough I left three very capable people in charge. Me being me I called in the morning to check in, during the day I constantly checked my phone and I checked sales from the event. Thankfully I only got one phone call ( lol).
Despite all of my worrying and checking in I had an amazing and relaxing week off. For all of the chefs out there,I know it is hard to sit back and let someone else assume responsibility for a few days, but just do it, relax and enjoy yourself. If you are incapable of that then maybe you should just stay home it would be less stressful that way.
