[clg]

Wondering if anyone out there is in the restaurant/dining business? I am not currently but I keep having these fantasies about opening up a place. I know that many business ventures fail but of course I think this will work.

If anyone is and would not mind chatting for a bit, passing on good information resources, or meeting up if you are in the Wellington area. I would appreciate it!

Cheers,

Chris

[Carol]

Hi Chris... not exactly - but I'd like to be!

Oldest son is a Commis chef.... I have this "dream' of owning our own place and having him run the kitchen ..... while I run the front of house and hubby runs the bar!
lol

But to be honest - I can't give you any info as it's all in my head still!

[mgbridges]

Hi Chris,

My family own and run a country house hotel in South Wales (www.llch.co.uk) so I'm afraid any advice I could give would be from a UK perspective. However I'm happy to answer questions the best that I can.

I will say that running any kind of hospitality based business is a way of life not just a job. Its also 24/7, don't expect to still be able to have weekends off or go away at the drop of hat or even have a weeks holiday in the summer. It really is very hard graft to get a business like that to survive and you wouldn't believe the staff turnover! Also if you have plans to have a restaurant you'd be amazed how much a decent chef gets paid and how difficult it is to get one and then retain them.

Sorry to be a bit harsh and give a bunch of 'down' points but its really not for the faint-hearted. I have to dash to do the school run now but can come back and post more info and answer questions in due course.

HTH
Anneliese

[Carol]

Also if you have plans to have a restaurant you'd be amazed how much a decent chef gets paid and how difficult it is to get one and then retain them.


HTH
Anneliese

Hi Anneliese.....

A question from me ...hope that's Ok...
When you say "you'd be amazed at what a decent chef gets paid" - do you mean that they get a good wage or a dire one?

I'm just wondering as my son who is a Commis Chef is being paid $13 an hour here in NZ (yes you read that right!!)

And his head chef will only be on around $40-$45k he reckons....
(He's definitely a good one too!!)

I can see him zooming off back to the UK very shortly to make some decent money at this rate....
:-(

[KerryS]

Hi Anneliese.....

A question from me ...hope that's Ok...
When you say "you'd be amazed at what a decent chef gets paid" - do you mean that they get a good wage or a dire one?

I'm just wondering as my son who is a Commis Chef is being paid $13 an hour here in NZ (yes you read that right!!)

And his head chef will only be on around $40-$45k he reckons....
(He's definitely a good one too!!)

I can see him zooming off back to the UK very shortly to make some decent money at this rate....
:-(

In UK the head chef at my friend's pub is paid 31K a year. That's GBP. If she paid less then he'd be off elsewhere - he's very good, and so she pays well to keep him and her good reputation that he has helped enormously. (I only know this as she was telling me about the raise she'd just given him the other day and I was nosy enough to ask how much he was on...)

[mgbridges]

I was saying they get paid well but thats for a really good head chef who has been at that level for quite some time and could walk away and get another positon without any problems. I have heard of head chefs in London earning well into the £100K per annum range! The lower levels in the kitchen really don't seem to be paid anywhere near as well. I would expect head chefs in the UK to be paid better than in NZ as there are more opportunities simply due to population and big city count but I couldn't say for sure.

In general the hospitality industry is not one to go into to make money. You really have to do a lot of hard graft to make your mark and get recognised and moved up the levels, especially in the kitchen. Good luck to your son!

Anneliese

[Carol]

You really have to do a lot of hard graft to make your mark and get recognised and moved up the levels, especially in the kitchen. Good luck to your son!

Anneliese

Ahhh yes.... we've just been through the debate of:
Is it better for him to be a small fish in a big pond, or have the prospect of being a much bigger fish is a tiny wee pond (coincidentally 2 minutes walk away so no petrol/parking costs and home in bed at a time each night when he still had another 3 hours work to do in the big pond!!)

He has opted for the small pond for now, having done hundreds of hours of work in the city....

He absolutely adores what he does.

I've seen him come in from a loooong shift - and jump straight on the web to find a new recipe for the fish of the day for the next day......
His first head chef instilled some excellent habits inhim - particularly in regards to keeping things squeaky clean!!! (Shame the same can't be said about his bedroom but there you go...lol)

I love that he has got himself into work that he has a passion for....

Thanks for your good wishes.... :-)

[clg]

The 24x7 aspect worries me a bit and I don't want to head that route for more than a start up period. Not worth it otherwise! I should probably be a bit more specific. I am thinking more about a take away sort of operation and wondering if anyone has been involved in something like that.

Carol, great to hear your son is truly passionate about something that is how all the really successful people start!

[mgbridges]

clg - I would assume a takeaway kind of thing wouldn't be quite so labour intensive and you wouldn't need to be 'on call' so much but I'm afraid I don't have any direct experience so can't help I'm afraid.

Carol - its wonderful to hear your son has found something his is passionate about and is sooo enthusiastic it really will stand him in good steed in the industry. My family have ended up with the hotel because my brother rather 'fell' into the hotel industry when he mucked up his 2nd attempt at the 1st year of Chartered Surveyor degree at uni! He absolutely found his niche in life and the rest, as they say, is history!

Anneliese