Country clubs ... what's the lure for local chefs?

[Robin Garr]

Okay, I don't want to put anyone on the spot here, but I can't help noticing a significant number of our local chefs have recently moved from top local restaurant kitchens to country clubs.

No need to name names, but can anyone tell us ... or even just speculate credibly - what's the allure of country club work? Is it the relative lack of stress, the freedom, the pay ... or something else? Or is it even possible to generalize?

A very good friend of mine left the white-hot NYC restaurant scene to take over as executive chef of a country club in New Jersey. I asked him why and he said that he kept hearing his wife talk about these children that they had, so he thought he'd take a job where he could meet them sometime.

Okay, I don't want to put anyone on the spot here, but I can't help noticing a significant number of our local chefs have recently moved from top local restaurant kitchens to country clubs.

No need to name names, but can anyone tell us ... or even just speculate credibly - what's the allure of country club work? Is it the relative lack of stress, the freedom, the pay ... or something else? Or is it even possible to generalize?

i'm taking a stab in the dark here,
but i'm willing to assume it's a mix of the following:

-hours closer to the 'typical' 9-5er, with less variance, and less overtime.
-that said, usually more forgiving hours for those with families/children
-better pay
-less stress
-benefits (which are super rare in indie restaurants)
-change of scenery

Robin,

I noticed the same thing, but also that some of the country club chefs (John Varanese comes to mind) are coming from back with their own restaurant.

I'm totally speculating, but wondered if in addition to those advantages previously mentioned, if the Country Club chef also gets exposure on a regular basis to potential investors who might finance a restaurant of their own when they are ready.

Deb

Although I never attained head chef status at a club, I did work as Sous Chef for two different clubs in Louisville. As Ethan stated, benefits are a big plus, free golf (if you like that sort of thing) LESS stress. The last cub I worked for (Polo Fields) even had a cleaning crew. We just closed our stations and they did the rest; mopping, cleaned the matts, trash ect. I also had the opportinuity to private parties for some good $$$ for members at their homes.

I can tell you the real reasons we go to clubs. We get the opportunity to do a variety of restaurant styles in the same place at the same time.

We get the bar/pub atomosphere at the equivalent to a "19th hole" We can carve ice when we get the urge. We cater wedding receptions as either buffets for the artistic display or Chaud Frois chefs, as well as doing multi-course plate ups for 300+ people at $50 a head. We have a blank slate to brush our creativity on.

In most restaurants, the profits are small and the stress is high and limits creativity. In clubs, they are not-for-profits most of the time and 40% food cost is the budget, (Lots of room for high quality ingredients.) In restaurants a 40% food cost is grounds for dismissal, it is usually between 28-32%. In clubs you have a semi-captive audience which leads to stability.

Ask the food vendors, the country club accounts are their bread and butter. Some clubs in Louisville do in the upwards of $2 million in food and beverage business alone per year. Most restaurants would kill for that type of revenue.

You get ample staff, benefits, and with a good sous chef, you can both get paid well and work an average of 50 hours a week versus the 70 and 80 hours a week that restaurants demands of chefs. Don't get me wrong, we still have our 60-80 hour weeks, but you have just as many 40 hour weeks.

I hope this gives some insight to the issue.

All those things Rick said too. I overlooked. We also did several special dinner nights throught the year. One of our most popular was a Russian dinner. We even tried cooking a quarter side of beef on a spit just like you see on TV westerns. COMPLETE disaster!! I still get a kick thinking about it. In all I think most seroius foodies have an opinion that Country Club work is for no-talent chefs/cooks who cant handle "real" restaurant work. There may be a thread of truth in that but we always made most everything from scatch. Salad dressings, stocks, sauces and soups. Always broke down whole fish when possible and hand cut steaks so I expierenced good quality food and work techniques. But again, "slammed" for us would be 80 covers on a Sat. night.

I think that Rick hit it right on the head. I know that I can handle almost anything that is thrown at me in a restaurant but there are some things that you just cant do in a restaurant that you are able to do in a club setting. The hours are different and the stress is different but they are absolutely still there. I also agree with Deb that there is that much more potential of finding investors and getting to "do your own thing" in a club environment.

I think Dallas & Ethan really hit the nail on the head. Another big reason is job security! At C.C's you never have to worry about your resturant closing b/c the owners choose to squander money away on things such gambling. Oops, did I say that out loud? Oh well, too late now.

There are some big pros and cons to working at a Club as opposed to a restaurant. Yes.... the hours are alot better(a late night for me is leaving at 10:00pm) The pay is better(from my experience anyway) and there are better benefits.
However, some of the cons are.... feeding the same people week in and week out can present a challenge when most of them are older and not adventurous eaters. And feeding insane amounts of people for banquets and not really being staffed to make the food as good as you would like.

Sometimes a change in venue is what you need to stay focused. It could be moving from restaurant ops to a hotel or large catering operation. It could be grinding out lunch and dinner in a country club for 10 years and then moving over to culinary instruction. Change represents challenge to "we pirates." The setting doesn't always have to mean you're searching for better quality of life. It could simply be the need to breathe different air for a while. If you get yourself into a private operating club without corporate structure like those in AGC or Club Corp, you may be jumping out of the pot and into the fire. Clubs "may" offer a more secular schedule - but they can have there pitfalls as well. Especially if your average member age is 102.
If nothing else.....free golf on Monday