Career advice from Chef Hayden Groves

The Staff Canteen

Chef Career Advice

Based on her extensive experience working within the Culinary world, Executive Chef, Hayden Groves offers his advice to aspiring Chefs in an attempt to help them on their journey up the career ladder:

My name is Hayden Groves, I'm an Executive Chef for Baxter Story and I am the current national Chef of the year.

The advice I would offer for anyone is you're probably not going to be the next Jamie Oliver as much as you want to be, you're not going to be a Head Chef in 2 years so it's all about pushing yourself learning each day and just being committed you got to want to go and do it and that's the ultimate.

Young Chefs can expect from our industry a little bit different from what I had 23 years ago when I left school. I think you've got to go and search out for Chefs that want to nurture young talent, someone with a proven track record for me I think that competitions such as future Chef where they take on 12-16-year-olds is a great testament to what we want to do the industry these days. The best bit of advice I have ever been given is pretty short and sweet, 2 ears, 2 eyes and 1 mouth so you use them in that ratio, in other words, lots of looking, lots of listening and not a lot of talking.

Ultimately a Chef that wants a career with me, I am looking for a good attitude, ultimately skills can be taught but attitude can't. A good background, But you know Michelin star this, Michelin star that is not everything, I've worked at a 5 star place at the end of the day, if I give you a De jure dish to come up with and you walk into the fridge and just crumble that is not what I want, I want someone that thinks of their feet.

Baxter story and ultimately myself if you come and work for me I will take everything you do and try and look at marginal gains approach, we a little kitchen metro how can we of that neater, tidier, faster more efficient and ultimately tastier So whether that be cooking cleaning, prepping you know we are a business so one eye on the margin as well and any maths would come in handy as well.

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The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 22nd September 2016

Career advice from Chef Hayden Groves