Chefs Career Advice from John Walton, Head Chef

Chef Career Advice

The advice that I'd give today to someone that's leaving college is basically to find themselves a good restaurant, somewhere that there going to learn a lot and just put themselves in there and just take note of what's going on, listen, write everything down and just kind of absorb everything and the rest will come.

Based on his extensive experience working within the Culinary world, Michelin Star Chef, John Walton offers his advice to aspiring Chefs in an attempt to help them on their journey up the career ladder:

A young Chef can expect from our industry today long hours, it's always tough that's the industry if you want to be at the top and that's like any industry you want to be the best then you got to be prepared to put the hours in and work hard but yeah just got to keep on at it and you’ll succeed and do well.

The best bit of advice that I've ever been given is to basically stick with a certain employer, stay with them, stay dedicated if it's exactly what you want then keep going for it and have the commitment, basically giving the commitment and listening and that's all you need. If a CV arrives at me what I'm looking for is someone that actually really wants to work for Paul Ainsworth at number 6 at Padstow, someone that has researched the restaurant, they don't have to have had the best knowledge or best skills, we can teach that, that will come with our knowledge but someone that really wants to work for Paul Ainsworth at number 6. Have a little bags of knowledge, enthusiasm, plenty of passion and just non-stop drive that's it.

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