Recovering from alcoholism in the restaurant industry: chef Craig Strippel shares his story

Addiction problems in the restaurant industry aren't a secret. But sometimes statistics serve as a stark reminder of the extent of a problem. Did you know that chefs are almost twice as likely to die from alcoholism than the average person?

Another way of bringing the all-too-often ignored fact to light is for chefs to tell their stories, and that is what chef Craig Strippel, who almost took his own life last year but is now on the road to recovery, has decided to do. 

The chef and father of three spoke to The Guardian as he had recently begun training for the London Marathon – all part of his journey to kick his drinking habit once and for all.

The father of three and Newlyn chef said his problem started when he reached a senior chef level.

The long hours pushed him to the limits of exhaustion and he used alcohol as a means of coping with tiredness and stress.  And despite having gone awol from several restaurants he had worked at, he said none of his employers had ever asked if he needed any help.

“There are probably side effects with every job,” he said.

“But with chefs it was usually drugs and alcohol.”

A pivotal moment for the chef came in September last year, when he came close to taking his own life, after he had spent the summer working alone in a kitchen in Penzance.

Colleagues offered him beers throughout the day, customers tipped him in drinks and he joined his friends for social drinks off after each stressful, tiring days’ work.

Craig described running a kitchen in the summer with just