Luxury yacht, sailing the open seas, birds singing, sea shining, and you are preparing and crafting meals. Sound glamorous to you?
Being a yacht chef is very challenging job and you have the responsibility to deliver excellent dining experiences from morning to night. It can really be fulfilling career, but sometimes you’ll need to entail people with refined tastes and high expectations. Furthermore, the chef onboard any luxury yacht plays an integral role in the daily running of the boat so it is a big difference between being good and an average chef.
If you want to be a good and wanted chef, here are the steps you need to follow:
- You have to have a lot of skills.
Time and space management skills are essential for yacht chefs. Also, sometimes you’ll need to be flexible enough for sudden changes to the menu. Always have a back-up supply of options and the contact details of a reputable yacht provisioning agent that provides worldwide delivery to the most remote locations.
- Listen to other’s wishes.
You need to cook for yacht guests, not for yourself. This means although you are a talented cook, it doesn’t mean you should create the entire menu to showcase your most ostentatious culinary skills. Sometimes guests will crave something basic like a toasted sandwich or comfort food. Don’t be offended when they opt for simplicity, it is not a reflection of your ability.
Make sure that every guest fills out a preference sheet and pay attention to their eating habits, don’t forget – details matter, particularly when it comes to dietary requirements and presentation.
- Be caring.
Like we said it earlier, take notes with dietary requirements and try to work alternatives into the general menu as much as possible so that guests don’t feel they are missing out. Serving thoughtful snacks and treats is usually a welcome surprise. Also, it would be nice if you pay attention to national holidays and prepare something from the guests’ countries to celebrate!
- Children are the key to happiness.
Nobody wants to spend their holidays listening kids how they don’t want to eat something and get in an arugument – everyone is happy as long as the children are well-fed and happy! You can cook your way into parents’ hearts by preparing healthy and nutritious meals that their children actually want to eat. Do this by making a kid-friendly menu of colourful, ‘fun-looking’ food made or cut into different shapes. To steal their hearts, ask kids what they want to eat for one night!
- Nobody wants hungry crew.
The crew are your onboard family and also work incredibly long hours, so a decent meal can be the highlight of a tiring day for them! Preparing a tasty meals will win their appreciation and loyalty. One more thing you can do is cooking combination of meals from the crew members’ home countries! It can work wonders to lift spirits and create a happier atmosphere for everyone. Remember this – your crew can be an excellent source of referrals with captains and yacht crew recruitment companies, treat them right!
If you follow these steps, you’ll be the best chef they ever had! You will be in their hearts and they will have you in mind while giving a tip 😉
But if you still don’t have a job, and you are applying on some, we’ll give you a few tips to amaze the interviewers:
- Open an Instagram account showcasing your food
If you are a chef looking for work on a yacht, at one point you will find yourself being faced with the challenge of being asked to provide food photos as part of the recruitment process and this is probably the easiest and most effective way of showcasing your work!
All you need to do after that is paste your Instagram handle onto your CV, and all that recruiters and potential employees need to do is press on or copy the link and boom, they are instantly able to look at your creations. That will devinitely make you stand out from the rest and you’ll look like a pro!
- Create a website dedicated to your professional work
Building a website by yourself or hiring someone to do it, either way having your own website will help you present yourself and your food in a very professional way! Once you have your website ready and running, simply paste the website URL into your CV under your personal details.
Good luck!
