[Santofu]

Do you know any restaurants that are Red Seal certified?
I'm looking for one to do some work experience for two weeks. It's part of my school work.
I'm currently in ACE-IT Culinary Arts Professional Cook Program at a secondary school.
The restaurant must be bus-accessible because I don't have the right insurance to drive to work.

[bcrdukes]

Edited for clarity :)

[Santofu]

Thanks, I know my grammar is horrible, but I need to improve it.

[scottsman]

Choose your restaurant carefully. Even white spot has red seal certified cooks these days.

[Santofu]

My teacher said white spot doesn't really meets the standards, and I worked there before, didn't like it, cooks didn't care about health and shit

[cho]

Choose your restaurant carefully. Even white spot has red seal certified cooks these days.

whats wrong with whitespot having red seal chefs?

[Culture_Vulture]

whats wrong with whitespot having red seal chefs?
take a tour in the back kitchen at your local whitespot and you'll see
red seals aren't worth as much as people tend to think

[Alar]

Joey has certified red seal chef's, I am in their apprenticeship program working to get my certification, you should look into there and asking to do your stage.

[cho]

take a tour in the back kitchen at your local whitespot and you'll see
red seals aren't worth as much as people tend to think

I'm a lvl 2 apprentice at one, and my kitchen is at good as could be, which one would you be talking about
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)

[TekDragon]

I believe the Beaver at the airport is red seal.

[TheNewGirl]

Do you know any restaurants that are Red Seal certified?
I'm looking for one to do some work experience for two weeks. It's part of my school work.
I'm currently in ACE-IT Culinary Arts Professional Cook Program at a secondary school.
The restaurant must be bus-accessible because I don't have the right insurance to drive to work.


Where are you studying?

Four Seasons hired a lot of their third cooks right out of VCC, they have a program for doing your apprenticeship also.

[Santofu]

I'm studying at Windermere Community Secondary School.

[Culture_Vulture]

I'm a lvl 2 apprentice at one, and my kitchen is at good as could be, which one would you be talking about
Posted via RS Mobile (http://www.revscene.net/forums/announcement.php?a=228)
Well maybe I'm biased then. I've been to a couple Whitespots around here, all of which were average at best.

The Guildford location was horrible, not only from my personal dining experience there, but also from a friend who was briefly employed as a busboy. He told me there were slabs of meat literally just sitting on the counters unattended, and there were cooks that didn't even wear hair nets.
I've also been at the one on No. 3 road, as well as in Richmond Center, and while I can't say much about their kitchens, they really could have done a better job cleaning up the dining areas.

[cho]

Well maybe I'm biased then. I've been to a couple Whitespots around here, all of which were average at best.

The Guildford location was horrible, not only from my personal dining experience there, but also from a friend who was briefly employed as a busboy. He told me there were slabs of meat literally just sitting on the counters unattended, and there were cooks that didn't even wear hair nets.
I've also been at the one on No. 3 road, as well as in Richmond Center, and while I can't say much about their kitchens, they really could have done a better job cleaning up the dining areas.

sorry, i've heard stories about guildford too, and as for no 3 road, they're pretty high up on sales usually so maybe you caught them on a busy day, and for both of those stores there are no red seals there

[Culture_Vulture]

not to mention my judgment on White Spot is forever tarnished from semester after semester of eating at SFU's Triple O's :lol

[Santofu]

Have anyone tried this place?
http://www.indish.ca/

[impulseX]

Try asking any hotel and seeing if the Chef will let you stage there. All my classmates literally spent the entire course staging (my course was 3 and a half months long)

[reFR3SH]

I did ACE-IT when I was in my grade 12 year in high school.
Worked at Cat's Social Bar (former Cat's meow, bought out by Brown's restaurant chain then renamed) during the 2 Olympic weeks, it was pretty busy but it was organized chaos. It was pretty fun because it was my first time being in the kitchen environment; and I loved it. I currently work at Chop (Richmond) and they have red seal certified chef. You can give those places a look, and maybe request to talk to the sous chef or head chef about work experience there.

Good luck with the program, and keep on collecting those hours! :)

[Santofu]

Did you used to go to Windermere?

[Deathdot]

Try Cactus Club. I haven't started the apprenticeship program yet but I'm here for work experience for now. But I get paid.

Cactus club is very good for this type of stuff. I work at the coquitlam one.

[scottsman]

Not to take away from OP's original post and not trying to take anything away from you Cho as I think it is good you are following up with the red seal but personally if someone came to me looking to get hired with a red seal from White Spot it would not impress me unless you will share the secret of the triple O sauce.

IMO the red seal program in BC is a joke. This certificate used to be something to show that your a step above all the other cooks out there but as soon as any regular line cook could work at Sammy Js, Joeys, White Spot, Cactus, etc. it lost its cred.

It is an absolute abortion that a cook can achieve the red seal from a restaurant like West, Lumiere(sp) and still have the same piece of paper as someone who got it at Joey's.

Culinary school is an excellent foundation for a cooking career however experience trumps all. Probably 10% of culinary school actually replicated typical working situations and experiences.

Bottom line, where ever you go for work whether its for red seal or experience make sure it is in line with what your career goal is. Don't expect to get a red seal at white spot and then land a job at a 5/6 star hotel or Michelin rated restaurant.

[Santofu]

Try Cactus Club. I haven't started the apprenticeship program yet but I'm here for work experience for now. But I get paid.

Cactus club is very good for this type of stuff. I work at the coquitlam one.

I did that last year, I didn't get a chance to cook in the line but never got paid. I'm thinking of going to Milestones.

[scottsman]

Instead of going the route of generic chain restaurants why not try hotel chains such as Marriott, Hyatt, Sheraton, Radisson, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Fairmont, etc.

You can get a lot more experience in hotels as they have more than just a restaurant and if you decide you like the hotel you are working with then there is a lot of room for advancement not only with in the hotel but around the world.

Does your chef at secondary school have any contacts with any of these places or even at some of the Culinary Schools(VCC)? If you are going to Culinary School for post secondary then it could be useful to make some contacts now.

[TheNewGirl]

I don't know about Whindemire but I would still apply at the four seasons. They need chiefs around the clock so they hire a lot of third cooks. You can apprentice through them (though it will take a while) but more importantly you can get experience in pretty much every kind of cooking there is, from pastry to catering and so on. And unlike a lot of the other hotels they're unionized so they do pay a bit better and are marginally less demanding of unpaid over time (though it seems to be the industry standard that you will be doing some).

I know several people who started their careers there and made some great contacts to move into positions else where.

You may also want to check out Deer Lake lodge. I know some chefs there but don't know nearly as much about their programs and offerings but it seems to be a good team they have in the kitchen.

[Deathdot]

I did that last year, I didn't get a chance to cook in the line but never got paid. I'm thinking of going to Milestones.

Let me just tell you that I started as a dishwasher on work experience about 3 weeks ago. It was hard in the beginning but once you get used to it, its a great company. I had a 2-week probation on which i was on, and after that, depending if I'm suitable or not I'd get hired as an apprentice.

This is the 4th week and my probation was extended to 3 weeks, and I'm starting to work at the prep station now. Then salads, then apps, then deserts.

I think if you are committed if this is what you want to do, then definitely pick a good restaurant. I still recommend other locations of Cactus and you go in with a different mindset than you did before, who knows, maybe you'll succeed

[Sentinel]

Chained restaurants like Cactus, Earls, Joeys, etc., they are a good stepping stone towards the culinary field, as you learn the fundamentals of cooking. Since most of the stuff(meat cut already, sauce made, etc.) is done for you, all you gotta do is just heat it up and put it together. You do learn quite a bit from working there. I did nearly 5yrs at Cactus and learned a handful. But you got to remember, in every kitchen, there is only so much you can learn. Especially at chained restaurants where the menu rarely changes, its hard to get your hands on something else.

I did the 1yr program at VCC and even some of the instructors said; if they had 2 guys applying for a 1st cook position. One guy did his apprenticeship at Hotel Vancouver and one guy did it at some chained restaurant. He would no doubt take the guy who did it at a hotel. Because of the name and exp.

[Santofu]

Thanks man! Your advice really helps!

[impulseX]

Like Sentinel mentioned, chain restaurants are great stepping stones. Especially if you are a fast learner, you can move up to learn what they have to teach you pretty fast. I've only been working at the keg for just over 2 years now, but I've learned basically every component that I could learn from their kitchen within the first year. It's helped me apply that to the restaurant i'm at right now and even then, it's completely different going from a chain where everything is prepped, you just heat and go, to a restaurant that makes their product from scratch.

I'm assuming you're around my age so my advice is just don't put too much emphasis on where to go to as long as you have you foot through the door. You have plenty of time to get to somewhere better, but thats only if you can learn, and hone that knowledge. And like i mentioned before, offering a chef to do a stage, will really help you learn more, but potentially landing you a job

[F1]

if you want to learn how to cook, don't do it at a chain restaurant. having said that, its not a bad thing to work at chain restaurants though. it'll teach you line skills, knife skill and basic cooking abilities plus you'll find out fast if restaurant life is for you or not but you'll just be a robot.
even working in hotels isn't all sunshine either. sure the pay is good, but even the skill level there can be quite bad as well.
but as scottsman has said earlier, don't put too much emphasis on getting your red seal. it is a joke! the restaurant i work at now, the brigade is only about 10 cooks, but these are cooks from france, england, states and asia yet not one of them has a red seal or cares about getting one. if you want to really learn how to cook, go work abroad and go work in standalone restaurants. i'be been doing this for too long, and seen quite a bit and if i was around your age now, i'd take off to europe or asia.