What is it like to be a pastry chef?

What has more status and earns more money? A pastry / confectionary chef or a professional chef de cuisine?

• Both professions are a craft that need to be learned, and which requires great artistic skills. But today, if i had to coach a relative of mine who loves food and pastry what would be the best career choice? And why?

• Answer:

  That depends. On what you understand a 'chef' to be, for one. An actual 'chef de cuisine' (the original meaning) is the number one in a restaurant kitchen. That is the most prestigious job in the kitchen, as well as the one with the highest pay. It's a job that usually requires many years of experience as a commis, demi-chef de partie, chef de partie and finally sous-chef. Most cooks don't make it that far, to be blunt. And make no mistake: no matter what some of the less savoury 'culinary colleges' may tell you, you don't graduate as a chef. You graduate as a cook. You might skip being commis and get hired as demi-chef or chef de partie if you're good and managed to get some work experience during your studies, but no sane restaurateur will let some greenhorn fresh out of training run their kitchen. In some larger higher end restaurants, one chef de partie is 'special': the chef pâtissier. In these joints, the patisserie is very much independent from the rest of the kitchen, and the chef pâtissier runs that. In these cases, he'll be 'equal' in rank to the chef de cuisine, at least as far as outside representation is concerned. The pay will also be comparable. The thing is: in a classical restaurant setting, the chef pâtissier will be a fully traind cook who specialises in patisserie. I'd recommend that route for someone who wants to work as a pâtissier in restaurants, as it leaves open more options - many smaller restaurants can't afford to hire a dedicated pâtissier who couldn't fill in for some other position in a pinch. Or can't afford a dedicated pâtissier, period. Also, jobs as the kind of 'independent' chef pâtissier I mentioned earlier are even rarer than positions as a chef de cuisine. if working in restaurants isnt the goal here, training as a pastry chef and looking for work at bakeries, cafés or cake shops might be a good alternative, though. Although for the real high-end jobs with chef de cuisine-level pay, having training as a cook or baker as a foundation would likely be helpful, as well, IMHO.