¿nomadic chefs? Well yes. And there are more and more. So now you can familiarize yourself with this term that defines chefs who do not work in restaurants but are dedicated to other projects, whether feeding in private eventsin ephemeral projects or doing gastronomic styling, among many others. The talk given this morning by several cooks in Gastronomic Forum Barcelona has served to show everything a universe that goes beyond the kitchens of any restaurant. And, furthermore, this little ‘miracle’ turns out as much or more profitable And of course, much easier to reconcile with family life. Yeah, You can be a chef without a restaurant and make a living from it although there are still many people in the sector itself who do not understand very well what they live off of.
This is how they have certified it Iolanda Bustosknown as the flower chef; Eva Hausmannfood stylist, trend advisor and author of several books; Ana Casanovaprofessor at CETT-UB, blogger and creator of recipes for the media; Fran Baixasone of the members of Follia de Pot who, while looking for a new location for her restaurant, works for brands that want to reinforce their image through food, and Lucia Zarattifrom Saberes y Sabores, a feminist economics self-management project developed by migrant women from the domestic and care workers union.
“If I don’t have a restaurant, can I consider myself a chef?” Bustos asked himself. A direct answer has not been necessary because the experiences they have put on the table have spoken for themselves. And the correct concept of nomads It has helped us understand it better because it defines the constant labor movement in which these professionals live, so far from the routine of a typical restaurant in which every day they prepare the same dishes with the same ingredients until it is time to change the menu.
There are many reasons that led them to change registration. A restaurant that closes, dissatisfaction with a repetitive job, poor working conditions… “I was drowning in the kitchen, I was lilac,” recalls Hausmann, happy to have followed a path that, as Casanova recalls, was unthinkable for culinary students a few years ago: “The only professional outlet was restaurants. Period.”
In the countryside, at home, in catering…
But not. These women and their other colleagues have shown that you can cook out of there. In the countrysideFor example, as Bustos does when she takes her clients to the places where the ingredients with which she makes the dishes that they will taste ‘in situ’ grow. Or in catering, like Zaratti and her companions. EITHER at home to take photos that will later be uploaded to Instagram, as is the case with Casanova.
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They have more time for them because they are their own bosses and decide how and when to do things, and by not having the structural expenses of a restaurant they achieve a higher profit margin. “Of course, with the permanent uneasiness of not knowing if next month I will have a new project“, Baixas points out.
But overall, The experience of these women is much better than when they were in a restaurant and were ‘sedentary’ cooks. “I didn’t see myself at 50 years old standing in the kitchen getting so hot. The restaurant model must change because it is unsustainable on an economic and social level.. “A friend of mine has decided to close on the weekends because she didn’t see her daughters,” explains Hausmann. Perhaps that friend will consider becoming nomadic. These days it no longer seems so strange… or risky.