HOW TO SECURE A STAGE at ANY Restaurant!

[@johntibaldi9496]

I never stepped food in a kitchen, nor went to culinary school. I'm a college senior studying business but I've started cooking in 2016 and it became a passion. I applied for a stage at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London and got in! Just spreading positivity, if you have a passion, don't be scared to take the first step and just ask yourself: "what's the worst that can happen?" and "what is the cost of inaction?"

[@kamalnayanbandaru9286]

Might be hard to get a reply here, but I am literally in the same exact position as you were. A senior studying business been cooking for a while. If there is anyway I could talk to you about your experience I would seriously appreciate it!

[@Tunafishyme]

I got a stage at Spruce (1*) and Quince (3*) in SF a few summer back. I have no experience what so ever but wanted to learn. I just went to the restaurant, asked to speak with the chef and explained that I'm willing to do anything. For Spruce, they let me start the next day. I did that for about 6 weeks, 2-3 times a week. I then approached Quince and they had me try out to make sure I wouldn't get in the way. After two try-outs the CDC agreed that I could stage for prep and service (for canape). I did that for about a month. Great experience. All the emails I sent didn't work (Saison and Lazy Bear) but the ones where I knocked, they gave it to me (Quince, Benu, Luce, Spruce, Nico). Benu wanted me to work full time for 4 weeks but I wanted to play golf for half the week so decided against it but I would have loved to work there otherwise.

[@tristennaquin6841]

i emailed le bernardin asking if i can do a summer internship there. they politely said no XD

[@Brocksqd]

This video helps so much. I am new to the culinary rhelm learning more through culinary school and practical aspects through your videos. Thank you for helping people like me navigate through some of these unknowns.

[@Brocksqd]

Justin Khanna I'm currently at Escoffier in Boulder. It is a pretty humbling experience but it has been so much fun.

[@Ducky_logan]

Love your energy-- I worked 3 days at a prep cook. Love this!

[@chefhomeboyardee8]

I've been trailing for a long time since back before they were paying us for them. And this guy's giving great advice.

[@user-dq8cy1zk7g]

good advice man, I'm currently 19 working at the Four Seasons Resort in Orlando FL. Contemplating moving to Las Vegas, NYC, or Chicago after i'm done with school...

[@ryangoodwin6815]

Don't go to Vegas dude, nooooo!

[@BurhanHalilov]

Thanks!

[@justinkhanna]

Wow, thanks again, Burhan!

[@BurhanHalilov]

Very useful Than YOU !!!!

[@samcartwright6338]

Thank you sooo much for making this video. I plan on doing what you did when I go up to CIA this winter, but this video helps me out so much.

[@eddiedaman001]

Saw this video a while ago, and thought nothing of it. Now I’m here freaking out about how I should go about in applying for a stage. Thank you for the tips

[@cheeki43]

Thanks so much! This was so helpful as im a culinary student looking to do my first trail very soon. This info was very helpful!

[@justinkhanna]

So happy to hear that Rita - let me know if there's anything else I can do for you!

[@mayurshelke407]

Thank you so much Justin. It was really helpful.

[@arpanguptaray8930]

This dude is a beast

[@adamrosalfestyle]

Absolutely great advice, love your channel. id love some advice on how to turn a negative resume (ie many jobs in short period of time) into something to good and useful.

[@jamesworley5073]

@Adam Rosa did you ever figure this out? I have the same issue..

[@jakebabendreier4670]

Thanks so much for this video. I just got my first stage at an amazing restaurant.

[@jakebabendreier4670]

I'm from GA but right now I'm working in North Carolina.

[@jakebabendreier4670]

I got it at kindred and at the end of my stage they offered me a position as mid.

[@jakebabendreier4670]

It's great I love it the chef is amazing. Thanks for your help.

[@level1208]

You're absolutely amazing. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!!

[@JB-zh7yx]

Thanks for posting this info! I decided to become a chef last year after working mostly FOH jobs and discovering BOH is much more interesting. Now I'm planning to start taking culinary classes this summer and I thought doing stages would really help get me more acclimated to this life, different venues, foods and work cultures. Much appreciated! :)

[@changgooey]

where has these videos been all my life, was looking for a new knife kit and i saw your videos and I cant stop watching now ^_^

[@uPthrown]

I hope you’re Still making videos thank you chef hell yeah

[@anthonygtz]

Love the videos! Keep up the great work

[@armandobramwell5798]

Im from Panama!, Love ur videos keep crushing it!

[@marlexalfaro6341]

Thank you so much very helpful.

[@vibhorthorat4956]

Hey Justin, I don't have as much experience as you in the industry yet but I've been fortunate to secure some good stages as I've begun cooking this year (including Frantzén :)) . I agree with the subject name. However I also know that some chefs are not looking for lengthy emails to go through. It helps when you don't go into detail about the many amazing things that makes you want to stage at a given restaurant, even though it might sound super important to you. I could be wrong but it's worked for me when I've simply mentioned that I'm young and I'd like to have this opportunity to learn; all alongside my education and experience, stating I've attached my CV at the end of the mail. Hope it adds value to this thread here. Love your work. Keep going.

[@justinkhanna]

Depends on the number of inquiries the restaurant gets - if they're overwhelmed with requests, showing that you didn't just "spray and pray" with emails can go a long way.

[@uPthrown]

Dude your videos are so fire

[@yufeili7102]

Writing this Comments for the future pop up name in your email. LOLLOL Big THANK YOU !!!! Your video helps a lot.

[@justinsantiago5549]

Great video. Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks for putting great videos man

[@uPthrown]

Dude you’re so awesome.

[@Ducky_logan]

Super helpful! Subscribed :)

[@Tanakinh]

Hi Justin First of all thanks for share your videos! It's really good and also different then other KZbin channels that only teach recipes... Can you please talk about how to learn about costs, managing a kitchen, prices, because what I see is that many people wants to open a restaurant because they are good at cooking but don't know about business... If you can do a video with this subject will be amazing! Victor from Brazil! Cheers

[@emmanuelamoranto37]

Thank you so much

[@soaresj27]

How long do you recommend staging at a restaurant? Also, where do you think a good starting point would be for someone with several years of restaurant experience, but nothing fine dining.

[@soaresj27]

Justin Khanna thanks for the pointers. I love your channel, it’s very helpful.

[@ladallance12]

2 years

[@deepflavor5906]

Very helpful indeed.

[@uPthrown]

Thank you chef

[@westonmartinez4481]

I needed this thank you!🤙

[@oscarcastano8282]

Nice video mate! it really helps with advices for a stage, I just wanted to ask something really specific, I'm backpacking right now and at the same time looking for staging at some good restaurants, as you can imagine travelling with knives when you're a backpacker is not easy, so I left all my knives back home, what would you say if someone applies for a stage with no knives of their own? what impression would that give to the chef? Just found out about your channel today, it´s blody awesome I really enjoy your videos!

[@thanielxj11]

This is a really cool video.

[@howtoopenyourfirstsuccessf8713]

Great energy! Thank you for uploading!!!

[@neiloppa2620]

Justin, when you get your first Michelin starred restaurant will you remember us?

[@Insomniuhh]

I'm scared but will try

[@TheCoolcope]

Hi Justin, thanks for this video. I've been cooking for a very long time, and am eager to get to another level. I see that you worked at Grace. Chef Curtis may be the first Chef that I've seen at first sight and determined immediately that I wanted to stage with for any amount of time. It became even more apparent after going to Chicago and dining at Ever last week. We got a quick kitchen tour. Its very inspiring that you went straight to a Michelin star place to stage. Do you think thats so rare that its probably best for me to try and stage at places closer to me here in VA, and build a staging resume before even swinging at the dream location. Also, in the meantime do you think sites such as Scoolinary can be helpful? I'm trying to bring another level of cuisine to my area, but I need to get in there and learn learn learn. - Eric

[@justinkhanna]

Hey Eric! You gotta get on the email list for Total Station Domination: www.joinrepertoire.com/tsd - but yeah I definitely staged at ~10 Michelin kitchens before even my externship. Getting used to those environments helps a TON.

[@Hatim.13]

SUBSCRIBED ♡

[@aldo99i53]

Hey man! i loved your video, but i was wondering on what is your view on handing the mail personaly to the chef, meaning going to the restaurant and ask if the chef have some time off or if somone could hadnd your paper to him/her? Like i have fad some possetive response on this wheni wnt to some restaurant, they did like my enthusiasm and will power to work there. Something else is that if you mail them, the mail can go "missin", they wont have seen it or somwthing, the chef im currently working with loved to get a pice of papper, it liked reminded him on how he started and so on. Would love to get an response ♥ if you are ever in Stockholm and would like to have a "fan" metteing and talk and so on, i would love to♥

[@pabloparra2484]

Hey, anyone in Spain have a contact for a Michelin Starred restaurant? My KP is nineteen, still in culinary school but has lots of interest in focusing his professional life around cooking, and I want him to have the best start possible. Cheers

[@mihir1997]

I've been working in a very corporate (service-focused) style of restaurant. how do I break out of that comfort zone and push myself to get back to the more competitive fine dining/ semi-fine dining scene? I feel I've lost my edge and don't want to keep moving in the direction i currently am headed. I am worried my rather one-dimensional experience over the last little while will count against me when approaching more elite/food focused restaurants.

[@mihir1997]

wow cool! yeah! when and where do you release episodes?

[@mihir1997]

Cool thanks! Super pumped :)

[@jamesworley5073]

Hey, how long should you wait prior to making contact about decisions after a Stage?

[@justinkhanna]

Good question James - I don't think it's out of the ordinary to send a "thank you" email the day after the stage, especially if they left the door semi-open about a job opportunity. You can express your gratitude for the opportunity, re-iterate your eagerness to join the team, and also share details about a potential start date if you have a timeline in mind.

[@jamesworley5073]

@@justinkhanna well, I sent the Thank you letter about 5 days ago. Yesterday the HR just got back in contact stating she forwarded the letter. So, the chef said if I had an questions give her 24 to 48 hours to answer. So, what's the best way to approach that?

[@jamesworley5073]

@@justinkhanna hey you live here is Seattle!?

[@mamserdonut]

Can i show up without tools nor restaurant experience?

[@justinkhanna]

Can't tell if you're trying to troll or not...but I've seen it done before so it's not the weirdest question 😂

[@PanaMaJwaaRd]

why do i have to put in my card information if its free? Or even if its free, why do i have to put in my card info lol.. ?

[@KombodyX]

hey justin im from israel do you think if i send this to thomas keller can i work in the french laundry resturant?

[@KombodyX]

how can i get his email tho ?XD cause i cant find any way to find his email

[@n0015177]

Which bistro in WI?!? I’m out of Milwaukee!

[@justinkhanna]

It was called Cena - the team there has a restaurant now called Fress!

[@n0015177]

@@justinkhanna what city was that in?

[@pjo1964]

Do not send the same letter to 10 different restaurants with a comma between each email address in the address bar. Each restaurant will see that you sent two nine other restaurants and they will know which 9 you sent to and they won't know the letter is bullcrap. 😂

[@pjo1964]

Restaurants are going to get inundated with cookie cutter letters. 😂 Each one will probably receive 20 or 30 of the same letter and they will be commenting how they loved your Japanese technique and it'll probably be an Italian restaurant 😂

[@changgooey]

o yeah i just subed too ^_^

[@ileenpro643]

What is this

[@justinkhanna]

Helpful, is what it is

[@richrichie4263]

Staging no email needed as a cook they’ll take anyone it’s free labor

[@123mrbuddz]

I ll iron chef battle you right now. I ll even let you pick the ingredient. N give you 15 minutes of free prep time. #udontwantthissmoke

[@deeprhymes]

Just want to let you know that your name means food in Hindi. I guess you were meant to be a chef.

[@justinkhanna]

Funny how that happened right?!

[@satviksehgal5147]

You Indian?

[@vcart1]

Thanks. This video was so helpful