Useful Resources and Free Advice for Chefs

It's tough out there for restaurant workers, but there is a wealth of free advice available for chefs, whether they're looking for financial, legal, mental health, or other kinds of support. Often, this help is provided by people who've been there; people in the industry who understand its many challenges and have a deep love for hospitality, and those who staff it. So if you want to get back on track following financial hardship, learn more about your legal rights, or simply want to understand how to take better care of yourself, take a look at this list of resources for chefs.

Mental Health Advice for Chefs

Chefs with Issues

Established by food writer Kat Kinsman, Chefs with Issues, formerly a website which now exists as a private Facebook group, is a great place to seek advice from other hospitality professionals, particularly around mental health. At the last count it had over four and a half thousand members. The rules are clear though: no food photos, memes and / or promotion. This is a place for hospitality professionals to connect and support each other, and to talk about the issues that too often aren’t discussed.

Restaurant After Hours

New York-based Restaurant After Hours was set up by chef Zia Sheikh to offer support to hospitality professionals who might be struggling with their mental health. As well as an extensive list of links to global mental health organisations, resources and support groups, they have been experimenting with running a weekly virtual support group, which is free to join.

Free Legal and Financial Advice for Chefs

UKHospitality

This industry trade body has hospitality's back in the UK, and hosts a number of webinars with industry experts, particularly around legislative change and how to react to it, while offering additional support resources and guidance, some of which you don't have to be a member to access. Head to the website to find out how to become a member and unlock more advice for chefs.

Vaughn Tan

Fine Dining Lovers collaborator Vaughn Tan is a strategy consultant, author, and professor at University College London’s Management School and has spent the past decade working with some of the most innovative restaurant R&D teams in the world. He works with businesses and non-profits to make them more resilient and innovative in uncertain environments. Check out his website for a host of free resources, from brilliant business model tools, to coronavirus resources, and watch his FDL Turning the Tables talk focusing on “opportunity from uncertainty”.

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All-round resources

Hospitality Action

The UK’s Hospitality Action was established in 1837 to support London coffee shop workers. Today, it offers a wealth of support for hospitality staff, from a grants programme, which includes a coronavirus recovery grant, 24/7 helplines, and abundant resources offering advice on anything from from sleep to financial planning, relationships to redundancy rights. Hospitality Action’s resources are only available to hospitality workers based in the UK.

James Beard Foundation

The US’s leading food culture non-profit has launched a campaign called Open For Good to ensure independent restaurants have the tools to come back stronger than ever following the pandemic. The portal includes a resource library, networking opportunities and a mentorship program. The Foundation also offers grants, scholarships and advocacy training.

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Apps for Chefs

Healthy Hospo

This global non-profit has created a handy (low-cost, rather than free) app that puts a wealth of tips and advice at your fingertips. Bespoke lessons from health and financial experts tailored to the needs of the hospitality community sit alongside a resources library packed with podcasts, videos and recommended reading. All this, as they say, “for less than the price of a cup of coffee for month”.

Clubhouse

This much talked about new social media app is based around audio-chat and allows users to listen in to 'rooms' in which conversations are happening between experts on different topics – think a kind of conference call crossed with a live podcast. At the moment it still has an air of exclusivity to it, as you must be invited by a current member in order to join, but its creators have plans to make it much more accessible in 2021.