So to make things short, I’m a new cook and I want to one day become a chef (yes, I am aware it is an underpaid industry, and it’s known to be toxic. But not every work environment is like this and sometimes it takes time. Or at least I hope, at this point I’m losing so much hope.)
I literally just got this job and it pays pretty decent. The only people who work in this kitchen is the chef (my boss) and her boyfriend. So that itself can make things a bit awkward and difficult, but I was getting so much praise at the beginning, and chef herself even told me she liked me. Which makes all of this so confusing and weird. Last week, Chefs boyfriend asked me to think of something to put on their wine tasting menu. I actually thought of something great and they ended up saying they were going to use it. I was so excited and felt so fulfilled and happy. But this is when things started to get weird and bizarre.
Apparently this causes my chefs attitude to FLIP with me. When I say flip, I mean flip. She excludes me from conversations, never asks me how I am, doesn’t want my help on the line anymore, she nitpicks EVERYTHING I do and honestly makes me feel like an idiot. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t work around her anymore. She left me the other day and didn’t say goodbye and left me with ALL the dishes to do and to close down the whole kitchen. I thought I might add, her boyfriend and I get along pretty great and I feel like I get along more with him more than her. She claimed that I gave him “attitude” on Sunday (the day I pitched the menu idea) which I thought was weird because we were talking that whole night and he even said good job on my idea.
So yeah, it’s gotten so toxic that my girlfriend is advising me to just not go back tomorrow. I won’t get into too much detail on how the chef is with me but it’s pretty bad and the things she says to me are so unnecessary. I’m mostly worried how this might affect my career path, and if it might not be the best idea to just leave abruptly but I’m thinking I have to do it.
I’m worried about money as well, but my girlfriend is reassuring me that it will be okay and she doesn’t want me to go back there because how bad the chef made me feel about myself. I had the chef from a really nice hotel give me a call with better pay and even benefits, so I’m hoping that will work out but of course with life you just never know. This year has been such shit for me, I’m not sure if this is the right subreddit but if anyone has any ideas to ease my anxiety please say it. Thank you.