I raise the BS flag. A chef is responsible for creating and planning the restaurant menu, which means they have to create dishes that fit the restaurant niche and local customer base's interest, while also fitting the recipes into the workflow of the kitchen setup, ingredient availability from suppliers, etc. They have to worry about prep capacity, yield percentages vs cost of the menu items, etc.

I studied culinary arts and worked in the restaurant industry for eight years before I got out. There is a difference between a chef and a cook and a kitchen manager. Were you a line lead, or kitchen manager? I might buy that.

The chef is not just someone who wants to break their back until they make it up the hierarchy, they're usually the one who is passionate enough that AFTER breaking their back all day they go home and STILL COOK. I went home after 14 hour days and made cereal or whatever because I was sick of cooking.

Never once have I ever heard an actual chef call themselves a "professional chef." Most actual chefs I've met are snobbishly anti-nonstick as well, but that's not necessarily a rule. ALL of them could make a Teflon pan last more than a year or two.

Your comments stink, I don't buy it, unless you were a glorified kitchen manager that the restaurant called a "chef" but you had no real job in making the menu or new recipes.