---
title: 'My Biggest Problem With Being a YouTube Chef'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=LlOD7tzdD6M'
video_id: 'LlOD7tzdD6M'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 1484
---

# My Biggest Problem With Being a YouTube Chef

> Source: [My Biggest Problem With Being a YouTube Chef](https://youtube.com/watch?v=LlOD7tzdD6M)

## Summary

This video is a personal narrative by a YouTube chef, covering his journey from a dishwasher at 15 to a private chef and viral content creator. He shares his biggest struggle: balancing the business demands of YouTube (algorithm, sponsors) with his deep passion for culinary exploration. The video culminates in the announcement of a paid community for passionate cooks.

### Key Points

- **Early beginnings** [0:19] — Started at 15 as a dishwasher in a restaurant, where his brother was a cook.
- **First chef role** [0:58] — At 16, he put out his first plate and felt the joy of serving.
- **Chef Mark Maliki** [2:49] — Taught him that great food = great ingredients + great technique.
- **Agricultural study** [3:32] — At 21, he studied organic/biodynamic farming in the UK.
- **Labou restaurant** [6:08] — Worked as sous chef under Aadri Ping, high-level cooking.
- **Viceroy Hotel** [8:45] — Most brutal cooking job, lost 45 lbs in 2.5 months.
- **Private chef career** [13:30] — Moved to Aspen, worked with top chefs, started own catering.
- **COVID and TikTok** [16:37] — Started posting during pandemic, viral success led to millions of followers.
- **The core problem** [19:06] — Business pressure (views, sponsors) stifles creative passion.
- **Solution** [22:21] — Launches 'Sous Chefs' community for deep-dive culinary content.

### Conclusion

The chef resolves to maintain his main channel while creating a paid community for those who want to explore advanced techniques and culinary rabbit holes, reclaiming the creative freedom he missed.

## Transcript

All right, my friends. Little bit of a
different video today because it's just
you, me, and this coconut banana matcha,
which is extremely delicious, by the
way.
Now, before getting into the reason why
I made this video, which is my biggest
problem with being a YouTube chef, I
first want to just explain my cooking
history and how this all started. So, I
grew up in Soma County, California. And
when I was 15 years old, I had my first
job in a restaurant, not as a cook, but
as a dishwasher. I started in the dish
pit. He was born from thy dish pit. By
the way, a lot of these photos you're
going to see, the quality is just
atrocious. I mean, we're talking early
2000s here. We used potatoes to take
pictures. Probably like literally a
picture of like a developed picture from
Wraid. And at this restaurant, my older
brother Shawn was actually a cook. He's
still a chef today. He works at a very
high level. They're opening a restaurant
right now in London where they're going
for three stars actually. But
essentially what happened after that is
the restaurant changed ownership and
then I moved into a Garm position,
right? And I was 16 years old when I put
out my first plate in kitchens. And I
really remember during that time the
feeling of making food and looking at it
and thinking how beautiful it is and
then seeing it go to the customer and
seeing them eat it and enjoy it. This
beautiful little circular loop that
happens when you work in restaurants and
it's an amazing feeling to just serve
people and feed people and take pride in
that. Shortly after that when I was 17,
I got a job at what was the Sebastapable
Brewing Company in Sebastapole,
California. It is now Hot Monmunk
Tavern. And that was a step up for me
cuz it was a very big restaurant, right?
They were serving, I don't know,
probably 500 to a,000 people per day, as
well as doing events in a huge event
space. And so I worked there for a
couple years. I learned a lot. I worked
in tons of different stations, you know,
the grill, the fry station, salads, the
whole thing. And it's kind of insane
that this happened at that age, but
eventually like the head chef, he left.
He was not great. And what happened is I
got promoted to like the head of that
kitchen in the daytime. So there was
like a daytime kitchen manager and a
nighttime kitchen manager. And I was the
daytime kitchen manager. So I was just
like I was ordering all the food. I was
making menus. I was like people who were
40 to 50 years old were coming to me and
asking for raises and it was like and I
was nice too. So I was like, you know,
all right, dude. Carlos, let me see what
I can do. Let me talk to the owners. You
know, I was like trying to uh I'm a
people pleaser. So, that was a tough
role for me to be in. Looking back, I
don't know if I should have had that job
because just to be 17 years old and have
that kind of like pressure was just uh I
mean, I think I did a good job. I
remember being a complete nervous wreck
during that time. But I held it
together. You know, the restaurant was
doing fine and uh it was an amazing
experience, that's for sure. After a few
years of working there, they sold the
business to someone else. So, I took
that as my time to leave and I went to
work for a really amazing local chef
called Mark Maliki. And I would say that
was the job that really like got me so
inspired about a higher level of food
because he was just working with all the
local farmers, all the local
ingredients, all the seafood, you know,
getting dairy and cheese from just small
farms. And so the products that I got to
work with at that job were absolutely
incredible. And he was a very creative
chef, not such a good businessman, but
an incredible chef. And I still apply a
lot of what I learned at that restaurant
way back then today. Because the simple
thing is if you want great food, truly
great food, it's just great ingredients
plus great technique. That's all it is.
That's what all the best restaurants do.
They have the most skilled chefs and
they have the best products. Simple as
that. Now, this next part is really
interesting because basically everybody
who watches my channel doesn't know
this, but when I was 21 years old, I had
this real urge to see the other side of
cooking, which is the farming aspect.
And so I went to an agriculture college
in the UK where I studied organic and
biodnamic agriculture. So I basically
did six months of study which was just a
variety of classes, you know, soil
science, how to take care of animals,
permaculture, just all kinds of stuff.
Once that 6 months was finished, we all
had to go do a placement on farms
somewhere around the world. And I found
a farm on a little island called Zalant
that's in the very south end of Holland
near the Belgian border. And I'll tell
you what, that was an absolutely crazy
experience. Here I am, 21 years old,
taking a train to the south of Holland
to this tiny little island to go work on
a dairy farm. Um, it was co it was
called Loindala. And essentially what
they did there was make biodnamic
cheese. So I was there getting up at
5:00 a.m., you know, milking about 150
cows and then doing that again later in
the day. And it was absolutely crushing.
The farmer ended up being a monster. You
know, I was promised like a very small
amount of pay and it never got signed in
writing, so he never paid me. And I
really needed money at the time as well.
And also, I was there with a couple of
guys who didn't really like speaking
English. They could, but like no one
really wanted me there. And I'm just
there on this little tiny island in the
south of Holland just messing around
with these cows. It was just it was
totally insane. And actually what
happened is they opened a restaurant
there and the chef had a heart attack
and the farmer knew that I was into food
and I had restaurant experience. So I I
go there to learn about farming and I
end up taking over this restaurant and
just running the restaurant of course,
right? The kitchen's just like they just
magnetized me in and then this farmer's
still not paying me. So I think after
like 3 or 4 months I just literally
left. I also had a super bad back injury
during that time and like it was just
like an absolutely horrible time. But I
got out of there and I went to Utre and
I started working at a small market
garden where they were growing lots of
vegetables and that was really awesome
also to get that experience because if I
ever have a farm I want something like
that just like a market garden. So after
my time in Holland I returned to England
I finished my other six months of study
and get my certification as a biodnamic
organic farmer even though like I've
forgotten so much about that time. I was
such a crazy uh 20-year-old that yeah I
was more like into partying than
studying the farming stuff but that's
just how it was. I mean, I know some
things, but like I can't call myself a
farmer really, but it's something I'm
interested in. And it was amazing to
see, you know, just the other side of
food service of cooking in restaurants
is the farmers at this point. Then I
actually moved back to Utre and I got a
job at an incredible restaurant called
Labou with the chef Adri Ping who became
like a best friend to me. You know, the
first time we had a meeting, we both
agreed that Thomas Keller was the man.
We both had all of his books and Adri
had just finished several years working
at a Michelin star restaurant and we did
a really high level of cooking there.
Everything was just very precise, very
meticulous. The Dutch are definitely
known for that. And that was my first
sue chef position at that restaurant and
I just learned so so much. And even
working like 65, 70 hours a week at that
restaurant. On our day off, Adri and I
like we'd go mushroom hunting. We'd go
to the market and look for weird seafood
to cook. Like we were always doing
something with food. And you know,
looking back at that time, it was really
some of the most fun I've ever had in a
kitchen. Even though I was working
insane hours, I was making no money. I
was making like €4 an hour because I was
a salaried sue chef, right? And so I was
going way over my hours, but like yeah,
I I was making nothing. So when Booth
closed, I worked at another restaurant
briefly there in Utre before moving back
to the UK. And upon arrival, I had
already worked out a job, which was a
full-time position at my local
restaurant called Taffles. And that was
quite the hilarious experience. You had
this eccentric owner. He looked like a
mad scientist with the white wispy hair.
Uh Warren Warren was his name. And he
was just absolutely hilarious. But what
was so beautiful about that restaurant
was the products I got to work with.
They were incredible. The owner was so
passionate about smoked salmon. He would
literally drive up to like East London
like few times a month just to pick up
smoked salmon. And it was amazing smoked
salmon. Right next door to the
restaurant, we had an award-winning fish
monger where they would go every day out
on their boat and bring back fresh fish
that we would buy and work with. Our
eggs came from an egg guy. We had one
guy who just brought pork. We had one
guy who just brought vegetables, another
guy who just brought cheese. And so it
was an incredible place to work with
ingredients. All in all, Taffles was a
great experience doing breakfast, lunch,
and dinner and just working with all
those incredible products. I had an
amazing time there and I will always
have fond memories of it. In 2014, I had
just had enough of the gray, gloomy
English weather. I love England. I love
it as a country, you know? I'll always
have my roots there. I was born there.
But something about just like waking up
and walking to work when it's dark and
it's like gloomy and rainy and then you
go and work in a kitchen. Taffles had no
windows. It was like one of those
underground kitchens where you set up
the food with a rope lift, which was
incredibly dangerous. And then there's
no natural light. And then you leave and
it's dark and it's gloomy. like that
goes on for months. Like it really it
does get to you after a while for sure.
So upon my arrival back in America, I
actually had a hard time finding a job
for a while. I think it took me about
like 5 months, but then I got a job at
the Viceroy Hotel in Snow Mass, Colorado
at a restaurant called AK working for a
chef from New Orleans called Will Nolan.
And let me tell you something, this was
the just final hurrah of my cooking
career. And by far the most brutal
cooking job I have ever had in my life.
Like oh my god you guys. I lost I think
it was like 45 lbs in a matter of about
2 and 1/2 months just from working. So
the Viceroy Hotel is like a ski in ski
out resort on Snow Mass Mountain. And
basically in that restaurant we had the
longest bar in Colorado. We had a lounge
area. We had a dining room that sat like
I don't know 100 plus people. Then we
had about two or three private dining
rooms. And then here's the kicker, guys.
Here's the kicker. Massive hotel. It's
like eightstory hotel. Every single room
service order came out of our kitchen as
well. Usually in big hotels, they have a
whole separate kitchen for room service.
No, not for us, man. Oh god. So during
that time, I ran the meat station. And
let me tell you something, you're
surrounded by uh a French top piece of
metal this thick with just a raging fire
underneath. It emanates so much heat.
I've got a grill right next to it. I've
got a salamander right here. I've got
two ovens right here. Just the ambient
temperature in that place could just
like literally like dehydrate food. I
mean, it was unbelievable. And so during
the busy ski season, fully booked every
night. Every night. Fully booked. Fully
booked. Fully booked for months on end.
Just fully booked. And that meat station
was so insane because like I had lamb
racks, I had elk, I had bunch of
different steaks, small ones, tomahawk
steaks, I had duck breast, I had
chicken, and I had to cook all of these
meats to temperature. So like I I can
remember a few specific times, you know,
when you hear the printer, a chef hear
the printer in our head, the sound of
the ticket printer, and you're cooking
and you're cooking and you hear the
printer just going, going, going, you're
like, man, that printer's been like
firing off for a long time. And I look
over at the printer and it's not just
like gone down to the floor. And by the
way, the printer starts like up here on
me. So, it's printed tickets. It's all
the way down to the floor and then it's
folding them like this. I see them just
folding on the floor like just stacking
up. And you're like, And by the way, I I
got to pick all those up, get all my
Sharpies, figure out what everything is,
what the temperatures they want. I mean,
it was like, oh my god. I remember
showing up to work and just feeling like
I couldn't breathe. I'd be like
literally just like like having like
panic attacks every day in there because
it was just so it was so incredibly
brutal and we really should have had
like we had four cooks on the line. We
really should have had like six or even
eight. My god. And so I'm doing all the
meat. I am also doing all the sauces and
I'm also doing all the sides and I'm
plating everything too. I'm not just
cooking the meat. Um, but that job I
will say, you know, as tough as it was,
it really just hardened me uh as a chef
cuz when you deal with that kind of
pressure and the chef was also like not
nice, like if food's not coming out fast
and on time, even though I have an
absolutely impossible job, like he just
comes over, he just slams his hand like
on the pass, get your together, you
know, like so much so that people would
complain. Guests would complain because
they're like, why you why you treating
your staff like that? He came from like
the best kitchen in New Orleans and like
the chef he worked for was like probably
way more abusive than he was. Right.
It's just like that cycle of abuse that
I think is kind of fading out uh within
the cooking world. I really hope it is
because it's it's just nasty and it's
not fun and all you can do is just say
yes chef. Sorry chef. Yes, chef. That's
the best way. If you ever are watching
this and you want to get a job in a
kitchen, the chef's coming at you. Yes,
chef. Sorry, chef. That's all you That's
all you do. if you try to argue or like
be like, well, you know, you say
something, they're just going to it's
just it never works. You just try to
defuse the situation as quickly as you
can. So, basically, I'm working this
insane job. It's so hard and I'm making
$15 an hour, right? And I'm like barely
making ends meet. Eventually, I got a
raise to like I think it was like$,750
or maybe $18 an hour. And then I'm still
like I I have one of the most important
positions in this kitchen and I'm trying
to get 20 bucks an hour, guys. That's
all I want, the bare minimum to survive
in the Aspen Valley, which is an
expensive place. And they just never
gave it to me, you know? I don't know
why, but they never gave me that raise.
And he was promising it to me for months
and months and months. And I just said,
"Fuck this." And so I just like, I'm not
coming in cuz you didn't follow through
on what you said you were going to do.
So I was out after about a year and a
half of doing that. But I will always be
grateful for that job because that's
where I met my wife, Tatiana, in the in
room dining department. She would
deliver the food to the rooms. So, I got
to thank the Viceroy for that because
here we are 10 years later, still
happily married.
Okay. But around that time, I was
leaving the Viceroy Hotel. Like, I was
in my late 20s and I'm thinking to
myself, my god, I got to find a way to
still do what I love but make more money
because like it's just really tough when
you're a line cook. And the way I did
that was my brother introduced me to
someone who was doing private cooking in
Aspen. And if you don't know about
Aspen, it is just full of billionaires.
It is one of the best places you can
probably do private cooking in the
world. He introduced me to this guy
Bobby Plet who's an incredibly talented
chef and just a very organized like he
was just so good at organizing parties
and food for these massive events. But I
started working for Bobby and I became
one of his main guys to go around and do
all these events and I worked with him
for probably like 6 months. Around that
same time I also started working with
another chef who was doing private
dinners in Aspen called Marco Porcettu.
And to this day he is probably the
highest level chef I ever worked with.
He was from Sardinia. He had a very
famous restaurant in Las Vegas for a
long time. He was cooking at the highest
level. Incredibly talented guy and I was
really proud that he accepted me into
his circle of people who helped him. I
was like his number two because I saw
other chefs work for him and they would
make it like a day or a few hours and he
would just if he thinks you can't cook,
he he he just he's like you're gone, you
know? And so I saw him burn through so
many chefs. But he really liked me and
he saw he saw talent in me and so he
kind of took me under his wing and we
did all these insane parties together at
just the most crazy like houses you you
could imagine. And he was definitely
another really tough chef to work for
because if you make a mistake he's just
like why you why you do it? Yeah, but
why you cut the fish like you don't know
how to cut fish? What? He was tough man.
He was tough, but I learned so much
working for him. And especially that
just like Italian style, like cooking
everything fresh in the moment, which
made it a nightmare cuz we did very
little prep. Like we just show up with
the ingredients and just start cooking
at people's houses. And uh it was wild,
but it was a fun time. And so after
working for Bobby and Marco, I decided
to launch my own catering company,
Finesse Catering, where I did my own
private dinners around the Aspen area,
as well as this food drop off business I
had going. And what I would do is just
make a menu at the end of every single
week and send it off to all my clients.
And then I would basically cook
everything and just drop it off. It was
all food that was designed to just be
warmed up in the oven or it was like
different components of a salad and a
dressing that they just toss it together
like a really, really, really good
HelloFresh. Let's imagine it like that.
But everything was just like nice and
fresh and always cooked that day. Let me
tell you something. That was an
incredibly stressful time in my life
because I don't think I was charging
enough money. And this service was so
popular and they started if you get in
with one family in Aspen, they just tell
all their friends and all of a sudden
you're just like overwhelmed with
business. I think I had like I don't
know man 15 20 families maybe even more
like 20 25 families on my list of drop
offs and like it got to a point where I
was just so stressed and I and I really
wasn't making enough money and so I had
to shut it down. But I just continued on
doing the private dinners which I could
charge more money for. So, I would just
do those as often as I could and that
was my main squeeze. And then my
friends, CO happened. Then CO happened.
And I can specifically remember when CO
was announced and the whole world shut
down. I thought to myself, "Wow, for
once in my life, I've just had a crazy
life, right? There's so much more to
tell about my life, but like once for
once in my life, I'm finally going to
have some time just off of like any kind
of work where I can just kind of like
focus on my health and like rest and
relax
and then I started posting on Tik Tok.
And I mean, look, I'm I'm grateful for
what happened. It was just funny that
that was my way of thinking. And then
what happened was crazy because in 2020
when I really started taking Tik Tok
seriously, dude, I I don't think there
was any real like chefs on there who was
doing that. And so there was very little
competition and my videos were just
exploding. My first ever super viral
video was the rosemary salt and the
steak that I cooked. And so in that
first year, you know, I had millions of
followers on TikTok. It was it was
absolutely insane. I had one video that
did like, I don't know, 50 million
views. I remember cooking this fillet or
this video that went so viral and I uh I
overcooked the out of it the first
time and I was like, "Yeah, damn it. I
guess I'm going to try one more time and
I and I was like, all right, I'll do it
again." I almost gave up and I did it
and that video just absolutely went
nuts. I mean, I got like a few million
followers in a matter of days. I mean,
it was absolutely berserk insane, right?
And so 2020 for me was absolutely crazy.
Like, I wasn't ready for all that
attention. just came out of nowhere and
I'm like I'm having Skype meetings with
the Food Network and um I'm in like Teen
Vogue and I'm talking the Washington
Post and um I was also talking the
Netflix like it was just like too much.
I don't think I was quite ready for all
of that. Um it was just so explosive.
But that was my co time. So I was just
like back then I was just making videos
every single day cuz I was mainly
focused on Tik Tok where I was getting
the attention. And then eventually I
started funneling uh my audience over to
YouTube because I really wanted to do
the longer videos, right? And I think
that was some point in 2020, maybe mid
to late 2020 when my YouTube videos
started taking off. And you know, here
we are, man. It's uh 2026 and I'm and
I'm still at it. You know, I first
started posting in 2019 like little
things I think on YouTube as well as Tik
Tok. So really, I've been going for like
almost 7 years now doing the whole
social media thing. And all of this
leads me to my main point of the video,
my biggest problem with being a YouTube
chef. So, when I first started posting
food content on YouTube, it was just
really easy to make whatever I wanted.
Before employees, before sponsors on
every video, before all the moving parts
that come with running a business, it
was just so easy to follow your
curiosity as a chef. There just wasn't
this constant thought in the back of my
mind asking, "Is this video going to
appeal to millions of people? Is the
algorithm going to like it? Is it going
to cast a wide enough net? It was just
so much more simple back then. But the
thing is, as time goes on and that
business side of content creation
becomes much more important, you start
questioning these ideas where you would
have just cooked it before. You start
asking yourself, is it going to get
enough views? Are the sponsors going to
like it? Are people going to be able to
find the ingredients? Is it easy enough
for people to make? Are people even
going to care about this idea? And
before you know it, you start building
this box around the creative fire that
made you fall in love with cooking in
the first place. And not because you
stopped loving it, not because you
stopped being a chef, but you're now
running a business and people depend on
you. I mean, I can't tell you how many
times I was having a meeting here with
my team where we just sort of brainstorm
ideas and there are so many cool things
I want to cook and I float it out there
and then we just all agree like, "Yeah,
this probably isn't going to get views
so we can't do it." And honestly, you
know, as a chef, that kind of sucks. And
as someone who spent my entire life in
kitchens, like I love just deep diving,
going down a rabbit hole, some
fascinating technique, some cool
ingredient, something that just sparks
up my curiosity, my childlike curiosity.
And so to constantly secondguess your
instincts when you have some idea you're
truly passionate about and then the
first thought you have is like, is it
going to get enough views? That will
slowly chip away at that cheffy part of
you. It just will. And that's the part
that wants to experiment, that wants to
obsess over the details, that wants to
go down some cheffy rabbit hole because
it's just fascinating to me. And before
long, you realize you've spent years
trying to make the best videos possible
while quietly neglecting that part of
you that just wants to be a curious and
excited chef. And so, I've realized my
biggest problem with being a YouTube
chef isn't YouTube. I actually love
YouTube. It's the king. The real problem
is I never really had a place where I
could share the side of cooking that
made me fall in love with this
profession in the first place. And
that's the side that doesn't mind
spending two days to make demigloss. The
side that doesn't mind obsessing over
some crazy technique that most people
will never do. The side that wants to
disappear down some cheffy rabbit hole
that most people will simply never
follow me into. That is until now. God,
I feel good about this. I got chills,
man. I got goosebumps right now because
I've always dreamed of having a
passionate cooking community where
people go above and beyond what your
average home cook would want to do. But
before announcing this, I just want to
make one thing extremely clear that
nothing is changing on this channel.
That dude can cook Cook is going to be
what it always has been. Nothing is
changing. Not a thing. I'll continue
making the recipes that have been the
beating heart of this channel, which is
just really delicious food and recipes
that I am always going to be proud of
that aren't too overly complicated,
aren't outrageously expensive, and can
just fit into a busy life schedule. But
without further ado, today I am
officially announcing the launch of my
cooking community, the Sue Chefs.
>> Sue Chefs. Sue Chefs. Sue Chefs who
maybe that can be maybe that could be
something. I don't know. The Sue Chefs
will be a members community here on
YouTube where passionate home cooks can
really take a deep dive with me on that
whole professional side of cooking that
I love. And we'll explore incredible
recipes techniques philosophies
cheffy rabbit holes that are really just
hard to find here on YouTube or really
anywhere on the internet for that
matter. And I'll tell you what, guys,
when I thought about launching this
community, like I I literally get full
body chills because it just feels so
right to me and it's something I've
wanted to do for so long. Just knowing
that I finally will have a place where I
can unleash the beast and take the
limiter off my chef engine is an
incredibly refreshing feeling. We'll be
doing multiple extra videos every single
month. The ones that I was too afraid to
post on YouTube will end up in the Sue
chefs. And as soon as enough people are
inside, we're also going to be doing
live cookalongs so I can literally guide
you through the cheffy processes. I'll
also be giving away a lot of my favorite
kitchen tools and knives to members
every single month. And I've even built
a Sue Chef's Discord server that will
act as our home base. Inside, you'll be
able to ask me whatever cooking
questions you want. We'll also share
photos of what we're cooking on that
day, as well as sharing our wins and
laughing at some of our losses. And if
you need to blow off some steam, I had
to create a channel in there called the
walk-in, where you can just go inside of
there and just freak out about whatever
you want. It's beautiful. If you end up
becoming a sous chef, just make sure you
go over to the community tab on YouTube
and click that Discord link and get
inside there as soon as possible. That
is our home base. In terms of the cost,
I've made it as affordable as possible.
I didn't want anyone to feel left out.
It's cheaper than a cup of coffee. There
is a higher support tier, but both offer
access to the exact same community and
content. It's simply there for those who
have the means and want to offer a
little extra support. And so, to finish
this off, let me be very clear. The Sue
Chefs isn't replacing anything. It's
simply creating a home for the side of
cooking that I've personally been
missing for all these years. And if that
sounds like your kind of thing, I would
absolutely love to have you join us.
I'll see you in the sue chefs. Until
next time, you know I love you when I'm
out.