The Easiest Way to Start a Cooking Career on Yachts

The Yacht Chef position might be one of the best cooking jobs in the world.

With the opportunity to be incredibly creative, use the freshest ingredients from local markets, and create lasting memories for guests, a superyacht chef position can be a truly rewarding experience. 

But how to get started? If you're intimidated by the idea of cooking on yachts and you think you don't have enough experience, Yacht Cook Lorien tells us an easy way to start a yacht cooking career.

Despite having no cooking degree and no previous professional cooking experience, Lorien has a great story of landing a yacht cook position.

Here’s what she told us during our chat!

Tell us how you became a cook on yachts!

Well, I had no formal cooking experience but I love food and cooking. I was able to start on a small 75 foot (23m), private yacht. The owner had simple taste and in the beginning, gave me her favorite recipes to work from. Over time I began to experiment with my own ideas.

The captain liked what I was doing, so I was able to keep on that path!

What’s one of the biggest challenges of cooking on yachts?

Time management was really important. I didn’t like to use any premade food items. I wanted to make everything fresh from scratch and that was time-consuming. It was hard to know what to prioritize in the beginning.

Having all this fresh food also made storage a challenge when we were out at anchor in the Bahamas. I had to plan exactly what was needed for our trip, but not have so much there was nowhere to store it.

Occasionally, when we took on new guests, we were able to fly in fresh food with them, so that helped.

What do you like most about working in the galley?

The act of cooking and preparing the meals was really fun for me. I liked to make an art of it and would spend hours preparing meals.

The creative process of combining flavors and creating a nourishing dish was fun, and I liked bringing enjoyment to the guests and owners.  

Getting to shop in markets around the world as the boat traveled was also an amazing benefit!

What would you say to others interested in cooking on yachts, but who like you don’t have formal training?

Actually, I’ve found that many captains prefer cooks who aren’t formally trained.

A chef trained to work in a 5-star restaurant may create amazing meals, but they aren’t necessarily equipped to work in a yacht and deal with the challenges of a tight space, limited storage, or the lack of available ingredients.

Ultimately, your credentials aren't important. What matters is if the guests are happy with the food and that you are easy to live with on a yacht. In my case, I was able to elevate the owner’s day with my cooking, and this made her happy.

Your ability to get along with other people and work together is really important. As you're all living together in a relatively small space, you'll get to know the other crew and the yacht's owners extremely well, so your personality is important.

You want to be someone who's enjoyable to be around and that's sometimes more important than your level of cooking skills.

What advice would you give to a new yacht chef?

It’s so important to know the guests' expectations. Some owners just want steak and potatoes every night and they don't want elaborate meals. Other guests might want 5-star service. You have to know your guests if you want to succeed as a yacht chef.   

I’d encourage someone coming into a chef role to ask about the level of service expected. Do they want formal 3-course meals or family-style? What are their favorite styles of food and what do they prefer to avoid? Once I know these things, I can take that as a starting point, and then perhaps offer something in addition.

It’s also important to know about food allergies and be familiar with special diets.

You’ll want to know what the expectation is for crew meals. Will the crew have the same food as the guests or something different?

What is the most important characteristic of a successful chef?

Creativity! Getting creative with the ingredients you have is critical. Knowing how to adapt your menu if you’ve got a surplus of something that might go bad or if you need to stretch out something you’re short on. You'll also want to repurpose extra foods.

All of these skills will make your life easier as a yacht chef!

Any final tips?

Menus are really important. In the beginning, I talked to other chefs and got ideas or borrowed menus and recipes that were proven in yachting and I knew would work.

I also took advantage of their expertise for building provisioning lists and learning how to shop for the menus I’d created. It's important to know you've got all the necessary provisions when you're 200 miles from a store!

Thanks so much, Lorien! We love your perspective and it's so great to have your advice for aspiring new yacht chefs! 

Are you ready to start your own career in the galley? We’re going to take you there!

Want to know more?

Come join me in my upcoming FREE masterclass where I teach 4 Little-Known Secrets to Starting a Yacht Chef Career. 2 dates and times to choose from.

Click here to reserve your seat! Bring your questions, I'll be answering them live!