selecting a city help (Anchorage, Fairbanks: lease, employment, school)

[ginepoo]

hi every one im planing on moving to alaska i just dont know where to though, when i move ill be a licenced chef so that will probably impact where i move to. i want to live somewhere where i will be able to find work, ide also like to live somewhere with a population of 1000-6000, i like small towns. ive done a lot of resurch but am still not entierly sure, your sugustions will be very helpfull. thank you for any and all help,

Ginepoo

[tigre79]

There are a variety of towns that size in very different areas. What kind of lifestyle and climate are you looking for?

[warptman]

Wile your aht skool, taek speling lesons

[starlite9]

Well if you are a Chef, you are going to want to be where there is nice restaurants and such, so you are going to be limited to either seasonal places like Denali's "Silver Gulch" where they close down in the fall, or in the bigger towns that have Fancy Restaurants like Anchorage or Fairbanks, and maybe Juneau. Unless you want to drop your title to "Short order Cook", you aren't going to find a small town that you can work in and make a "Chef's" living.

[Metlakatla]

By "licensed chef" I'm guessing you mean culinary school graduate?

Camp jobs come up now and then and are usually more lucrative than line cooking in a restaurant in Fairbanks et al. Idjit called here and offered me some such job today and I'm thinking about taking it to keep from having to go on welfare due to Southern Southeast Salmon season being such a bust this year.

Course welfare is looking pretty damned lucrative in it's own right these days.

What I would advise for you is that you look for employment as a chef in a remote type fly in fishing/hunting lodge. The money can be good, they put you up with a place to stay and often even help with your travel expenses. Most of that type of work is seasonal of course but seasonal work is a good way to break into living in Alaska year round.

I will also suggest that you look into Girdwood. Lots of year round opportunity there for good chefs.

[tigre79]

You could always start your own restaurant if you're up for it.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by tigre79

You could always start your own restaurant if you're up for it.

Completely inadvisable, really, until and unless one gets to know the local community in question and what its specific needs and preferences might be. My son's restaurant did extremely well for its first year, but he started out as a known entity and the business was built on land that we already own and a good amount of start up capital. And since there is no lease to pay, he doesn't have to try to make it through the winter in a community with marginal population and resources.

To the OP--check out Craig's List towards the spring for chef's jobs at lodges, etc. You can also look on Coolworks.com for opportunities.

[tigre79]

Yeah clearly anyone wanting to start a new business anywhere should do some research first, and restaurants are risky endeavors. Thought that was kind of obvious, especially to someone already in culinary school. But any restaurant with good food and even passable service would probably do reasonably well around here. Maybe not so in a bigger town where it's easier to be overlooked, but around here people will come check you out and then tell all their friends about it.