The best part is...

What do you enjoy most about chef work? What do you dislike the most? Is it challenging? Are there many opportunities to learn and advance?

What keeps you at your job?

personally I love it, it's a combination of a having to be fast,creative,organized and something about both the rush of being able to pull off a really busy night with few mistakes.. and when doing catering work (for me anyway) being able to make someones 'special day' go off without a hitch (or atleast my part of it), bringing a little happiness to someones life.. so many things.. and the fact that it isn't completely repetitive.

another thing I really love about it is that there is always something new to learn, some new ingredient or technique that comes up and an be the 'magic' missing thing in a recipe. the endless quest for the unachievable perfection of a dish. yeah, some people say that that's the worst part of it, but I've always looked at it as more of a journey than a destination.

as to advancement? depends on your skill level and desire for advance. personally I prefer to be co-chef with someone, as I tend to prefer to keep in the trenches and let someone else deal with the bulk of the paperwork. but,then again.. setting up par levels, use records, new recipes, haggling with food reps and all that has it's appeal.