Michael here, I thought I should probably share my story on how Free Chef came about. I promise I will try to keep it to the juicy bits. I have worked as a chef for the last 20 years or so, up and down the country for a few big names, some high end places, restaurants, hotels, pubs, you know the drill, and honestly i loved it, well i loved it when i was in my 20s. 

I must admit i couldn't keep up with my own work ethic i had when i was 25. 60-70-80 hour weeks was the norm as you well know, getting things thrown at me, crying in the drystore was all the rage. fast forward to a 37 year old me that has less stamina, and hair for that matter, needs more sleep and coffee, i was finding things hard and i was getting frustrated with all the extra responsibilities a head chef had over my care free CDP days.

I met my now wife Laura back in 2013 (fact checked by herself) it started out a bit rocky but we persevered, well she put up with my shocking work hours basically, then we had a little boy Reuben, and reality really slapped me in the face big time.

I continued to work as a Head Chef, I changed my job and started working for a chain which promised a better work life balance and seemed a bit easier, but i was so bored! It was like painting by numbers but in food form, I spent most of my time trying to hit GP, writing rotas, working on a horrendous labour budget, with not an ounce of creativity in sight! Eventually I switched jobs again and started working for a different chain that was a lot smaller and had a bit more freedom with menus and I was sort of happy.

Sort of happy but still working 60 hour weeks, mothers days, fathers days, christmas, bank holidays, i know im preaching to the converted here, you guys are still at it. Something had to change. The amount of guilt I had for not being able to choose my time off, or even consider trying to get some important family time off, was eating me up mentally. Then came Felix, our littlest addition and I got slapped again, and this time it was more of a punch.

The universe had spoken, it was find some change now, so i joined the police force, well i did all the interviews and read all the books, only to fail at the last hurdle, i think this was my lowest moment, i didn't have a clue how to get myself out of this mess, i was too embarrassed to ask for help, i'm a chef, “if you can't stand the heat then get out the kitchen”. 

F*** off, this isn't right, i told myself, i want to cook, i'm good at this why cant i live my life and just cook, why is this so hard? 

So that was it I said to myself, I'm going to start my own Mobile chef business, cook for guests at dinner parties, so that's what i did. Eventually,  I have had my own business MGChef now for 5 years and i havent once looked back in the rear view mirror. 

Every now and then I go and work in a kitchen as part of my emergency chef cover I provide.  I see the deflated chefs clinging on to the restaurant industry and how things have changed up over the last few years, big name restaurants closing down left, right and centre, the cost of living going mad, or just trying to get chefs in the door. 

I often ask the guys on the line if they would ever like to break free from all this and start working for themself, id ask them how many head chefs they knew over the age of 45, 50, 55, and the answer is not many or 0. 

So a few years later, it was bothering me, it was bothering me to the point that I knew what I needed to do. A Helping Chef seed was planted and it has grown into the Free Chef community you see today.