[moate]

Former chef turned tech dork here: Anyone who says "I want to own my own restaurant, it sounds like fun!" will immediately be destroyed. People who don't burn out of the restaurant industry (or get stuck in rehab/o.d.) typically love their craft and work like lunatics. It makes the tech sector work/life balance look like paradise. You stay in the field because you enjoy the lifestyle and get off on the adrenaline rush.

Restaurants don't pay anything because the learning curve is low enough that you can just train line cooks on the job. And chefs tend to just be smart dudes who could deal with lifestyle long enough to get into manager roles. Most normal, sane people don't work as cooks because they wouldn't be willing to put up with the physical/mental stress for so little pay. It's a refuge of maniacs and the desperate.