Do you like to cook or bake? Or maybe watch your mom or dad while they’re getting dinner ready? Have you ever thought that baking cakes or cooking might be a good way to earn a living? There are world-famous schools, like Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and London, where you can learn how to make a chocolate soufflé or other delicious foods. There are also schools where you can learn to make a great pizza. Going to a chef school or college is one way to become a restaurant chef. But Jamie Thickett didn’t do that. He started out washing pots in a restaurant in Scarborough, in northern England. From there, he worked at various other restaurant positions, moving up the ladder and learning how to cook, until he was hired as a head chef. That job led him to London, where he was named head chef for Dehesa, one of Salt Yard Group’s restaurants, and later head chef for Opera Tavern. Today, he is the head chef for Veneta, a new restaurant inspired by the food and recipes of Venice, Italy. But what is the job of a head chef? He or she doesn’t do the day-to-day cooking at the restaurant’s stoves. Instead the head chef is responsible for hiring the cooking staff, creating new recipes and developing the menu, supervising the various cooks, and making sure the kitchen runs smoothly. They have to work long hours — well into the night, and often on the weekends and holidays.