• Restaurant Jobs Schaumburg | Frato’s Paid Chef Training
    Now Accepting Applications

    Build a Culinary Career,
    Not Just a Cooking Job

    Half this job isn’t in the kitchen. You’ll cook — and you’ll be out delivering caterings to major clients, talking with customers, learning the business side most kitchens never teach. Paid training from day one. No experience needed.

    $15–$17/hr paid training — your base, not your ceiling
    Third generation of home-developed chefs and counting
    Apply Now — Direct

    This Isn’t Just Another Restaurant Job

    If standing at one station for eight hours sounds miserable to you, good. That’s not this.

    Debt-Free Training

    Culinary school charges tens of thousands in tuition and years of student loans. You get paid from day one while learning the same skills — and more.

    Both Sides of the Business

    Culinary skills get you hired. Business skills get you promoted — here or anywhere. We stack both so you’re not stuck at a station for the next ten years.

    A Real Path Up

    We don’t hire managers — we develop them. Five clear steps from zero-experience trainee to Personal & Private Chef level, with new ways to earn unlocking at each one.

    Where This Actually Goes

    Five steps from zero experience to private chef. Every step up adds another way to earn.

    1

    Trainee

    Paid training from day one

    No experience needed — that’s who we hire. You learn the kitchen from zero and you learn the catering loop: prep it, cook it, load it, deliver it.

    Base pay
    2

    Solo Delivery

    Trusted to run the drop alone

    You’ve earned the keys. You run deliveries to major corporate clients yourself — at a higher rate. The client sees you, not a logo. Tips on your drops go to you.

    Base pay Delivery tips Solo delivery rate
    3

    Assistant Chef

    Stations · shifts · training others

    Now the kitchen gets serious. Grill, fry, sauté, pizza — station by station, proven and signed off. You run shifts and train the people behind you. Every station you master raises your base. Skill reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days.

    Base · tips · solo rate Skill-based raises
    4

    Chef

    Your own corporate accounts

    You’re handed real corporate accounts and you own the relationship. You cook for them, take care of them, grow them — and earn commission on everything those accounts produce, every month, on top of your wage. This is where the math changes.

    Base · tips · solo rate · raises Account commission Marketing comp
    5

    Personal & Private Chef Level

    The skills are yours — permanently

    At this level you are, genuinely, a personal chef. You could cook for a family, an executive, or an estate anywhere in the country. That’s not a motivational line — it’s the standard we train to. We’d rather build someone who could leave and doesn’t.

    Every stream, at full strength

    Most Kitchen Jobs Have One Number.
    This One Has Six.

    A standard kitchen job hands you an hourly rate and a station, and ten years later you’ve got the same rate and the same station. That’s a trap, not a career. Here, your rate is the starting base — not the ceiling. These stack on top as you climb:

    1

    Hourly Base That Grows

    Skill reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days

    2

    Catering Delivery Tips

    Tips from drops to big clients go to you

    3

    Solo Delivery Rate

    Higher pay for running deliveries alone

    4

    Skill-Based Base Boosts

    Master more stations, handle more, earn more

    5

    Account Commission

    Monthly commission on your own corporate accounts at Chef level

    6

    Marketing Compensation

    Additional earning opportunities inside the company

    $15–$17/hr during paid training

    This is your base, not your total. Your base grows as your skills grow — and the other five streams unlock as you climb.

    We’re investing real training hours, real ingredients, and real mentorship into you before you’re producing at full speed. We bet on you first. That’s what the starting base reflects. If what you want is the training, this is a great deal. If what you want is only the highest starting number, there are places that pay more to teach you nothing. No hard feelings.

    What You’ll Learn

    Culinary skills get you hired. Client skills get you promoted. You’ll learn both.

    Line & Station Training

    Grill, fry, sauté, pizza — station by station

    Catering Production

    Prep, packing, temps, load-outs

    Speed & Consistency

    Real kitchen pressure, real standards

    Food Safety

    Temps, allergens, high-volume production

    Corporate Deliveries & Setups

    Running drops for major accounts

    Client Communication

    Turning a first order into a standing one

    Building Regulars

    Repeat customers — it’s really just making friends

    Leadership

    Run shifts, train teammates, problem-solve under fire

    Who Thrives Here

    We’re not for everyone. That’s the point.

    Apply If You…

    • Actually like talking to people — half this job is talking to them
    • Want to build a career, not just collect a check
    • Are coachable — feedback makes you better
    • Are reliable — you show up ready
    • Are team-first — no egos in the kitchen
    • Want to learn business, not just recipes

    Don’t Apply If You…

    • Think you already know everything
    • Just need “any job” for now
    • Expect to skip steps or jump ahead
    • Can’t handle direct, honest feedback
    • See this work as temporary
    • Want to hide at one station all shift

    Why This Path Is Worth It

    Kitchens are hot. Shifts are long. The pressure is constant. We’re not going to pretend otherwise. The difference is what you get for it.

    Chef and head-cook jobs are projected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2034, with roughly 24,400 openings every year. The field is expanding and short on skilled people — and the pay climbs with you:

    $60,990 National median — every chef job in America, including school cafeterias, hospital kitchens, and the cheapest markets in the country
    $68,620 Average chef wage in the Chicago metro — this market, right here
    $76,900 Experienced chefs in Illinois
    $93,900 Top 10% of chefs nationally
    Six figures+ Experienced private chefs cooking for households, executives, and estates — the level this path trains to

    Here’s the part most people miss: the government’s wage chart doesn’t even measure the top of this path. The survey excludes self-employed chefs — exactly the work a private chef does. The private chef career starts where that chart ends.

    Culinary school charges tens of thousands in tuition and years of student loans to put you on this road. We pay you to walk it. With over 40 years of restaurant experience behind our culinary apprenticeship program, we don’t leave cooks as cooks — we build them into leaders.

    Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook, chefs and head cooks, 2024–2034 projections and May 2024 median wage; national 90th-percentile and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro mean wages from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2023. Illinois experienced-chef figure: Illinois Dept. of Employment Security OEWS experienced-wage data. BLS wage estimates exclude self-employed workers. Private chef earnings reflect experienced chefs at the top of the field, not starting pay.

    Featured & Recognized

    We’re not just talking — the results speak.

    #5 Chicago’s Best TV (WGN) WGN Morning News Fox 32 Chicago Windy City Live Daily Herald AP News

    College & High School Partners

    Elgin Community College Harper College College of DuPage Triton College District 214 ProStart

    Questions?

    Do I need culinary school or experience to work here?

    No. We hire for attitude and potential, not experience — training from zero is who we hire. Our paid apprenticeship teaches you everything culinary school would, plus business and marketing skills they don’t, while paying you instead of charging you tuition.

    How much does it pay?

    $15–$17/hour during paid training — and that’s your base, not your total. Six ways to earn stack as you climb: hourly base with skill reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days; catering delivery tips; a higher solo delivery rate; base boosts as you master stations; monthly commission on your own corporate accounts at Chef level; and internal marketing compensation.

    What is the career path?

    Five steps: Trainee → Solo Delivery → Assistant Chef → Chef → Personal & Private Chef level. Each step unlocks new income streams, and the destination is real — skilled enough to cook for a family, an executive, or an estate anywhere in the country.

    What’s the schedule like?

    Daytime availability is required for training — half this job is catering, and caterings are prepped, cooked, and delivered during the day. Some evening and weekend availability is needed, but you won’t always work them. Part-time to start, full-time as fast as you train. You’ll need reliable transportation for daytime shifts and client visits.

    Why do employees stay here?

    Most restaurants have 75%+ annual turnover. We invest in developing employees into leaders instead of treating them as replaceable labor — three generations of chefs and leaders have trained here. Positions are limited because our staff stays, so apply early.

    Ready to Start?

    Apply directly below — no third-party sites, no waiting. Answer every question completely. We read all of them.

    Apply Now — Direct

    Application form below ↓

    Job Application

    Complete the form below to apply.







    Name
    Address
    Culinary Apprenticeship combines Culinary Arts, Marketing, Business and Managing Customer Relationships.

    [Your existing application form will be inserted here]

    Frato’s Culinary Kitchen — 628 S Roselle Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60193

    (847) 895-2122