Graduation season is approaching, and with it, the inevitable spike in sales of resumé paper, monogrammed portfolios, and interview suits. But students seeking out a food-focused career are headed down a very different path than their college counterparts. There are all sorts of practical, useful tools they’ll need as they make the leap to professional chef. If you have a loved one celebrating a new culinary degree this year, treat them to some of the stylish, SAVEUR test kitchen-approved gear below.
The Basics
Help the budding chef in your life dress for the job they want with a crisp, well-made apron from Hedley & Bennett. This industry favorite comes in a range of styles, colors, and materials.
Many culinary programs include a full knife set and carrying case in the cost of tuition, but the standard-issue kit can be clunky and decidedly uncool. A handsome and compact knife roll lets a cook arrive at their first day on the job in style, with just the essentials.
Recipe Journal
A solid notebook is essential for jotting down recipes, techniques, and kitchen notes. Moleskine
Your grad may be through with culinary school, but as in so many industries, there’s still plenty of on-the-job learning to come. They’ll want to bring a durable notebook to work for recording recipes, techniques, and other nuggets of kitchen wisdom.
Sharpies
For smudge-free labeling in the kitchen, you can’t go wrong with these permanent markers. Sharpie
While it may not be the most exciting gift, a box of Sharpies is always helpful in a professional kitchen. The waterproof, nontoxic markers are absolutely necessary for labeling and dating pantry staples, freezer ingredients, and leftover mise en place.
Reusable Mug
A reusable mug keeps your coffee hot and your energy up during long kitchen hours. Ello
Coffee breaks are few and far between in bustling kitchens, and restaurant folks often need to take their caffeine on the job. A reusable mug with a spill-resistant lid will help prevent messes from slowing down service.
Cuts and burns are an inevitability in restaurant life. While responsible chefs will keep a medicine cabinet stocked, it never hurts for staff to be prepared as well. Keeping a mini first aid kit in your bag for emergencies is a smart move for cooks of any level.
Digital Thermometer
A thermometer should always be within reach for everything from cooking meat to tempering chocolate. Taylor Precision Products
Restaurant cooks often keep a digital thermometer on hand for cooking meat to temperature, safely cooling stocks and sauces, and for pastry cooks, executing sugar and chocolate work with lab-like precision. Pro tip: when health inspectors stop by unannounced, they love to see cooks sporting these in their coat pockets.
Paring Knife Set
A small, handy blade is perfect for all of the little tasks in the kitchen. Victorinox
Snazzy chef knives are a point of pride amongst professional chefs, but not every trimming and whittling task requires taking out the big guns. Your culinary school grad will find a few nimble and inexpensive paring knives in their knife roll useful for hulling strawberries, tournéeing potatoes, and slicing strips of zest from citrus.
Which brings us to the fancy chef’s knife: Japanese knife brand Korin, another industry favorite, sells excellent blades in a range of price points, most of which come beautifully packaged for gifting. Culinary grads will appreciate a high-quality knife in a stain-resistant, easy-to-sharpen alloy. This one has a symmetrical bevel, so righties and lefties alike will be able to use it comfortably.
Sharpening Stone
Give knives the attention they deserve with a proper sharpening stone. Absolute Peak
While skilled knife sharpening services are increasingly available at kitchen shops and even online, many pros prefer to take care of their arsenal themselves. A two-sided sharpening stone will allow them to do so; this one comes with all the necessary accessories—a nonstick bamboo base, an angle guide, a polishing cloth, and a detailed instructional e-book.
For the Fine-Dining Inclined
Finishing Spoon
Next to a knife, the most common tool in a chef’s hand is a spoon—make sure you choose one of quality. Mercer Culinary
This elegant finishing spoon is just the thing for adding a swoop of sauce to a perfectly plated dish. A ribbed and ergonomically balanced handle gives the user increased control during service; the spoon is also available with a perforated bowl for plating solid components.
Chef Pants
High-quality, breathable chef pants with a bit of stretch go a long way toward making a new cook feel slick in formal chefwear. This gorgeous, handmade version from Polka Pants is a luxe option for women, while Tilit has great options for both men and women—not to mention a sweet line of jumpsuits.
Plating Tweezers
Chef’s tweezers are most useful for arranging garnishes and getting the presentation of a dish just right. Mercer Culinary
Fine-dining line cooks use these fussy plating tweezers to artfully arrange delicate components on their dishes. They’re great for food styling, too.
Baking and Pastry
Kitchen Scale
Professional kitchens use recipes written by weight—an accurate scale is essential for executing them perfectly. OXO
For consistency, professional bakers and pastry chefs (and recipe testers) nearly always execute their recipes by weight. Our favorite kitchen scale, this affordable, battery-powered version from OXO, is easy to clean and swaps between metric and imperial weights at the push of a button.
Silicone Spatula
Rubber spatulas are heat-resistant and flexible, making them useful for all sorts of pastry projects. Rubbermaid
For pastry projects like mixing custards, folding egg whites into cake batter, and gently stirring chocolate into cream for ganache, there is no better tool than a heat-resistant silicone spatula. Most kitchens have a few of these for cooks to share, but it’s worth getting your own.
Metal Pastry Tips
These small pastry tips often get lost in busy kitchens, so having your own stash is key. Wilton
In busy kitchens, tiny metal pastry tips have a tendency to disappear. Send your culinary school grad out into the restaurant world with their very own set of the basics.
Bench Knives and Bowl Scrapers
A bench knife is the most versatile tool in a baker’s arsenal. OXO
Aside from the scale, bread bakers and pastry chefs use bench knives and bowl scrapers most frequently. Both are handy for dividing up dough, scraping the sides of bowls down during mixing, and all manner of cleanup.
Offset Spatula
Whether your culinary grad is decorating cakes, transferring delicate baked goods, or just spreading butter on toast, an offset spatula is the tool for the job. OXO
Everyone in the kitchen will find a pocket-sized offset spatula useful, but they’re more or less indispensable for pastry cooks, who use them for decorating cakes, arranging dainty entremets on serving platters, and smearing butter on toast for a mid-shift snack.