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Hi there.
Our camp is about 10 peeps this year and we are interested in hiring a chef this year for cooking dinners Tuesday through Friday nights.
Have you cooked at Burning Man before? What is the rate? What is the menu?
We'd buy the food. You show up at camp for cooking or if you'd like to camp with us that would work also. We're not really sure how it all goes down but are very interested in connecting with a cool burner who can throw down in the kitchen and who needs some extra cash.
Please send a message via this post.
Thanks!
Oly
Our camp is about 10 peeps this year and we are interested in hiring a chef this year for cooking dinners Tuesday through Friday nights.
Have you cooked at Burning Man before? What is the rate? What is the menu?
We'd buy the food. You show up at camp for cooking or if you'd like to camp with us that would work also. We're not really sure how it all goes down but are very interested in connecting with a cool burner who can throw down in the kitchen and who needs some extra cash.
Please send a message via this post.
Thanks!
Oly
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Santa Rosa
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Sun, January 25, 2009 - 6:46 PMIs this a joke? -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Tue, January 27, 2009 - 9:34 AMNo. Not a joke. I've heard of camps hiring cooks for B-Man. We would do the clean up and provide the food. If it doesn't happen, we all bring our pre-prepared slop as usual, but thought that if someone could cook and wanted the gig, the money could pay for their ticket or other expenses.
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Tue, January 27, 2009 - 10:06 AMHey KLONE,
I know of lots of camps with cooks who are paid or take trade in some way.
Oly, I'll make sure some of the cooks types I know hear about this.
Hugs,
Rig Daddy -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Tue, January 27, 2009 - 3:03 PMIt was a serious question. I thought it might be a joke. Radical self reliance at its finest I guess.
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Tue, January 27, 2009 - 6:45 PMRig Daddy - Thanks! I figure someone might need the extra cash and we're a good group.
Oly
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Tue, January 27, 2009 - 9:44 PMi keep thinking about this, and i don't mean any disrespect, oly, but this really is a pandora's box when you think about it , and i can see why someone might think it was a joke.
i really get that there are people who have the money to pay people to cook for them, clean up after them, create their wardrobe, paint their faces, give them massages and chiropractic adjustments, or whatever --
but the question it begs is whether this is radical self-reliance, which is the very foundation of this event. does hiring staff to serve you fall under that description? and does having hired help really respect the "no commerce" tenet of burning man?
maybe i'm just too old-school or something, but to me, it's neither self-reliant nor non-commercial to hire staff. it feels like just another way that burning man is slipping away from what it was intended to be.
besides, triscuits, cheese and whiskey is the perfect meal anyway ;^) -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Wed, January 28, 2009 - 4:05 AMDon't forget the bacon. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Wed, January 28, 2009 - 12:28 PMI think it's a actually quite self-reliant to understand ones needs for a week in the desert and then address those needs months ahead of time.
It's not like folks who come and scrounge around at camps all hungry/dehydrated because they didn't plan ahead for their needs.
Don't see much of a difference between "hiring" a cook vs. folks who get, say, Chinese takeout or other storebought prepared foods to bring to the playa. Plus, Burning Man is spendy...the only way some folks might be able to attend is by "earning" their way.
This is but one opinion of many. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Wed, January 28, 2009 - 1:41 PMnot sure why you put "hiring" and "earning" in quotes, ali -- that's pretty straightforwardly what it is, no? this is a want ad, they want to hire an employee for wages to serve the camp, and that person will earn money, room and/or board in exchange for their work.
it's not the same as buying extra stuff at the chinese restaurant and bringing it in a cooler. it's hiring an employee at an event built on self-reliance, gifting and no commerce. it just seems out of alignment.
it might feel different if it was a friend who's willing to take on preparing the lion's share of the camp's food as their contribution, and in exchange for a gifted ticket, but posting a want ad, and having someone who isn't even part of your camp coming in and out as the hired help just feels, well, like a burning man vision that misses the point.
again, one opinion. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Wed, January 28, 2009 - 4:43 PMAgreed.
If they were looking for one particular skill, someone who can weld some vital components of their art project/theme camp/art car for instance, that would be one thing. Not everybody knows how to do that or has access to the tools and equipment to make it happen, it's not the sort of thing you can *expect* a group of random people to be self-reliant about.
But ANYBODY can cook. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Wed, January 28, 2009 - 6:58 PM>But ANYBODY can cook.
I disagree. Anyone can scavenge out of boxes and cans or whatever, but..... let's say you're working on a big art project. You work 12+ hour days out there, setting up and maintaining your art. Do you really want to take time out of that to prep, cook, and clean up after food? Or does it make sense to hire someone else to do it, so you can have nourishing, healthy, awesome tasty food to sustain you and cheer you up, with a minimum of time expended that you can then give back to the community?
At least one big art project I know has a cook every year, at least pre-event while they're doing setup. Probably way more, but I *personally* just know of the one. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Wed, January 28, 2009 - 11:24 PM>>...let's say you're working on a big art project. You work 12+ hour days out there, setting up and maintaining your art. Do you really want to take time out of that to prep, cook, and clean up after food?
Done it. Most of the stuff I ate I fixed myself, and I'll call grilling a steak "eating well". A few times we all went out to work while one person stayed back at camp to whip up pancakes or breakfast burritos or whatever so we could get things done with minimal disruption. But that was someone who was part of our project and we were all actively contributing one way or another. We didn't have an outsider with no attachment to our art come and feed us, and we certainly didn't HIRE anyone. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 10:30 AMThere is a commissary at Burning Man...meals are provided to staff and to even to some volunteers.
Is this wrong? -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 11:24 AMi see a clear difference between having a commissary for staff who are employees of the event, many of whom are up there for weeks and working all day long (and some volunteers who actually should be categorized as employees even though they're not paid), and having a personal chef in a camp during the week of the event.
i'm sure there are many situations where a camp will subsidize a cook's cost in exchange for having someone in charge of meals... i think that to me, the posting of a want ad looking to hire someone took it to another level, a level that takes burning man one more step away from its basic tenets. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 12:35 PMThere are many shades of gray within BM culture.
I, for one, have in the past received a "gift" ticket to BM (for my volunteer duties). However, if I don't volunteer, I don't get a ticket, which is pretty conditional. Does this go against the principle of "Gifting" ("Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.")?
Personally, I have NEVER purchased anything from the cafe (though I have bought ice).
Should purchased costumes be banned from the event?
Should Burning Man post vendors to their "resources" page?
I guess I see nothing wrong with someone "working" the event as a camp cook in exchange for the gift of $ that is, in turn, used to purchase a BM ticket or other resources to support ones experience there.
It'd be a shame to have a professional cook there whose only reason to be there would be for cash....camps probably couldn't afford that anyway. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 2:03 PMdefinitely there are shades of gray. and each person has to make their own call, and i admit i'm more of a purist about a lot of things than many.
personally, i would call a ticket given in exchange for volunteering a volunteer ticket, rather than a gift. it's a business transaction, a way to get enough people to take on working at the event, and that's a whole different thing than event participants hiring staff.
of course, you can't ban purchased clothing, most everything we wear was purchased at one point or the fabric to make it was. i figure what you bring with you is fine, it just becomes a problem when there's commerce on the playa. and i have bought a few cups of hot coffee in my time, but would be fine if that wasn't there, i understand the feelings against it. the ice must stay, of course, since it's a health issue.
i think fundamentally, i'm just a purist about a lot of things. i don't like rv's on the playa either, unless someone has a health issue or small kids. i've seen too many people show up and stay inside, never actually experiencing what black rock city is like -- hot/cold, dusty, dirty, loud, crowded, relentless, challenging, powerful, transformational.
for me, if you want to have all the comforts of home, then that's the place to be. the rockstar mentality that i have seen grow over the years is, in my opinion, a real loss to the original intentions of the event, and that's where my thoughts about hiring private staff to serve your camp come from. and again, i mean no disrespect to the original poster, i'm just saying what i think about the concept.
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 1:50 PM>i think that to me, the posting of a want ad looking to hire someone took it to another level, a level that takes burning man one more step away from its basic tenets.
Would it be different to hire someone to prepare the meals for them BEFORE the playa, and freeze or vacu-seal them? Is it just the stigma of "paying for a service DURING the event" that's the problem?
Burning Man is an event where there's no commerce (except ice/coffee sales of course) during the event. But prior to the event, it's a consumerist orgy (hellloooo, all those Burners going to the Reno Wal-Mart!) of buying everything you need (or "need") to survive for a week. It's not a no-commerce event- it's an event where commerce is front-loaded (and post-loaded, if you put stuff on credit cards!).
I'm not saying I necessarily *agree* with the idea of a personal chef at Burning Man. I'm not saying I'd ever imagine doing that. But it brings up some interesting issues that are always worth discussion. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 2:06 PMI'm not sure what I'd call the distinction in my mind, but I c'n possibly illustrate it. So here goes:
Person A hears about an art project. Oh wow, this is really cool, I'd like to help out. Hey guys, I'd like to get involved but I don't have the specialized skills you need to set it up, and I'm kinda broke so I can't really fund it. But I can cook, is that cool?
That's someone trying to contribute, however they can. It still has the feel of 'being a gift', an act of generosity. As opposed to actively looking to HIRE somebody. It's a matter of intent, and how the transaction/exchange goes down.
It's the spirit of the thing? -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 4:05 PMpikey said: it's the spirit of the thing?
totally.
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 2:07 PMyes, i think that bringing pre-prepared meals to the playa is fine, no matter where they came from. i've bought thai food and packaged it in ziplock bags that i lay out on a car to heat up when i want to eat them. and i pay cash for my whiskey and cheese ;^)
it's the concept of paying someone to be hired help on the playa that seems out of whack to me. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 8:21 PM"t's the concept of paying someone to be hired help on the playa that seems out of whack to me."
That is exactly why I originally thought it could have been a joke. Its all a matter of opinion I guess. I always get pissed when I see people selling drugs on the playa. But some people dont have a problem with it. -
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Thu, January 29, 2009 - 10:30 PMIt really isn't in the spirit of my experience at Burning Man.
But I suppose I don't like the idea of judging such a thing, as ones experience is what one brings to it.
And if it supports someone locally, especially when one's engaged in the burner economy/community, it seems kinda OK to me.
Must say, I'm totally appreciating the civilized tone and debate in this thread.
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Sat, January 31, 2009 - 12:47 AMWow. Very good and interesting feedback. That's why we love Burning Man and its community.
As far as we can see no chef has replied so we're taking our post elsewhere, perhaps to Burning-Chefs-R-Us. Of course I'm kidding, but Tribe doesn't seem to be a forum for this kind of need.
We are a small group of burners. We work hard, we party hard. We like to eat well at dinner time. It is not our intention to hire a staff or waitpersons to tend to our needs. We tend to all of our needs pretty well. We'd like to know if there is someone out there who is a decent cook, needs the cash and wants to go to Burning Man. Simple transaction not intended to send the culture of Burning Man down the proverbial porta-potty.
Note from Oly's Partner: We first had the idea of hooking up with someone who can cook when one of our neighbors last year shared that his camp had a cook. We've been going to Burning Man for 8 years now and, frankly, the evening meal has not been one of our strong suits. The idea of working some kind of deal with another Burner for whom cooking is more of a joy sounded interesting to us and we decided to post for it. I think we can relate to all of the different points of view posted here. The vibe at Burning Man is all important and the no-commerce ethos is cherished by all of us. I can see how the idea of "hiring" a cook could rankle. But, we really didn't see it as that big of a deal. We look forward to the possibility of adding another friend to our group.
Oly here: And thanks to all of you bad children, we just had a big fight and Mommy and Daddy are getting a DIVORCE! (kidding again)
Seriously thank you all for your heartfelt responses which we respect.
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Sat, January 31, 2009 - 3:25 AMHey check the playa cooking tribe. Someone replied there saying they were interested. Good luck, I wasn't trying to start a shit storm. lol
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Re: Looking for a Camp Chef for Burning Man 2009
Sat, January 31, 2009 - 12:21 PMEmphasize more on the order of what your camp does and has to offer (shade structure / art project / transport / early entry / whatever). You may get takers based on that alone. If you get some folks who are interested but are having trouble scraping together cash for a ticket or for camp fees, you can offer to subsidize tix or waive fees or whatever. It'd probably go over better than just coming straight out and offering to pay somebody to do it.
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