I assume one becomes a chef because they have a love for cooking and food and the artistry involved, but I can’t think of anything more eroding to that love of the craft than the kind of working day I see chefs and other kitchen staff go through. It seems to an outsider like me that it’s basically a shift-length panic attack, every day. But that can’t be the case, or no one would do the job!
Probably not. And they find jobs in calmer setups or they get out of the kitchen. But for the rest, that isn’t a deal breaker. If that’s what you want to do then that’s a likely way to have to do it.
The somewhat military order in a professional kitchen is by design. Order is important. I’ve gone through weeks of training in a fine dining kitchen and having worked in hotels I could look into busy kitchens from the sideline. Culture plays a big part. You can have a busy orderly kitchen without too much shouting and people not hating each other at the end of service.
A lot of the drama that happens between people, if it isn’t stress, is the fact that advancement options are limited. The higher up you get in the hierarchy, the fewer jobs will be available to you.