Oscar Waalkens, 17, hopes to one day travel the world as a professional chef

The 17-year-old Wodonga teen said his family was proud of him as he begins his chef apprenticeship at Wodonga's Church St Hotel.

"My inspiration is my dad," he said.

"Although I don't think I was much help whatsoever in the kitchen growing up, he has always encouraged me to cook nice meals and eat well.

"Now I cook my own meals every night."

Oscar started his three-year apprenticeship earlier this week at Wodonga's Church St Hotel after approaching Wodonga's Chef 4 Hire's Scott Bowerman earlier this year.

Mr Bowerman said it had slowed down dramatically for young people getting into the industry because it was "hard finding people with a passion for cooking still" as industry worked hard to remove "the stigma of a toxic culture".

"Oscar jumped in and started straight away," he said.

Oscar noted that anyone looking to enter the hospitality industry must "make sure you love what you do first".

"It's like any other job," he said. "How I look at it is I'd rather do my best and just try my hardest and work as hard as possible.

"It's a worldwide skill, an art, but so few people - which is sad."

It was a similar story for school-based apprentice Oliver Liddington-Denehey, 15, who had dipped his toes in various opportunities, but was drawn to cooking.

The Indie School student is on a school-based apprenticeship, meaning he would be able to complete his schooling while working in the restaurant twice a week.

He said it was pretty exciting being offered the place.

"I like it," he said.

"It seems like a really good place to work."

Oliver said once he finished his three-year stint, he hoped to one day open his own restaurant.

Mr Bowerman said it was great that Oscar and Oliver were already showing signs of progress in the industry.

"It creates more jobs and future restaurants," he said.

Church St head chef Matt Richter said it wasn't just cooking that young apprentices would learn, but also "cleanliness, hygiene and life skills".

"There is a lot to learn," he said.

"The chef apprenticeship is pretty detailed.

"We try and teach them ethics of hard work and respect and all of those things.

"Everything they need to know to be a part of a kitchen is what we will teach them."

Mr Richter said it was a tough gig, "and we don't have people lining up around the door to jump in".

"We're trying to make it a positive experience," he said.

"We want to teach the value of hard work and change the way that we do things a little bit to accommodate people coming into the industry."

He said ways around that was "removing the stigma of a toxic culture".

"It might have been a toxic, angry culture 20 years ago.

"But we're trying to get away from that and make it a positive and focus on the work-life balance."

Mr Richter has been a chef for about 12 years and said he had seen many people come and go.

"The industry burns them out, and that sucks," he said.

"We've lost a lot of good quality people because the lifestyle just doesn't fit.

"But we hope to change that."

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