The Sims 4 base game offers different career tracks for Sims to earn Simoleons, gain skills, and have the ideal “work-life balance.” In this article, we will be focusing on one of the basic careers in The Sims 4, the Culinary Career. To get to know more about all the career options in the game, head over to SnootySims’ The Sims 4 Careers Complete Guide, or to Snooty Sims’ The Sims 4 Careers List page for the complete list of TS4 base game career paths.
But before that, let’s see what the Culinary Career is all about! Ready?
The Sims 4 Culinary Career Track: An Overview
“Anyone can make dinner or mix a drink at home. The Culinary career is for those who want to take it to another level and make money doing it.”
That’s how the game describes the Culinary Career track. Cooking delicious meals or mixing a drink while earning Simoleons? Why not! The Sims 4 Culinary Career is one of the ten career choices for your Sims in the base game. It’s pretty self-explanatory – this line of work is all about food and drinks!
By taking this career path, you’ll get to choose between two branches after your Sim gets promoted to level 6 – the Chef Branch or the Mixologist Branch, which we’ll discuss in greater detail later. Advancing in this career gives not only Simoleons, but also other bonuses like kitchen items, CAS items, and ability to write cookbooks or bar guides.
The ideal traits for the Culinary Career track are Neat, Creative, and Foodie. Choosing these traits for your Sim will help in skill-building and faster job promotions. It would also help to have Homey and Convivial as your Lot Traits to help in this career track.
Daily Task
Any job in The Sims 4 requires a daily task that must be completed. For the Culinary Career track, these tasks are pretty straightforward: prepare food/mix drinks.
The first five levels of the Culinary Career Track requires your Sim to prepare food/mix drinks every day. To complete this task, you’ll have to either cook three meals or make three drinks or do a combination of the two. Here’s a quick tip: Instead of making group meals, prepare single meals so your Sim will spend more time cooking in the kitchen. Cook when your Sim is inspired, and that will help your Sim gain cooking or gourmet cooking skill faster.
As your Sim progress to higher levels and choose either of the two branches, then the daily task will depend on which culinary branch you’d pick. Prepare food for the Chef Branch and Mix Drinks for the Mixologist branch.
Ideal Mood
In the Sims 4, every Career and Skill has a corresponding Ideal Mood. For the Culinary Career, it is Inspired.
But what does it mean? It means that when Sims are inspired, they’ll gain better Work Performance. The mood also improves their skill experience faster and allows them to complete higher-quality works when using cooking/mixology skills.
How to make a Sim inspired?
You can make your Sim inspired by using the Take a Thoughtful Shower interaction before going to work. You can also use items, like the Umber Kitchen Sink, that enable the Inspired emotional aura. You can unlock this sink on Level 4 of your Culinary Career.
Culinary Career Aspirations
Aspirations are Sims’ lifelong goals. Each Aspiration has four stages with corresponding requirements that will provide Sims with Satisfaction points upon completion. The Satisfaction points can then be used to claim Rewards. The Aspirations can be accessed through the aspiration panel and can be changed anytime by selecting a new Aspiration from the list. Here are some of the best Aspirations for the Culinary Career track.
Master Chef
Completing the Master Chef Aspiration is incredibly easy! Its four milestones include Milestone I:Aluminum Chef, Milestone II: Captain Cook, Milestone III: Culinary Artist, and Milestone IV: Master Chef. Completing all these will give the Fresh Chef bonus trait as a reward, which will allow your Sim to cook superb meals that never spoil.
Master Mixologist
If your Sim is heading toward the Mixologist Branch of the Culinary Career track, no other Aspiration suits it better than the Master Mixologist Aspiration. It includes Milestone I: Bar Tenderfoot, Milestone II: Electric Mixer, Milestone III: Beverage Boss, and Milestone IV: Master Mixologist. Completing the four milestones will result in the Potion Master reward trait, which will allow your Sim to make drinks that can affect the moods of those who consume them.
Culinary Career Levels
The Culinary Career in The Sims 4 requires you to work on your daily task, which significantly involves cooking, mixing drinks, or a combination of both. We know that even in the game, every meal or drink comes with a price. However, it’s worth noting that the cost of the meal or drink does not affect how fast your Sims build their cooking, gourmet cooking, and mixology skills.
The first five levels of the Culinary Career track requires a combination of cooking and mixology skills. As soon as you get past Level 5, then you could focus on either of the two skills depending on your desired Culinary Branch.
Here’s a quick summary of the Culinary Career levels 1 to 5.
| Level | Job Title | Work Schedule | Hourly Wage | Daily Wage | Promotion Requirements | Bonus for Promotion |
| 1 | Assistant Dishwasher | Fri – Mon, Wed (4:00 PM – 1:00 AM) | §15/hour | §135 | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | Head Dishwasher | Thu – Mon (4:00 PM – 1:00 AM) | §16/hour | §144 | Level 2 Cooking | §334, Corporate Chic Countertop |
| 3 | Caterer | Thu – Mon (3:00 PM – 11:00 PM) | §26/hour | §208 | Level 2 Mixology | §368, Stainless Steel Auto-Pot |
| 4 | Mixologist | Fri – Mon (6:00 PM – 2:00 AM) | §35/hour | §280 | Level 3 Mixology and Cooking | §515, Umber Kitchen Sink |
| 5 | Line Cook | Fri – Mon (2:00 PM – 10:00 PM) | §43/hour | §344 | Level 4 Mixology and Cooking | §556, Corporate Chic Counter Island, New CAS Parts |
Culinary Career Branches: Chef and Mixologist
After your Culinary Sim’s promotion to Level 6, you will be prompted to choose between the two branches of the Culinary Career track: Chef and Mixologist.
Chef Branch
“It takes a special touch to craft exquisite food. Begin your journey of making Sims weak in the knees with a dangerously delicious dish.”
The Chef branch of the Culinary Career in the Sims 4 is a lot easier and earns more Simoleons than the Mixology branch. It requires your Sim to concentrate on two useful essential skills: Cooking and Gourmet Cooking.
Choosing this Culinary Career path will earn your Sim 9840 Simoleons for a 4-day workweek of 6 hours per workday. The Chef branch also gives more useful reward items.
When you reach Level 8 of the Chef branch, you’ll have the ability to Write Cook Book on a computer. Amazingly, you can take advantage of this and earn more Simoleons through daily royalties when you publish cookbooks.
Culinary Career Chef Branch Levels
| Level | Job Title | Work Schedule | Hourly Wage | Daily Wage | Promotion Requirements | Bonus for Promotion |
| 6 | Head Caterer | Fri – Mon (3:00 PM – 12:00 AM) | §52/hour | §468 | Level 6 Cooking, Level 2 Gourmet Cooking | §691, Positronic Pro Magnetic Knife Rack |
| 7 | Pastry Chef | Thu – Mon (12:00 PM – 5:00 PM) | §104/hour | §520 | Level 7 Cooking, Level 4 Gourmet Cooking | §933, Heavy Dutiest Pot Rack, Professional Ceiling-Mounted Pot Rack, Ceiling Pot Rack – Oval |
| 8 | Sous Chef | Thu – Mon (8:00 PM – 2:00 AM) | §131/hour | §786 | Level 8 Cooking, Level 6 Gourmet Cooking | §1306, Icebox of Steel by Krampft Industries, Write Cook Book ability on Computer |
| 9 | Executive Chef | Fri – Mon (5:00 PM – 11:00 PM) | §253/hour | §1518 | Level 10 Cooking, Level 8 Gourmet Cooking | §1959 |
| 10 | Celebrity Chef | Fri – Mon (12:00 PM – 6:00 PM) | §410/hour | §2460 | N/A | §3037, Discretion Stove Hood, Pro Performance Range Hood, The Obelisk, Pancake Pro Free-Standing Griddle, New CAS Parts |
Mixologist Branch
“A master mixologist knows the ins and outs of various mixers and ingredients to create a drink that makes the shyest Sim sit up and notice.”
The Mixologist branch of the Culinary Career in The Sims 4 is more complicated than the Chef branch. It will not rely on Cooking or Gourmet Cooking skills, but on Mixology and Charisma skills instead. Other than that, it requires your Sim to make 12 friends.
In terms of income, the Mixologist branch will earn your Sim 5910 Simoleons for a 3-day work week with 10 hours per workday. It helps if you let your Sim go to work with a Confident or Very Confident Moodlet by using one of the many interactions that boost a Sim’s confidence, including “Brush Teeth” or “Practice Speech” among others.
At Level 8 of the Chef branch, you’ll have the ability to Write Bar Guides on computers. It’s pretty useful when you want to earn more Simoleons since publishing these bar guides will give you daily royalties.
Culinary Career Mixologist Branch Levels
| Level | Job Title | Work Schedule | Hourly Wage | Daily Wage | Promotion Requirements | Bonus for Promotion |
| 6 | Head Mixologist | Thu – Mon (6:00 PM – 1:00 AM) | §45/hour | §315 | Level 5 Mixology, Level 2 Charisma | §691, Captain Rodrigo de Pablo Cask |
| 7 | Juice Boss | Thu – Mon (7:00 PM – 2:00 AM) | §64/hour | §448 | Level 7 Mixology, Level 4 Charisma | §1907 |
| 8 | Chief Drink Operator | Thu – Sun (4:00 PM – 12:00 AM) | §111/hour | §888 | Level 8 Mixology, Level 6 Charisma | §2559, Vinoteca Bottle Rack, Write Bar Guide ability on Computer |
| 9 | Drinkmaster | Thu, Sat – Sun (2:00 PM – 12:00 AM) | §166/hour | §1660 | Level 10 Mixology, Level 8 Charisma | §3916, Lemonade on a Sunny Day Torchiere |
| 10 | Celebrity Mixologist | Thu, Sat – Sun (12:00 PM – 10:00 PM) | §197/hour | §1970 | N/A | §4984, Bar Setters Bar, New CAS Parts |
NPC Sims in the Culinary Career
- Bob Pancakes – Caterer
- Catarina Lynx – Caterer
- Clara Bjergsen – Caterer
- Mila Munch – Caterer
- Summer Holiday – Head Dishwasher
- Dina Caliente – Assistant Dishwasher
- Mitchell Kalani – Assistant Dishwasher
- Raj Rasoya – Pastry Chef
- Jesminder Bheeda – Head Mixologist
