Do you love to cook for friends and special occasions? Are you praised for imaginative dishes, exciting flavors, hospitality and presentation? If so, being a chef may be the ideal career for you.

Celebrity chef and master pastry chef Dorte Lambert has enjoyed tremendous success in her career. Her flourless chocolate cake won the prestigious cover of Bon Appétit magazine in 1999 and she has cooked for dignitaries, premier events and as in-house personal chef to Lisa Marie Presley and John Travolta.

But her job is not always glamorous. Lambert displayed blistered hands during our interview: “Last night I had to kill a hundred live lobsters in under an hour for a birthday party. It was sad, but when you’re a chef, you do what you must to make your clients happy.” In this case, her client was Michael McCarty, the famed chef/owner of five-star Michael’s Restaurant in Santa Monica and a friend who gave Lambert her first professional break.

If you have a passion for the culinary arts, there are several career options, including: executive chef, pastry chef, in-house personal chef and hospitality/restaurant management. While Lambert says that professional chefs generally make between $60,000-$120,000 each year, the average starting salary for an aspiring chef is just under $30,000. And there's a long road to travel before a new chef starts to make a larger salary.