Brighter Shores Chef Guide: Leveling tips, Profession breakdown, and more
Chef is arguably the easiest Profession to level in Brighter Shores. This culinary job in Hopeport can be quite self-contained and has the best gameplay loop if you want easy levels. Moreover, it comes with a bounty board system that lets you get massive chunks of active XP for easy progression toward your next Knowledge Point.
It's also tied to other professions, as some ingredients in specific dishes are found by Foraging in the wilds or Fishing in the waterways. However, these are not hard requirements.
This shares an introduction to the profession, leveling tips, and more to get you started on your path to becoming a master Chef in Brighter Shores.
How to start cooking in Brighter Shores: Early-game Chef leveling guide
On Stone Street next to the starting area, you can find The Delectable Dab—a restaurant and kitchen that will serve as your culinary hub. Once you enter, you’ll notice a range of cooking stations and preparation tools you will need to familiarize yourself with and eventually master.
Level 0 - 4
There's absolutely no requirement to start cooking in Brighter Shores, other than some seed money to start off (about 5 Silver is good enough to start, but you should have some more if you want to level rapidly).
Where to get Bread and Bacon in Brighter Shores
First, though, you'll need some raw ingredients for cooking. The first and only food you can make at Chef Level 0 is the basic Bacon Sandwich. Right outside the Delectable Dab, Kevin sells bread and bacon for this. Simply step out to Stone Street and look north of the Delectable Dab entrance to find him.
Once you get it, you can look at the Chef Recipe Book to see how to make the Bacon Sandwich. As it instructs, fry the bacon in the frying pan and then put the sandwich together at the preparation table. When you're done, sell them by the lot to the Head Chef in the same room (use Sense spell to outline him if you can't locate him).
The next type of dish you can level is Jellied Eels. For this, you'll need to get some Lesser Eel from Eel Street Bridge, but it requires Level 2 in the Fisherman Profession. If you don't want to take a break to go spear-fishing right away, you can ignore it for now, and spam Bacon Sandwich till you hit Level 4.
Level 4 - 9
After you hit Level 4, switch to batch-cooking Omelette. Empty your inventory, go out and buy 24 Eggs from Kevin, and you are set for a fast-tracked way to get Level 6.
Afterwards, you can switch to Sausage and Mash (buy 12x Sausage and 12x Potatoes from Kevin), or keep cooking Omelette till you get to Level 8, at which point you should switch over to Vegetable Stew, which is arguably the best food to level Chef till Level 18.
Level 9 - 20
After Level 9, you get access to the Chef's Bounty Board. This makes you play the chef and the delivery boy at the same time. Here's a quick explanation of the bounty system:
- There are four available bounties, which require you to cook specific dishes and deliver them to specific NPCs.
- The bounties refresh every hour.
- Once you take up a bounty, it stays permanently till you complete it.
- You can take up a total of six bounties at any given time, and they can be abandoned at any time too.
Bounties give a big chunk of active XP for delivering it, even if you ignore it for a while and deliver it the next day. This is in addition to the XP you gain from cooking the dishes themselves, making bounties the best way to level up Chef past Level 9.
All Cooking Stations and Tools in Brighter Shores
The kitchen in the Delectable Dab is equipped with multiple cooking and preparation stations, which are as follows:
- Chef Recipe Book
- Preparation Table
- Frying Pan
- Boiling Pot
- Ice Box
- Chopping Table
- Chef’s Bounty Board
- Oven
- Grill
- Sauce Pan
- Deep Fryer
- Batter Barrel
At first, you’ll focus on just a few basic stations—like the Preparation Table, Frying Pan, and Boiling Pot. Later on, as recipes become more complex, you’ll need to become comfortable using each tool.
How to earn money as a Chef in Brighter Shores
You get some XP each time you successfully cook a dish. However, after you are done cooking, you have two main options for what you want to do with your dish:
- Sell to the Head Chef: This will earn you money, which you can use to buy additional ingredients or tools. The most profitable food early on is Vegetable Stew. However, if you can forage Potatoes, Basic Sausage and Mashed Potatoes is more cost-efficient.
- Chef Bounty Board: After reaching Level 9 in cooking, you’ll unlock the Chef Bounty Board, allowing you to take on bounties for extra experience and rewards.
The bounty board, again, is the best way to get a profit margin, as they'll pay you more than the Head Chef for the same ingredients.
Note that you can actually lose money on a few dishes. For example, Basic Chicken and Leek Pie ingredients cost more than the Head Chef pays you for the dish. In the early game, ignore the following dishes unless you get a particularly favorable bounty:
- Basic Chicken and Leek Pie (Lvl 14+)
- Appetizing Sausage and Mash (Lvl 18+)
Also read: Brighter Shores tutorial features easy way to farm money and items
Where to get ingredients for cooking in Brighter Shores
You’ll need a range of ingredients for cooking, which can be sourced in different ways:
- Fishing: Many recipes, especially fish-based ones, require fresh catches. Use a fishing spear to collect fish or visit the Frequently Fresh Fish Stall if you prefer buying.
- Gathering Professions: If you’re also skilled in gathering, you can obtain ingredients like vegetables through foraging.
- Kevin’s Ingredient Stall: Located right outside the Delectable Dab, Kevin sells essentials like bacon, bread, and gelatin. Low-level items are affordable, costing only a few hundred coppers.
The specific ingredients you need depend on the recipe. Always keep a variety on hand to avoid frequent trips out of the kitchen.
Cooking Recipes and Levels
Brighter Shores offers a streamlined recipe system with 18 primary dishes, each with multiple subcategories. Below are the key recipes, but each of these dishes has several tiers of upgrade, which can be cooked by getting higher-tier variants as long as you meet the level requirement.
Each recipe has its own prep station requirements and ingredients. For example, a simple Bacon Sandwich needs just a Frying Pan and Preparation Table, while Lobster Thermidor requires multiple stations for advanced cooking techniques.
General tips for the Chef profession in Brighter Shores
To get the most out the Chef profession, keep these things in mind:
Focus on high-level recipes: Always aim to cook the highest-level recipes you have access to. If you have the necessary ingredients, high-level dishes yield more experience per cook.
Use Chef’s Bounty Board: After unlocking it at Level 9, the Bounty Board becomes an essential tool for efficient leveling. Each bounty offers significant XP, and with four options available at any time, you can easily rack up experience points.
Combine professions: The Chef profession works well with gathering and fishing. As you level up in these related fields, you’ll gain access to more ingredients for free rather than purchasing them, which can help save money.
Recipes requiring few ingredients: Dishes like Vegetable Stew are ideal for leveling because they only need one basic ingredient that you can get from the vendor nearby. This recipe is quick to make and cost-effective, maximizing profit while minimizing prep time.
Check out our other guides on the game:
- Is Brighter Shores free-to-play?
- Should you buy Brighter Shores Premium Pass?
- All classes in Brighter Shores, explained
- Brighter Shores tutorial features easy way to farm money and items