Fabriqué en France, the art of service: Eating well is a sensory experience, one which can be crafted into an art form. Nothing embodies this attitude more than the work of a maître d'hôtel (French for head waiter) — true masters of the restaurant industry.

It’s all about making sure people have a good experience, according to celebrity maître d’ Fred Sirieix. This he learned from his father, a former health delivery professional, whose work sparked young Sirieix’s interest in service and hospitality. From day one he recognized that working in the hospitality field is best done when you can connect with others and give generously. “If you get all that right, the food tastes better,” Sirieix says. His views are echoed by many of the UK’s best front of house restaurant managers, whose stories are recounted in the Guardian. For these people, their work is more than a job: it is genuinely seen as a vocation and a way of life.

The kitchen has a hierarchy of its own: In high-end restaurants, chefs are highly artistic, often very well-paid professionals. In climbing the culinary ladder, they often find themselves at the top of the social one. La brigade de cuisine, or a restaurant’s kitchen staff, is headed up by a chef de cuisine (head chef), while the garçon de cuisine (kitchen boy) is at the bottom rung. BBC Good Food has good advice from Michelin star-holding chef Nathan Outlaw for those interested in working their way up to be a future Gordon Ramsey.

But the culinary industry also has a dark side. And few insiders have expressed this better than late high-profile chef and journalist Anthony Bourdain, who spilled some rare secrets to the New Yorker in 1999. “Don’t Eat Before Reading This” is an article that certainly lives up to its name. We recommend that all dining enthusiasts read closely for a sneak peek into the inner workings of your average eatery.

Don’t be too alarmed. The foodie world has much to offer, if you do a little digging. In the northern Spanish resort town of San Sebastian, a destination known for offering some of the world’s best dining experiences, there are hundreds of “txokos,” or secret gastronomic societies, that are accessible only by invitation. There, members and guests get together to experience the region’s culinary heritage, with little focus on the commercial side of things. With some searching, you’ll find that an almost parallel universe of food-based experiences can be found in Europe, with its “endlessly varied cuisine.”