People travel from around the globe to Cornwall just to have a meal at one of his restaurants. They queue to have him sign their books and pay hundreds of dollars at food festivals to hear him spill the secrets of his sole (yes, the fish). Rick Stein, 70, is the steadfast, knowledgeable gastronome beloved by Australians and Brits alike.

You’d think then, that his son Jack Stein would be filled to bursting with a wealth of cooking wisdom passed down to him by his famous father. But the young chef says the only thing the king of crab taught him, cooking-wise, was how to slice bread.

“I was 16. He’d been at a party and had had a couple, I think, and he pulled me over and said: ‘I’m going to show you how to cut bread,’” Jack says. “He’s given me an awful lot in other ways, all sorts of opportunities I wouldn’t have without him, but in terms of cooking skills, that’s about it.”

Just because your dad is the most famous fish cook in the world, doesn’t ensure an easy ride into the family business. But that’s where Jack ended up, and he’s now chef director across the family’s restaurant group.

Jack, 36, whose TV series Born to Cook recently screened on SBS, says while it was probably inevitable he’d end up cooking or in the restaurant, he was discouraged from doing so by Rick.

“Dad said to me: ‘Don’t be a chef, it’s a nightmare.’ But he didn’t realise the kitchen was something you could approach like a degree, treating it more like an education, rather than just a job,” says Jack, who has a bachelor in psychology as well as a masters in ancient history.

Having worked in his parents’ Cornwall restaurant from the age of 12, the buzz of a busy service drew Jack back into the food industry after university. And while he discouraged Jack early on, now Rick says it’s a source of pride and reassurance that the next generation has come back to work in the business as adults. Jack’s brothers Ed and Charlie also work in the restaurants – Ed looks after design and Charlie takes care of wine.

“I say this humorously, but small family businesses definitely call on the children to help out,” Rick says. “It’s such an involving line of business. You’re at it 24 hours a day. They do pick it up and they understand it, and, slightly regrettably, it is their life as children. The reality is they just get to know the business.”

While women are increasingly being recognised in the professional kitchen, it remains a male-dominated affair. It’s a hot, competitive environment of steam and sweat and swearing involving long, demanding hours interspersed with the adrenalin rush of service. It’s not for everyone.

“My father dragged me into the kitchen during school holidays when I was 10 years old. I absolutely hated it and thought: ‘Who’d want to do this?’” says chef Guy Grossi, 52. “But it turns out hospitality isn’t something you do, it’s something you catch and there’s no cure for it.”

Like Jack Stein, Guy’s son Carlo, 29, grew up in and around the family restaurant and, like Rick, Guy initially tried to dissuade him from joining the food industry.

“But he was adamant. Now, it’s one of my greatest and proudest achievements to have two of the most wonderful children in the business,” Guy says. (Daughter Loredana also works for the family firm.)

“Carlo has given me new inspiration and energy,” Guy says.

Initially looking after Ombra salumi bar in Melbourne’s CBD, Carlo has recently opened bar Arlechin and also manages the flagship restaurant Grossi Florentino. And he has bold ambitions.

“I want it to be one of the most recognised Italian dining rooms in the world,” he says. “I find it a funny question when people ask me when am I going out to do my own thing? I am doing my own thing – running a luxurious restaurant with great pedigree. To start again from scratch doesn’t make sense to me.”

Starting over is something Anthony Puharich, 44, knows well. The one-time merchant banker shocked his father by stating he wanted to leave his suit-and-tie life behind and become the fifth generation in the family to take up butchery. Although it took him every one of the sales skills he learnt in his commerce degree to convince his father, Victor, 66, that they should go into business together, the duo opened Vic’s Premium Quality Meat in 1996 which has since become Australia’s leading meat wholesaler. In 2009, they also created luxe butcher shop, Victor Churchill in Sydney’s Woollahra. The father and son are regarded as the country’s foremost butchers, and have created a company that now employs more than 250 people.

“We share a love of what we do – the craft of butchery,” Anthony says. “He’s very conservative, so I drive the vision, take the risks. I scare the hell out of my dad most of the time with my ideas and the direction I take the business.”

Even though they put in 12-hour days side-by-side, the Puharich family still spends weekends together and annual holidays.

“We love food, we love travelling and have so many interests in common. [Our relationship] isn’t something I have to consciously work at. We have a bond built out of the hours we spend together,” Anthony says.

As for Guy Grossi, the My Kitchen Rules judge says he gets asked all the time how it is working with his kids.

“There are ups and down, of course, but the reason I like working with family so much is if anyone decides to put their hand in the till, at least it’s still in the family!”