A strong desire to be a chef is a good place to start. Having a good sense of smell, and taste will be necessary also. It would very difficult to prepare a good meal if you can't decipher differences from one spice to another; or if you do not know which spices go well together and which ones don't.

Cooking is a lot different than being a chef is. If you are just cooking for yourself you have room for errors.

If you are cooking for a stranger, you will want to cook your food to perfection. Of course, you will also want to present food in an enticing manner as well.

There are stages to becoming a chef. You have to start at bottom, but becoming a chef is one of few occupations where you can get most of your training on job. You do have to go to school and train as well, but much of training is done in a working environment.