Is Culinary School Really Worth The Money And Time I Spent?

6 Comments

1. lmn78744 says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:38 am

   Culinary schools can teach alot, but if you’re not getting much out of it (not your money’s worth), then I say get out there and get busy in the real kitchens!
   Cooking is one of those skills that it matters less how many schools you attended, but far more how good a dish you can produce! Your food is your resume.
2. Libbyfro says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:38 am

   I think “nobody’s perfect” (above) has given you the perfect answer.
   I would add that your education has real value. While you acquire skills in the restaurant ,the culinary course is teaching you the fundamentals that you will rely on for the rest of your career.You will be able to get hired at better restaurants with your training you will be seen as a “chef” rather than just a cook.
   I worked at a mid rage restaurant as “prep cook” for about a year. I was a total green horn but learned everything! After a year I was promoted to the line as a lowly ” pantry cook” I still did not know as much as the recent culinary grads and they were more respected cause of their training.
3. JCA says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:38 am

   No, no, no! That’s like the law student saying he’s going to drop out and start working as a law clerk because yada yada yada. Formal schooling is always the best GROUND floor to learn the basics. By the year 2025 over 90% of households will be dinning out. You know dual careers, fast life styles, etc. Only those with the FORMAL education and the CERTIFICATE or DEGREE in hand will get ahead with the best jobs. I don’t think you will become a CHEF with your experience being as Flipping Burger in-charge at the Greasy Burger stand for 15 years. But you will get entry-level employment working with the greatest Chefs when you graduate from your culinary school. Besides employers don’t hire or like QUITTERS. What’s your reason going to be on the application when asked “Reason for Leaving?”. Ah, I just thought yada yada. No the interviewer will say “Yeah, right, I’d say you DIDN’T think.” How many lawers, doctors and Chefs do you know that dropped out of school and got their success “On-The-Job”? Name me one!
4. nobody important says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:38 am

   I’m doing it the hard way right now. I don’t have $50,000 to go to CIA or the money and time to go to France, and so I’m working as the garde-manger at a very, very fancy restaurant where I live. It’s extremely hard, stressful work, but I’m learning tons of things – I’ve been there for less than a year, and I’ve filled two notebooks front-to-back with all the little things I’ve learned. I wish I would have been able to attend culinary school just to have the basic, uniform knowledge about food and cooking that I’m learning now. It’d be really nice, but going to culinary school won’t teach you how to keep serving food when the power goes out in the middle of a friday night dinner rush, or what to do when a cook walks out and you have to work two stations at once.
   It’s really a two-part thing: culinary school gives you the basic knowledge of food and cooking, and working in a restaurant teaches you to apply the things you’ve learned in school to a real, extremely fast-paced and unforgiving environment.
5. imgram says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:38 am

   A degree will, in the long run, make it easier for you. It will open up more opportunities for you, more options are always better.
   It depends on what direction you want to take your career.
6. **kia** says:

   January 30, 2010 at 1:38 am

   If your good at it lol seriously though..