Unfortunately there are times I have to wear my jacket in public, when running to the store mid shift because a purveyor decided I didn't really need that item, or just an OH SHIT! moment where you realize you swapped one of next weeks 10 different menus in your head with that days and did not realize until 4 Hours until service. Either way you just have to. One of the biggest questions and conversations I always get roped into is always "where did you go to culinary school". While I did go to culinary school, I did not graduate, and the school is now defunct. I always answer with where I went and then the conversation always moves to "my spouse, kids, or friends love to cook and want to be Chefs". "What do you think of culinary school? Was it worth it?" My answer is always a resounding NO! Unless you can get into one of the top schools like the True Le Cordon Bleu Schools, CIA, Johnson & Wales, or French Culinary Institute, to name a few of the outstanding schools there are out there, and if you have always had a passion for cooking and not just watching the cooking shows that drive chefs absolutely insane, (That's another post in its self) you already are on a path to enrolling in those wonderful institutions. But for those to make sense you also need to be willing to drop a lot of money for something you will probably drop in about 2 years anyways. Out of my entire starting class of 60 there were about 5 of us left in the industry after 5 years, and after 10 there are only 2 of us left. Mainly due to the rigors and the fact school only teaches you the basics of cooking which you can pick up staging a few days a week on your free time in a restaurant. Something that is kind of easy to do since no Chef I have ever met has turned down free labor from an eager person willing to learn and grow. And you can learn most if not all of the same school techniques in a real world setting where you actually have to produce the techniques while under pressure and consistently every time, and you will do it a lot more than twice per class. Culinary school does not come with the same pressures or repetition that makes a good cook. You produce an item and its graded and you move on, only to revisit it when you start to work in the industry. Instead restaurants can more effectively tell you if you really want to pursue a career as a Chef. The long hours, the low pay, the stress, and the nightmare educing sound of the ticket printer, all the way to working till 2 AM 6 days a week, while trying to find time for that spouse, family, or kids. All while trying not to fall into the substance abuse trap and mental instability that never seeing the sun or ever seeing your friends for months at a time can create. There is a reason Chefs are tightly wound. We have to be perfect all the time and god knows we hear it when we are not. So as far as culinary school is concerned, for me and a lot of my brethren in the industry, we know that getting your ass kicked on the line is a far better education than paying tuition for something you don't even know you will enjoy after a year or 2. So if you have never worked in a restaurant kitchen don't even think of culinary school till you've been in the weeds a few times, and if you don't know what "in the weeds" means and are enrolling.......Just get 30K and set fire to it and use it to start your grill. Thank you for listening to my rant and have a wonderful day!
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