You want to go to culinary school? Read this first.

[Elawin]

I always wanted to be an architect, but in those days it was a "men only" job. (The only female architect even years later was Janet Street-Porter.) My parents wouldn't let me go to university as they couldn't afford it, and my Mum insisted on coming to the one and only interview I got in an architect's office, which was a bit of a downer. It was working for a certain Mr John Poulson, so maybe she knew something no one else did. I did get a job in a civil engineering office as a trainee draughtswoman. I rather enjoyed it, but the job didn't last long. There were too many rows over it at home. Mum didn't want me working in an office full of men, and in those days it was a case of what Mum says goes. Many years later my niece got a job as one of the first two female telephone engineers in the country. One of the things she had to do in the interview was prove that she could climb up a telegraph pole!

I could never have got a job in anything to do with cooking. I was never any good at it! And my daughter was told she had to stay on at school until she got a "proper" job, which she did, very quickly.

 

[Francesca]

@Elawin

You should write a "book" !

I have twin sons, age 27. Both are married and both have a son each ..

One studied architecture & architectural engineering and the other, industrial design ( food ).

Unfortunately, the architectural industry in Cataluna as well as the rest of Iberia is not the best .. So, both my sons work at my parents´ Company, which wholesales a wide variety of neo traditional and traditional porcelain-ware, tableware, hotel supplies A to Z, cutlery, silverware, cookware, stemware, glasses etcetra. to the Hotel Chains throughout Barcelona and the Mediterranean Coast predominately and the Madrid Capital ..

Yes architecture, was a " man´s world " ..

This brings me to think of the silverscreen film, Fountainhead with Patricia O´Neal and Gary Cooper who portrayed Frank Lloyd Wright .. If you have never seen it, or read the book, I highly recommend it .. Amazingly incredible book and film too .. Though Lloyd´s name was never mentioned, it definitely was a portrayal of his encounters during the time of The Gothic Revivial and Greek Revival Architecture and Lloyd was into high rise Steel skyscrapers and environmental rural residences as Falling Water in Pennsylvania ..

Lloyd had also designed many brownstones in the City of Chicago ..

Have a nice day ..

 

[Steven Lockhart]

3) There is no doubt that being a Chef in a kitchen is not for sprinters. It is definitely daunting at moments & hard core labor. However, there is a passion factor that most Culinary Artists possess. They love what they do. Despite the negatives.

4) Dubai and Asia are huge employment opportunities for Chefs ..

5) There are positives and negatives in all fields of employment. One must decide for themselves ..

To sum it up, as it is getting late, also due to the lack of employment in the Mediterranean in white collar corporate jobs, a vast majority of Mediterraneans have gone to culinary school and realised how much they fit into the Chef profile. It is highly respectful employment here and well paid, to those who have developed their skills & know how to work in a team which they learn in Culinary Institute.

Good luck.
Have a lovely weekend.

This is an interesting discussion, which sadly no one discussing it anymore.
I think when someone decided to go to culinary school and becoming a chef, they need to have passion for cooking. Otherwise they won't survive.
I mean, we all know how hard it is working as a chef, and I think when someone decide to become a chef they are not pursuing high income and short working hours. Otherwise the industry will collapse and no one wants to become a chef anymore.

As much as it is hard working as a chef, I agree with Francesca that every field of employment have their own negatives and positives. I work as a sales in an IT company and it has its own difficulty and many factor that we can't control. At least becoming a chef, you have full control of your job and doesn't need to rely more on others. CMIIW

I am now considering to pursue my dream of working in a food industry. So reading this thread is very helpful.

 

[CraigC]

This is an interesting discussion, which sadly no one discussing it anymore.
I think when someone decided to go to culinary school and becoming a chef, they need to have passion for cooking. Otherwise they won't survive.
I mean, we all know how hard it is working as a chef, and I think when someone decide to become a chef they are not pursuing high income and short working hours. Otherwise the industry will collapse and no one wants to become a chef anymore.

As much as it is hard working as a chef, I agree with Francesca that every field of employment have their own negatives and positives. I work as a sales in an IT company and it has its own difficulty and many factor that we can't control. At least becoming a chef, you have full control of your job and doesn't need to rely more on others. CMIIW

I am now considering to pursue my dream of working in a food industry. So reading this thread is very helpful.

No, I actually don't know and guess the majority of home cooks on this forum don't either. I do know about working 80+ hours in the recreational diving industry. When some friends suggested I open a seafood restaurant, I reflected on my present career at the time and decided that I didn't want to trade one 80+ hour a week job for another. I also don't want to be married to a job. One thing I have learned is that absentee owners get robbed blind (ever watch Mystery Diners) and the restaurant business is no different. I also know that there is something called "burn out" and have close, personal, knowledge of it!

 

[Steven Lockhart]

No, I actually don't know and guess the majority of home cooks on this forum don't either. I do know about working 80+ hours in the recreational diving industry. When some friends suggested I open a seafood restaurant, I reflected on my present career at the time and decided that I didn't want to trade one 80+ hour a week job for another. I also don't want to be married to a job. One thing I have learned is that absentee owners get robbed blind (ever watch Mystery Diners) and the restaurant business is no different. I also know that there is something called "burn out" and have close, personal, knowledge of it!

That's one of the thing I'm curious about. How do most restaurant system work so the owners know whether they're being robbed by their employee or not?

 

[CraigC]

That's one of the thing I'm curious about. How do most restaurant system work so the owners know whether they're being robbed by their employee or not?

Beside being there every open hour, trusting no one with the keys and alarm codes, I imagine strict inventory and monetary controls need to be in place. Not to mention cameras that cover every space and outside. On one episode of the show I mentioned, a nephew was selling the owners (family owned and operated place) BBQ sauce recipe. This shows that even family owned places are not immune to theft.

 

[Steven Lockhart]

Beside being there every open hour, trusting no one with the keys and alarm codes, I imagine strict inventory and monetary controls need to be in place. Not to mention cameras that cover every space and outside. On one episode of the show I mentioned, a nephew was selling the owners (family owned and operated place) BBQ sauce recipe. This shows that even family owned places are not immune to theft.

I don't know about being there every open hour is the one most celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver did for their restaurants. I mean, for starter, yes that's what we should do, but after time you have to implement a system where you can leave your restaurant and doesn't need to be there to watch all the things. It's going to be a problem if you want to expand your restaurant to another city or country. And I'm also interested on how they protect their recipe so the employee won't steal it and open the same business