Getting schooled

Choosing a life as a chef is about far more than just a love of cooking. It’s a lifestyle that includes working evenings, weekends and holidays and one where 15-hour days are more commonplace than Emeril uttering his trademark, “Bam!”

If my Sunday paper circulars are any indication, back-to-school season is in full swing and all of this fresh-start to the new year kind of marketing started me to wondering about the current environment for new, or hopeful, culinary school entrants. So, get out your freshly sharpened pencils, bright white notebooks and a clean set of chef’s whites, because this is officially the back-to-school edition of this column.

According to the “Wall Street Journal,” enrollment in culinary school has increased an average of 40 percent since 2000, driven in part to the frenzy that ensued when celebrity chefs came on the scene, the Food Network became popular and people connected their plates to their palettes. I can relate to the fantasy many of these eager enrollees experience. A love of food and cooking is a malady that affects many of us. By the time I finished reading Michael Ruhlman’s book, “The Making of a Chef” and the follow up, “The Soul of a Chef,” I had ingested so much of the cooking school Kool-Aid that I was just a few moments of insanity short of registering myself. Thankfully, the roughly $25,000 in fees helped to dissuade me.

To his credit, Ruhlman’s factual account of his time spent in culinary school doesn’t put blinders on when it comes to the life of a chef. In fact, it’s presented quite close to the reality, which means that there’s no hiding the toil that takes place in the back of the house. In other words, choosing a life as a chef is about far more than just a love of cooking. It’s a lifestyle that includes working evenings, weekends and holidays and one where 15-hour days are more commonplace than Emeril uttering his trademark, “Bam!”

But still, many venture forth bravely armed with safety shoes and a set of knives. And, according to Anj Kozel, the director of communications at the Arts Institute International of Minnesota culinary school, graduates are still in demand—and true to the rush of grads that have fueled the enrollment fire, there’s no lumping them into any one category. “Our program is a mix of individuals,” Kozel said. “There are some students in the program who come to us right out of high school. There are others who come out of kitchens to hone their skills in order to advance and there are those who come out of the corporate world to follow their dreams.” The Arts Institute offers certificate programs, as well as associates degree in culinary arts and a bachelors degree in culinary management.

Across town at Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School, Pat Downing in the admissions office agrees that applicants to their associates program are quite varied. “It is a kind of romantic career,” he said. “The flip side is that it’s also very demanding, but most of the people who come here have some kind of experience in it.” When asked about how he counsels young hopefuls coming in for a degree, Downing said, “It’s the same as any other career. What everyone should do is find something that they enjoy doing, because then, as they say, you’ll never work again another day in your life.” Not only that, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there’s still a lot of opportunity out there for those who can successfully wield a sauté pan.

An insanely high percentage of us have worked in restaurants—from fast-food to fine dining—at some point during our lives. It’s the few, the brave, (the somewhat crazy?) who go on to make a career out of it. I am happy to feast upon their learnings and I applaud both those who cranked through culinary school and those who went the route from dishwasher to line cook to executive chef. If the food coming from kitchens across the metro are any indication, it was worth it. So, if you’re standing on the cusp of becoming a chef, and nothing can dissuade you, then go for it. The kitchen door’s still swinging open.


Curious about the adventures of people interested in, or attending, culinary school? Check out the following blogs:

www.ciachef.blogspot.com
This weekly blog from the Culinary Institute of America (or CIA) is called Insight from the Inside and is a compilation of the stories of a number of different chefs from the school. Posts include instructional items, like the basics of cooking rice, and the real-life frustrations and glees of a chef-in-training.

www.sweetnapa.com
Follow the adventures of Nina, a young woman attending a 30-week baking and pastry program at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley.

www.chocolateandzucchini.com
Check out the blog of one of the more well-known writers in the cyber-food world, Clotilde Dusoulier, a 26-year old French woman who writes about the fabulous world of food, including her once-a-week for a year foray into cooking school (she’s a self-taught culinary obsessive).


And for a look at what the restaurant life might have in store for you:

http://knifesedge.typepad.com/
Follow Haddock, a self-described “punk-rock restaurateur lost in Northern California.” He is a restaurant owner and executive chef who writes very blunt opinions on what it’s really like to own and operate a top-rated restaurant.

http://ideasinfood.typepad.com/
They are husband and wife chefs—H. Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa—who somehow find the time to not only hold down their jobs at Keyah Grande, a luxury hotel in Pagosa Springs, Colo., but post their meticulous culinary experiments almost daily.
And for some good, informative fun (it’s healthy to remember that enthusiasm):

http://www.meathenge.com/
He’s not a professional chef, but when it comes to meat—and grilling, smoking, barbecuing and baking the stuff—Dr. Biggles is about the best (and funniest) you’ll find. (Editors note: I’ve tried a couple of his techniques myself, they’re about flawless.)