Don’t waste Time and Money on Culinary School If you Can’t Cook, My Advice find what is your Talent not theirs.

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/culinary_school.htm

I hope if you decide to go to culinary school you will come back and tell us all about it.

I’m a junior in high school, and I have been wondering if Cooking school is really right for me.

This site with all the respones has helped a lot with the thinking. I do a little cooking here and there. But mostly I’ve been watching how others have done theree cooking, in restuarants or even at home.

I really liked seeing the responses on what people thought towards this.

Second, people think they can get everything they need by going to school. I have a BA in political science, and work in an environment with managers with a variety of education. The best ones are not the ones who went to hospitality management schools. They’re the ones who started out as bussers, hostesses, and stewards and worked their way up through the ranks.

Finally, I work in a place where there are world class chefs. Honestly, nobody looks at where they went to culinary school. People look at where they were cooks, master cooks, and sous chefs before they were Exec. Chefs. People look at the chefs under whom they have worked, and the cuisine of those restuarants. Also, every single one of them could step outside their restaurant, and perform well with another cuisine. Yes, they each have their specialties, but a Pastry Chef should have a good understanding of cuisine, and an Executive Chef should know the basics of pastry.

The difference between cooks who go to culinary school and cooks that don’t is this:

culinary school cooks have the skills to succeed, but generally are overconfident, and kind of whimpy. They don’t last long because they can’t understand why they have to do things a Chef’s way, or a server’s way, or a guest’s way, or the manager’s way, when they’re already doing things “right.”

Non-clasically trained cooks require more on the job training. They lack the basic skills (at least at first). But, they’re also humble. They’re willing to get yelled at, say “Oui Chef,” learn from it, and move on. They tend to outlast clasically trained people.

Remember that this industry is all about personality. You can have the best skills in the world, but when you can’t say “I”m sorry,” smile, and move on (even if you think you’re right), your career will be short.