Too Old For Culinary School?
Can you start culinary school in your 40’s?
Timing is essential when cooking but it’s also great when you are responding to visitors call out for some help. Yesterday, I received an email from Chris asking for some advise & encouragement he could give his wife, Patty, before she starts culinary arts school at The Orlando Culinary Academy this October.
Patty is nervous because she is starting school at 45 years young and concerned about her age and if she has the necessary skills. A couple of hours after I received Chris’s email, I received an email from Chef Jenni Field, a graduate of The Orlando Culinary Academy who started school at age 40. Perfect timing!
I asked Chef Jenni for some help and she sent me a thoughtful, informative response to send to Chris & Patty. By the way, Chef Jenni has just built her own web site for home bakers called www.pastrychefonline.com. It’s in the early stages but worth a look.
Here’s the email I received from Chris :
Hi, my name is Chris and I writing you from Orlando Fla. My wife Patty will start classes at the Cordon Blue Academy here in town. She is 45 years old and she is “frightened” about her age and very concerned if she will understand the course…like afraid of the high skills needed. I am helping a lot by encouraging her. I think she is a very smart person and she absolutely loves food and cooking in the kitchen…but classes start October first and I really need somebody to help me here. She is an extremely responsible person and extremely concerned. Any help? Is it a real rocket science class?
Here is Chef Jenni’s response:
Chris, can I just say that it is lovely of you to seek some help and guidance for your wife. I attended The Orlando Culinary Academy myself as a 40-year-old “freshman.” Like your wife, I, too was extremely nervous. “I’ve baked for years, but will I be lost in the professional arena? Can I keep up with the young guns? Will it just plain be too hard? Will I feel old and dumb?” I stayed up many a night with my supportive husband patting my back. If this sounds at all familiar to you, I think I might be able to help.
Tell Patty to take heart. If she is passionate about cooking (I’m not sure if she will be taking the Culinary or Patisserie and Baking Program), it will shine through. The chefs at OCA are, for the most part, very supportive and will certainly go the extra mile for the motivated student.
Just like at any school, the people attending come into the program with a broad spectrum of experience and expertise. I met Executive Chefs, Sous Chefs, line cooks, bakers and many, many people with no culinary background at all. It was my experience, entering as a passionate amateur with 20 years of reading/experimenting under my belt, that my self-taught skills placed me towards the head of the pack from the beginning.
Once in school, I was able to build on my existing skills, and I came away with a well-rounded background in Patisserie and Baking.
I found that the older students were generally more serious about their studies, since most of us had already had a career and were serious about making a change “later in life.” And most of us were paying out of our own pockets! I also found that, (again, this is a generalization) because we had more life experience, as well as cooking experience, that it was easier to build a good working relationship with the chef instructors.
I hope that this has helped to quell some of your wife’s fears and apprehensions. You might also look on the home page of my website, Pastry Chef Online, in the “So you think you wanna go pro?” section for more insight into working in the restaurant industry and attending culinary school. Best of luck at OCA!
Sincerely,
Chef Jenni Field
By the way, we are hoping Chef Jenni will participate in my Novice to Pro interviews and she said she would be available to answer some of your baking & pastry questions at my Ask A Chef page.
on September 26th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I know a ton of people that went back to culinary school later in life.
on December 18th, 2007 at 8:34 am
I just read your concerns about your wife starting Culinary School in her 40s and the response from Chef Jenni. I attended the Orlando Culinary Academy; graduated May, 2007. You know how old I was when I started? 59 years young and finished at 60!!! So, tell your wife she can do it. I was concerned when I started of my age, but I have a good rapport with people in general, and soon all my fears were allayed. I found it to be a great experience. I’m busy now getting my Catering business started and loving every minute of it. I wouldn’t have changed that experience for anything! God Bless both of you.
on January 5th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I’m almost 57 and thinking about going to the Art Institute of Atlanta’s culinary school…..a career change. Am I crazy? I don’t want to be a line cook at a local low-end steakhouse or waffle place! What are the possibilities? Any encouragement? Thanks.
on January 11th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Hello;
I went throw the same question to myself after my 33 th birthday & just think been one of the best challenging desicion seens then; had started in Barcelona & now will continued my career in beatifull SYDNEY…so give it a go…you will love it!!!
on January 31st, 2008 at 11:47 am
Because I live in a remote area, I haven’t had any decent internet access until recently so I’m just now learning about all these great sites with loads of quality information and valuable to me. This one is awesome and I LOVED this article as well as the interview with Jenni.
At 53, I’m planning what to do when I retire from my “regular” job and because we’ve “accidentally” started a very small catering (legally “cook-for-hire”) business, I’ve thought I should go to a cooking school.
Your insight into the lifestyle and struggles that accompany being a chef has convinced me I am not the right person for a restaurant job. But, I’m GREAT at catering - 20 hour days for short periods are fun. I love to organize and plan big events and don’t think I should change a thing. I’ll stick to the simpler fare and save my money. Thanks for the great advice.
on March 1st, 2008 at 12:44 am
Looking to take a cooking school vacation. Any ideas! Cooking is a hobby for me.
on April 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
I cannot tell you how much I appreciated this article. I have wanted to become a chef for years but settled for the office life and, finally sick of feeling unfulfilled, at the age of 37 with a husband, family and friends all telling me “Are you barking MAD?” I have enrolled in a pre-apprenticeship course with a view to getting an pprenticeship (in Australia you go to culinary school once a week and work the remaining four or five days for three years).
I’ve had a lot of people attempt to put a real dent in my dreams and I found everyone’s comments on this subject to be truly uplifting at such a crucially important time in my life.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. xx
on May 4th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I am thinking about entering culinary arts at age 43. I work full time as a collector and run a small catering company. I make alot of cakes but am self trained. I want to create all the beautiful cakes and pastries. I also would love to master the sugar arts. I encourage anyone to just do it. We only have one life and how do we know if we would have succeeded if we dont try. I face several challenges as my husband is disabled and I am the one who is responsible financially for my family.So yes this is a little scarry but I will allow my faith to carry me through.
on June 19th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Will be September 19. I too am considering a career change. Have worked in the finance industry for the past 30 years. Considering eenrollment at the Baltimore institute of Culinary Arts. and securing a position at a restaurant, hotel, or cruise line. Ultimately I want to start a B&B or restaurant onthe Mexican Gulf Coast (Yucatan).