Culinary school?

[Anonymous]

I'm still trying to figure out what I want as a career. I'm in my 40s. Is it too late to go to culinary school? Anyone here ever gone?

[Anonymous]

I think it is a bit late. What about an intensive recreational class like they have at L'Academie de Cuisine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to figure out what I want as a career. I'm in my 40s. Is it too late to go to culinary school? Anyone here ever gone?

Its not necessarily too late, but it would be extremely difficult. To start with, having a successful culinary career is always hard. Most people don't make any money. Second, most people start very young. Even people who get a culinary degree immediately after a traditional college are "old" for cooking, as many of their classmates or other line cooks have been cooking since their teens. Third, being a line cook is incredibly physically taxing. (The adage "Never trust a thin chef" is exactly backwards; never trust a fat chef: they haven't spent enough time working the line). People tend either to leave the industry as they get to be your age or to take positions as head chefs or managers etc. where their day-to-day physical labor is more manageable. Finally, young people can better tolerate being poor, and you'll be poor for some time if you go to culinary school. Pay is based largely on seniority, so you'll start low. And, if you want to be a head chef at a nice restaurant, you will change jobs frequently to work for new chefs at better retaurants and start back at the bottom of the pay scale. And if you want to work at the best restaurants in the world, you may well have to offer your services for free.

Finally, there's the question of whether a culinary degree makes sense even if you are certain you want to be a chef. You do not need a degree to be a line cook, and if you're an excellent line cook you can work up the ranks. Going to culinary school will probably cut several years off how long it takes you to become a chef, but it takes several years and lots of money to complete school; it is not always a good trade off.

If you really think your passion is food, I might explore some other ways to work in the industry. Perhaps work at a specialty foods store or wine shop and work your way up, get some certifications, and maybe eventually run/own the shop, as one example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to figure out what I want as a career. I'm in my 40s. Is it too late to go to culinary school? Anyone here ever gone?

Its not necessarily too late, but it would be extremely difficult. To start with, having a successful culinary career is always hard. Most people don't make any money. Second, most people start very young. Even people who get a culinary degree immediately after a traditional college are "old" for cooking, as many of their classmates or other line cooks have been cooking since their teens. Third, being a line cook is incredibly physically taxing. (The adage "Never trust a thin chef" is exactly backwards; never trust a fat chef: they haven't spent enough time working the line). People tend either to leave the industry as they get to be your age or to take positions as head chefs or managers etc. where their day-to-day physical labor is more manageable. Finally, young people can better tolerate being poor, and you'll be poor for some time if you go to culinary school. Pay is based largely on seniority, so you'll start low. And, if you want to be a head chef at a nice restaurant, you will change jobs frequently to work for new chefs at better retaurants and start back at the bottom of the pay scale. And if you want to work at the best restaurants in the world, you may well have to offer your services for free.

Finally, there's the question of whether a culinary degree makes sense even if you are certain you want to be a chef. You do not need a degree to be a line cook, and if you're an excellent line cook you can work up the ranks. Going to culinary school will probably cut several years off how long it takes you to become a chef, but it takes several years and lots of money to complete school; it is not always a good trade off.

If you really think your passion is food, I might explore some other ways to work in the industry. Perhaps work at a specialty foods store or wine shop and work your way up, get some certifications, and maybe eventually run/own the shop, as one example.

Thank you for such good advice!

[Anonymous]

Become a sommelier

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Become a sommelier

If OP is interested in drinks, there are also some credible beer certifications (cicerone) now. Running a beverage program at a group of bars or similar could be a nice job.

[Anonymous]

The pay sucks badly and you have high loans , trust me I know

[Anonymous]

Is your motiviation b/c you like cooking? That's not what being a cook is about. For the most part, your job will be to execute the same dish exactly the same and to appropriately time all the food that goes on a plate. It takes a while to work your way up to a place where you might be able to get creative with food. A lot of being a good chef is being a good business person - ordering the right amount of food, preparing dishes to use up ingredients on their way out, reducing waste. It's not sexy. If you've never worked as a line cook, try that first and see if the industry is for you. Kitchens are a tough place to work. You'll work long hours when all your friends are off and pay isn't high.

[Anonymous]

Agree that you definitely want at least one line cook job before you enroll in a school (they help with admissions anyway).