Tag Archive for 'restaurant industry'

Culinary Opportunities in High School

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on May 4, 2011
in Culinary Schools
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culinary opportunities in high schoolStarting a culinary career doesn’t always occur after you graduate from high school. In fact, the culinary arts and high school education are rapidly coming together as a way to prepare students for a strong future. Learning real, usable skills at this level allows students to take on post-graduate employment that much faster, or to be prepared for culinary college with a few advance skills already in place.

This fusion of high school learning and culinary training takes many different forms.

Traditionally, the only way students could learn how to cook was in home economics or even basic cooking classes. While these are great stepping stones, don’t expect to learn usable professional skills. The focus here is on cooking for personal use and as an introduction to measurements and home kitchen technology.

Many schools are taking this idea one step further by incorporating culinary arts programs at a vocational level. Magnet schools and charter schools are the best examples of this, since these educational facilities are designed around building specific skills within the student populace. In addition to core math and English classes, you will find restaurant management courses, student-run bakeries and restaurants, and even internship opportunities outside of the school. Overall, these programs tend to be faster paced than traditional classes.

Other public schools incorporate culinary arts programs for those students who demonstrate an aptitude and interest in the field. These programs are often partnered by outside nonprofit providers (such as the Careers through Culinary Arts Program). These programs focus on lower income and underserved high school populations, allowing the students to develop college and career opportunities in the restaurant industry. These programs are found primarily in urban school centers.

Some students might also be able to take advantage of Running Start programs, which allow junior- and senior-level high school students to take courses at a local college. Other opportunities include working in a restaurant after school or even working in the cafeteria at lunchtime.

Getting an early start on a culinary education is a great way to build skills and learn if this field is right for you. If you live in an area where culinary training in high school is available, it is best to learn what you can do to take advantage of it. However, if you don’t start culinary school until you’re ready for college, you can still look forward to a good future and great job opportunities the more traditional way.

Related Topics:

Culinary School Prerequisites

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Ethics in the Kitchen

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on March 23, 2011
in Culinary Career
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kitchen ethicsThe right culinary school offers more than just cooking skills; it includes training in restaurant ethics, as well. If you’re talking about the legal or medical profession, ethics are a pretty prominent matter—and all professionals are trained to handle them. From client confidentiality to doing no harm, your responsibilities tend to be clear. However, in a restaurant setting, ethics and business sense blur the lines a little. Of course you want to put out the best food possible, but what does this entail? And what do you have to sacrifice to do it?

Although each restaurant or company will have its own ideas about what kitchen ethics are, here are few industry standards you can expect to encounter along the way:

Tap into local resources. Yes, it may be cheaper to order wholesale ingredients from a large manufacturer or from a company that can offer you a great discount. However, by contributing to the success of local farmers and focusing on fresh ingredients in your area, you can sustain the local economy and also put out a product that is appealing to healthy and eco-savvy consumers.

Obey all food safety and sanitation laws. The ten-second rule shouldn’t exist in your kitchen, and it’s never okay to endanger your patrons with unsafe food or food storage. Not only are there legal ramifications to bad sanitation practices, but it can impact quality and your image, as well.

Create consistent portion sizes. It’s never a great idea to cut corners where foot portions are concerned. While you might theoretically be able to save money and reach your quotas faster if you put 14 ounce steaks out in place of the 16 ounce ones that are advertised, it’s rarely a good idea. Your customers expect what they’ve been promised—and it’s good for your reputation to exceed those expectations, not skimp on them.

Don’t be afraid to waste (time, money, or food). A quality product is your fastest path to cooking success. If a dish isn’t right, it may be best to throw it out rather than serve something substandard.

Personal responsibility is key. Whether you’re the restaurant manager or you’re fresh out of culinary school and working up the ranks, you share in the successes and failures of the restaurant. To this end, it is your job to maintain company standards and ensure that you are always doing your best.

Don’t make it personal. While personal responsibility is good, making the food about anything other than the food is not. If a customer complains, or if a dish comes back several times for minor complaints, it’s important to keep your head up and try not to take it as a personal insult. Your food—no matter how good—will never please everyone, and you can only do your best every time.

When you attend a top culinary institution in the United States, you can expect all kinds of different learning experiences. From knife skills and soups to restaurant management, you will learn the ins and outs of becoming a cook for the modern restaurant industry. One of the most important lessons, though, is how to work well in the kitchen: with your coworkers, your staff, your boss, your vendors, and even the customers Whether it is part of your culinary school curriculum or not, ethics in the kitchen is a large part of being a successful chef.

Related Topics:

Quality Control and Food Safety in the Culinary Field

Using Seasonal Produce

Find a Culinary School in Your City

Male and Female Ratios in Culinary School

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on November 19, 2009
in Culinary Schools
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Male to Female Ratio Culinary SchoolUntil very recently, the proportion of men to women in culinary schools (and in the restaurant industry as a whole) has been very uneven. Just twenty-five years ago, the percentage of women attending culinary school hovered somewhere below 10 percent. Fifteen years ago, that number jumped to around 35 percent. Today, women and men attend culinary school in almost equal proportions.

Of course, these numbers aren’t static across the board. When you look at the more prestigious schools (like the Culinary Institute of America), male students still outrank female ones 7 to 3. These numbers are a little more evenly distributed than they have been in the past, but female students can certainly feel outnumbered.

Interestingly enough, women always have outranked men when it comes to baking school. In fact, even the CIA sees a disproportionate number of female baking and pastry arts students; in 2003, women accounted for almost 80 percent of the students.

So, what do all of these numbers mean? The answer can be found by looking directly at the restaurant industry.

Although women and men are now attending culinary school in equal proportions, the number of male culinary professionals continues to be higher. Everyone from the celebrity chefs on Food Network and the winners on Top Chef to the Executive Chefs and restaurant owners currently in operation fall into the male majority. That’s because it’s going to take a few years before the cooking school numbers are reflected in the workforce. Women are just now starting to graduate and move beyond entry-level jobs to start finding their niches in the culinary industry.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman considering culinary school; these days, the options are fairly gender-neutral. Women may have a few more hurdles to face in proving their physical stamina in the kitchen, but they should have no problems when it comes to the school admissions process. Culinary schools know that they have decades of inequality to make up for, so more women are finding easy entry than ever before.

How to Tell Your Parents You Want to Go to Culinary School

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on September 29, 2009
in Culinary Schools
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Tell Your Parents You Want To Go To Culinary SchoolDeciding which culinary school you want to attend is a step in the right direction for your culinary career. From the options in Le Cordon Bleu schools, community college programs, local vocational centers, and even the prestigious Institute of Culinary Education, simply finding and being accepted into a program is a pretty big deal. However, there is one step that many students fail to consider when choosing a culinary program: telling your parents where you’re going and how much it’s going to cost.

Overall, culinary schools have a pretty negative reputation for being expensive and too focused. After all, if you attend a traditional four-year college, you explore more than just one field of study, and you  end up with a Bachelor’s degree to help you land a job.

After culinary school, there’s pretty much one thing you can do with your degree or certificate: go to work in a kitchen. This is just the sort of thing that makes parents nervous, since it limits your options and might negate those two to four years of hard work.

However, there are benefits to culinary school that even parents can support. You simply have to angle them correctly.

“I’m doing more than getting an education; I’m learning a skill.” General education courses teach a lot of the same things you learn in high school: math, English, science, and the like. When you attend culinary school, you’re going beyond simple learning to include real vocational-centered training.

“The restaurant industry is one of the fastest-growing in the United States.” Jobs in the restaurant industry are expected to increase at a higher-than-average national rate. This means that more opportunities are arising daily, and there is plenty of room for advancement.

“I won’t be spending forever at school.” One of the benefits of culinary school is that you can complete your training in as little as nine months. This means that you’ll be on your way to a job before other students have even finished their second semester.

“Most of the schools take the same kind of financial aid taken at four-year universities.” If you look for a program that falls under the FAFSA program, you may be eligible for the same loans, grants, and work-study opportunities that traditional college students get.

Remember, only you can really decide the path of your future. If you feel that culinary school is right for you, there are few careers that offer the same kind of job satisfaction as the food and restaurant industry. You may have to work harder, but in the end, you’ll be that much more satisfied with your career – and your life.

Is Culinary School Right for You?

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on May 6, 2009
in Culinary Schools
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Is Culinary School for you?A love of food and the culinary arts is fairly common in today’s society. Almost everyone has heard the names of top chefs and top culinary schools, and an appreciation for fine food and fine baked goods means that more restaurants open up every day.

While this is good news for anyone considering culinary school, since job opportunities are only expected to increase over the next few years, the fact remains that getting a culinary education isn’t for everyone. Like any other career field, there is a pretty heavy investment of time and money that goes into that entry-level degree.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before quitting your job and moving to New York to pursue your new culinary career:

  • Do you love cooking? This includes everything from loving the ingredients and the heat of the kitchen to pleasing large crowds of people. If there’s any part of the cooking process that you don’t enjoy, you may want to consider whether you would be happy working 40 to 60 hours per week in a restaurant setting.
  • Do you enjoy working as a team? Although the head chef or restaurant owner might get to order other people around, most cooks and chefs work as part of a larger team. Unless you can work collaboratively with others, culinary school might not be for you.
  • Do you lead an active lifestyle? It might seem like a small thing, but most cooks and chefs spend 8 hours per day on their feet in a high-impact industry. While culinary school can be good “training,” it’s not always a good career for people who prefer working in front of a computer or at a desk.
  • Are you ready to make the investment? Most culinary programs last between six weeks and four years, and can cost upwards of $50,000 when all is said and done. If this is a change you’re ready to make, be sure you know what sacrifices you’ll have to make to reach that culinary finish line.

Becoming a chef can be one of the most rewarding careers out there – as long as it’s what you really want. Remember, though, that the road to chefdom is a long, hard one, and you may have to put in several years at the entry level before climbing to the top.

For a more detailed look at the question of Culinary School and is it right for you, please read our article called Is Culinary School Right For Everyone?