Question for any of you out there who are chefs or have been chefs as well as those of you who may have gone to culinary school. Im currently a sophomore in college going for computer science and i absolutely hate it. Ive always loved cooking and id like to think of myself as a somewhat skilled cook. Recently the idea came to try to work in a kitchen or even go to culinary school. Is culinary school even worth the price? Any friendly input is welcome!
>>7878142
>Is culinary school even worth the price?
Nope. Experience is all-important, not culinary school.
if you go to culinary you will learn mother sauces, how to clean various cuts of meat and fish, how to make pate, how to bake bread, etc.
these are all technical skills. while great to know, they are no substitute for experience.
t. line cook
cooking schools are a joke, even good ones, no good chef wants to teach a bunch of dumb kids how to make food, only shitty chefs that couldnt run mad successful restaurants work in culinary schools, you can hear it in their voice when they talk, the sounds of broken men.
So wheres a good place to start cooking? Should i just start applying to local restaurants in my area? And what position should i shoot for? I have zero kitchen experience
>>7878313
>Should i just start applying to local restaurants in my area?
Yep. Tell them that you don't have any experience but you want to learn. You'll probably start as a dishwasher, porter, or prep bitch.
What typically happens is that you'll get asked to help out with more important jobs as the restaurant gets busy or someone is out for some reason, so you'll learn the other stations by covering for people. Once you've demonstrated some reliability you'll get promoted to a higher position.
>>7878313
>Should i just start applying to local restaurants in my area?
yes actually
to those of you with a solid amount of experience in a kitchen or even made being a cook a career, do you like it, what are the ups and downs?
>>7878385
Ups: You get to do what you enjoy. And maybe if you're one of the lucky few you might end up being a rich-ass TV star.
downs: long hours, shitty pay, stress, being on your feet all day. oh, and you're likely to pick up a substance abuse problem or three.
>>7878398
I guess the real question was, were/are you happy with the career choice you made?
>>7878385
pros: love your work, which is something that 90% of the population can't say they do. create beautiful and delicious food for others to eat
cons: you'll become more prone to substance abuse (mostly because everyone around you is abusing substances ), long hours (think 60 a week), you'll age quicker, stress, hurting feet, you'll get hurt a lot, etc.
idk i like it
>>7878142
I left the restaurant industry and went back to school to study computer science because a therapist I was seeing said I was wasting my potential. I should have done it straight out of high school. Do you have any idea how comfy this lifestyle is? I had a job before I was even finished earning my degree, and once I got that and started working full-time, I sold everything and lived out of hotels because I wanted to see the country. As long as I had access to the Internet once a day to sync with a git server, I was (and still am) golden.
Last year I bought a house. You know those suburban neighborhoods that you grow up thinking would be soul-sucking to live in? Turns out, this shit is nice. I'm going to get out eventually, but imagine having a house with the benefits of an apartment and none of the drawbacks. Spacious, quiet, no niggers. The mortgage doesn't cover the cost of mowing and maintenance, but I budget for it because I can afford it. If something breaks any time of day or I just don't like the way something looks, all I got to do is make a call. The lawn mowing company bills me once a month. You can even pay someone to come and suck your dick. Living in suburbia is nice, because there's places that stay open 24 hours a day and virtually no crime. If you want a burger late at night, you don't have to wait until lunch tomorrow to get one. You can get drunk, hire a taxi for a couple of hours, get a bite to eat, stop at the bar to get the buzz going again, go grocery shopping, and then head back to the house. And your car never leaves the driveway.
You want to know what the restaurant industry is like? Ask the taxi driver. Ask the guy working at Waffle House or Kroger all fucking night. Ask them how big their apartment is. Ask them what the other tenants are like. Ask them the last time they got laid. Ask them the last time they enjoyed life.
Stay in school. You'll thank me.
>>7878385
Drug addicts and alcoholics galore. Shit hours and awful pay. Tginf(thank God it's not friday). You making amazing family if you're a hard worker. Free drugs.
>>7878545
Have fun with your midlife crisis when you realize you hate your job and wealth no longer has any meaning to you. The point of OP's post is that he doesnt enjoy conputer science and wants to do something else with his life.
>>7878806
>wealth no longer has any meaning to you
top kek
only a cuck thinks "money isn't everything"
i bet your wife left you for a rich man, bernout
>>7878142
If you can find work in a decent place with a good chef who is willing to teach you, it's better to work your way up than going to cooking school and is preferable on a resume. Learning how to handle a busy line as the tickets are pouring in is just as, if not more important than knowing all the technical details. You'll be a better chef for it. Keep in mind, that working in a kitchen is a lot more physically demanding and pays a lot less than being an IT guy.
Apply for positions in kitchen prep at good restaurants in your area, or even as a runner or dishwasher or something. Once you're established tell them you want to learn to cook.
>>7878142
OP, please don't drop out of college just yet. I worked in the restaurant industry for most of my college career and this guy >>7878545 knows what's up. All of the chefs and line cooks I know work their asses off 12 hours a day, have no social life, get paid absolute shit and have all been driven to alcoholism. As much as you love cooking, doing it at home and doing it professionally are completely different. Cooking in the kitchen at home = comfortable, wholesome environment where you're free to be creative. Cooking professionally = every day is a battle and it's a good day if the thought of quitting on the spot only crosses your mind once. I quit my restaurant industry job 6 months ago to focus on school full-time and sincerely hope I won't have to go back to it.
If you're serious about getting into the restaurant industry, get a feel for working in restaurants before you ruin your future paying for culinary school. No matter how much education you have, you will never start off in a chef position. The title of a chef is always earned, and you get it by working your way up from dishwashing or prep. Culinary school always churns out young, arrogant line cooks who think their education makes it permissable for them to mess around with the chef's recipes. You know what that gets you in a restaurant? Fired. If you ever hope to become a chef, you WILL be a line cook for a good while before you get there. You'll be standing in one spot, moving non-stop, stirring, sauteing, frying, grilling in a kitchen hotter than satan's sweaty taint for 10-12 hours a day. If you're into it, it's fulfilling, but you'll always be sore and exhausted when you get home.
>>7878855
Listen to this man. Movies and TV may have romanticised restaurant work in recent years, but it is absolutely not for everyone. Get at least a year of experience in a busy restaurant (or multiple restaurants) before you commit yourself to an expensive degree that may not even help you in your career.
I enjoy my job as a line cook because of the people I get to work with, but I only work like 20 hours a week right now, and I'll be working less when college starts back up. If I had to work 50+ hours a week at a place like that for the rest of my life, I would kill myself.
