Chef Schools Blog

Archive for February, 2010

I am a high school senior in Washington, DC and I am considering becoming a chef. I would like to go to school in Australia (either Sydney or Melbourne), but I dont know anything about any culinary schools in Australia. Which are the most prestigious, which are new and trendy, how much do they all cost, etc? Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

Le Cordon Bleu !!!

Thats where I go! they have campuses all over the entire world, and tuition is going to be different in another country but here in america tuition is 42k a year if you are doing associates degree and 80k if you are a bachelors student.
le cordon bleu is world wide and an amazing school that is linked through the mother school in paris, france.

I would love to become a natural foods chef and either teach classes or do demo cooking at a natural foods store, however I am moving to Seattle area and I can not seem to find any colleges or schools that offer any natural foods chef programs. Any suggestions on the steps to take to get into this?

I’d be very surprised if there weren’t some natural/organic foods programs somewhere. In the meantime, check with the managers of the Seattle health food stores and see if they’d like an occasional demo. It’ll give you not only experience, but a good-looking resume. Also, talk to the counselors at the Seattle colleges and see if there are some programs you could take part in that don’t specialize in natural foods, but include them. Keep trying. There’s a need for your skills in Seattle and it’s a natural fit for what you’re offering!

Hi, i’m a Chef and have just taken over a schools catering.
I am still only temping there but they want me full time.
Right i am not blowing my own trumpet or anything but from the first day i was there they noticed the differance.
I have taken over management to i have my own office etc.
they want me to be chef manager. Great , but the staff……
We have a bunch of women some have been there 14 odd years they are set in there ways, if i try to change things they hate it. they seem to do as they please and take the ****.
they are very slow and i get comments like tis is only a school not a hotel. The school is a Privite fee paying school for a start

all i want to do is make it better and have a professonal working kitchen etc but they go off crying walk out blah blah oh how stupid . i have worked in school kitchens before and if this went on they would get sacked 14 years or not . So what i am asking is advice this is my fist management job . they need to know i am boss ?

You should always make them know your boss, but try being nice so they will listen, instead of assertive, where they will be rebelious.

Good Luck

I have found several schools that I am intrested in and I’m just wondering do I have to go to college before culinary school and what is the admission process if anyone knows let me know please. Thank you.

No, a college edu. isn’t necessary, but being in some sort of food service (anything but fast food) would help you get in, especally if you can get recommendation from the head chef or manager. The more recommendations you can get, the better your chances of getting into a good school like CIA or Scottsdale Culinary Institute…good luck and enjoy your school

next semester of school I will be a senior and I want to be a chef. and I would like to know of some good culinary schools to go to because I didnt have anything in mind yet. but I dont want anyone to tell me of some school you know of or something of the top of your head because everyone I talk to keeps doing that. I want to know of some top notch, world renowned schools in the U.S.

I found a list of top rated culinary schools all around america. I hope this helps.

Does anyone know some good cooking school’s
i really to be a Chef.. this way i could learn how to cook.. and i would like to cook for other peoples. so are there any good Cooking Schools. which will help me do this?. thanks

California School of Culinary Arts Pasadena, ca.
http://www.csca.edu/

CSCA offers you the professional Le Cordon Bleu training and education required to take advantage of the diverse career opportunities found in the world of culinary arts, pâtisserie and baking, and hospitality and restaurant management

How do you get in a top notch CULINARY SCHOOL?
I’m 15 and would like to get in a top notch culinary school.

hi,
i don’t have to much info. but i can tell you , in Canada at least, schools look at English in a university stream as well as math. i would recommend taking those and a couple hospitality courses. as for getting into a respected school, i would recommend getting in the high 80s. if i didn’t help you can always talk to your guidance counselor.
hope i helped and the best of luck to you!

I’m looking at colleges for culinary school but I need Help. I would like to become a pastry chef but do you have to go to a community college or something before you attend culinary school. I also know that it costs more to take those classes because of culinary kits. how much more would that be? How long does it take to become a pastry chef. Any extra information would be VERY helpful. thank you.

My first piece of advice is: make sure a career as a chef is what you really want. If you’re sure, there are definite advantages to culinary school — and a good school will require a pretty substantial investment of time and money. But if you have the right sort of personality, school isn’t absolutely necessary.

These days we see a lot on television about the world of cooking and restaurants and, quite frankly, most of it doesn’t really reflect the reality of what it is to work as a chef.

As a culinary school president, I find that the best chefs share certain personality traits. First and foremost, they feel a strong desire to serve and please others. This is a service business and your success in it depends upon your ability to understand what people want and your willingness to dedicate yourself to bringing delight to others.

Chefs tend to be very precise and detail oriented. They enjoy the rush of hard work and tend to light up when the pressure is on. They thrive when things get tough in the kitchen.

Start by speaking with chefs and cooks at the sorts of restaurants you most admire and that make the sorts of pastries you’d like to learn to make. Even better, get a job at one.

Offer to work for free in exchange for the chance to learn the trade. The chef will probably ask you to make a commitment: be prepared to work for free for at least three months. Choose the chef you make this offer to carefully. Ask his or her cooks what it’s like to work in that chef’s kitchen. Does the chef teach them? Is the chef a screamer? or is he/she more nurturing?

More likely than not, the first chef you ask will say no. My advice: be politely persistent. Any chef will want to feel sure that it won’t be a waste of time working with you. Show him/her that you will work hard. That you will pay attention to what you’re told. That you’re ready to learn and passionate about learning this trade. I’ve heard stories of chefs that showed up every day for weeks on end before they got this kind of apprenticeship with the chef they wanted.

And if you do this, take it seriously. Don’t feel like you can blow it off just because you’re not getting paid. Come prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life.

The second part of your question, what does it take to become a pastry chef?

Some pastry programs grant degrees, other grant diplomas or certificates. The only real difference between these two types of programs are the requirement to take general ed classes, such as English, History, and Math in a degree program. Because of this requirement, naturally, degree programs tend to be longer and cost more. An AA degree at a good culinary school will take around 16 months to complete and can cost as much as $60,000 — or more.

Honestly, I’m biased. My school is a diploma program because as culinary experts, we’ve made the decision to focus exclusively on what we do well. I’m not sure that any culinary school could deliver the same quality general ed courses as your local community college and I believe that $60k is a LOT of money to pay for culinary school.

If you do your research into Baking and Pastry programs, there aren’t a lot of good ones out there. Make sure you go online and carefully check out any program you are considering. (You will find my advice on how to choose the right culinary program for you here on Yahoo! Answers. You might want to look that up.) Make sure you look into the qualifications of the instructors, the size of the classes, the reputation of the school, and interview both the instructors at the school and at least a couple of students or recent graduates.

[here’s the plug for my school — I’ll keep it brief:] Our program takes about 7 months to complete and our graduates have gone on to work in top restaurants and others have opened their own businesses in the US and other countries. Our instructors are all certified by the American Culinary Federation, our placement rate is very high and the quality of those placements is extraordinary: our graduates go to work in some very fine restaurants, hotels, and other bake shops. And our program costs a fraction of the degree schools. Check us out online at www.sdculinary.com [end of plug]

I hope that helps. Good luck to you.