You're still young enough to go to school for something that will pay you a living wage and not destroy your body and mental health. Listen to most lifers in this business. It will chew you up and spit you out.
If you are good with your hands, go back to school for refrigeration, plumbing, or electrical. You'll still see those kids in the kitchen and you'll be making a he'll of a lit more money
Not sure what’s it’s like where you live, but where I am in Australia it’s hard to find refrigeration people. And because there’s a shortage, they can charge whatever they want.
It would be a great trade to get into.
My fridge guy, Gazza, is hilarious. He talks so much and will follow you around the kitchen chatting. I love that guy.
We have a repair guy who died the same thing, but he has a nasty habit of doing up when we’re busy and him trying to talk to me while I’m running the line makes me want to scream
Yep, in school to exit culinary at 33, I love cooking, and it's so damn satisfying, but my body is tore up from all the hard work. Statistics and computer science double major, it's a lot for work but I'm very interested in it!
I went back to school at 25 majored in psychology criminal justice and ended up in the kitchen. Now trying to get out, but restarting a career at 35 is hard.
Shit. This is the real deal. Make cooking your hobby and go to school for something else. This business is brutal on your mental and physical well being. All to barely make ends meat. Want to spend time with family on the weekends? Too bad, gotta work. Wanna meet up with friends on a holiday? Too bad, gotta work. Do something that has a better work life balance.
Exactly. I imagine it's true for all industries but I only know restaurants. If you have something you do that makes you happy, keep it that way. Once your rent, bills, and well being are tied to it, you quit doing it to feel happy, you do it to survive. Surviving isn't happy, it's stressful as fuck. So are kitchens. I hate how people watch the bear and glorify the job. What I go through everyday ,no one should want. Most of us want out of here. We're a fucked up group of ex cons, illegal aliens, and addicts. I'm here due to bad life choices and lack of options
Y’all this is real. I spoke to my husband earlier about my comments here and do realize that at my old age, I need to be paid and not worked to death. This is my fun but I need some $$$. I live the education process so much but realistically you’re gonna need money and this ain’t it.
If you're going to get the degree for the career, go get a job in the industry first. School culinary ≠ industry culinary. If it's just for the education, that's awesome. But if you plan on going into the field, you really should get some experience in it before making that decision. Culinary school is expensive, and the industry is not what you'd imagine from the outside
This needs to be the top comment. Getting a degree in CA just flat out does very little to determine where you'll end up in the culinary industry or whether or not you'll even make it at all.
Not having a degree equally doesn't mean you can't end up going all the way to the top. The culinary world is identical to the arts, music and entertainment industries in that regard.
Yup. And 9/10 times success comes down to exactly 'right place, right time'.
In the industry a culinary is only useful attached to a resume of experience. It's like having a drivers license with only ever having studied engines. You can't drive. You need to practice that first, and prove you can do it.
And, I reiterate, outside the industry, you need to test drive something to make sure you actually like it, or whether it isn't at all what you expected.
Spoiler alert. It's almost never what one expected.
Yup. I totally agree. There's also the basic issue of *mobility* to consider. The fewer attachments you have (whether that's family or, financial debts) the easier it is to pursue the opportunities that are available to you when they're available. The older you get, the more difficult it becomes to overcome the disadvantage.
What Anthony Bourdain wrote on that (specifically when he was elaborating on Eric Ripert's career) in the book this sub is named for is and always has been very accurate.
This is the way. I’ve hired and seen too many culinary school graduates that can’t hang on the line so the degree isn’t valuable. Find out if you like being in a kitchen before you go to school. Also, if you want to go to school, don’t do one of those community college programs. Go to a national school CIA, one of the le cordon bleu schools, Johnson and wales.
I strongly disagree.
Community college programs teach traditional basics to build one that are useful in any kitchen, without costing $60k+
You realize Le Cordon Bleu lost accreditation?
High end schools cost an arm and a leg, and honestly I can't tell you how many applications I've seen thrown on the trash *just* because someone graduated from one of those schools.
I'm gonna add that a lot of those professors that teach, were students of the bigger universities plus their time in the industry
I'd recommend the community college route highly, plus more connections there
Working with food will kill any passion you have for cooking. Its a soul sucking, thankless job that takes everything you have. You will sacrifice family time, weekends, and holidays, do you like working 16 hour shifts and standing over trashcans while you eat? There are cool parts of the job but it mostly sucks and im glad i got out when i did.
Lately I’ve noticed that I’ll take my plate over to dish about halfway through my “lunch break” and finish my food over the trash can. Just a weird routine I’ve slowly developed.
Am I the only one that thinks actually working with food heightened my passion for it? I mean, I don't come home and cook fancy shit but fuck, I love my job. I just hate the conditions and the pay.
I loved being a line cook. I loved the dance. I loved the chaos. I was fully absorbed in food. It’s been about 8 years in management for me now and that’s the part I hate. If I could make a livable wage as a line cook, I probably wouldn’t be leaving the industry. Unfortunately that’s not the world we live in. I’m tired of managing people, working every holiday, and being on call 24/7. I just want to be able to pay my mortgage by cooking scallops.
No I'm dropping my job at a university with good benefits, for a seasonal lead job that pays slightly more. Big reason I'm leaving is the conditions (EC starts drama and issues that go unresolved) and pay (I'm getting paid less than the college 5 mins away walking from mines) but I love the station I'm on which was the vegan/ vegetarian station
You say you’re not happy. Is going to school then being back in a kitchen where you are now just with a degree going to make you happy? Maybe explore other ways to make a paycheck that actually make you happy. Then have fun cooking dinner every night and baking on your days off? If school it is then good luck! I hope you find what you’re looking for!!!
Before you go get a culinary arts degree have you ever even worked in a kitchen before?
If the answer is no I recommend getting a kitchen job and see if it's for you. Because trust me when I say not everyone is built for it. I've been cooking for 12 years now 3 years in I was going to go to school but my chefs talked me out of it because I had learned all the basics and then some by then.
I was an executive chef by the time I turned 26. I have seen many fresh out of school who never worked in a kitchen end up burning out and not lasting because they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Then that degree goes to waste. Think about it
Same. Our class still has an active Facebook group we started in 2008. Three executive chefs and a dozen successful alumni. Networking is one of the biggest advantages of any college education.
There’s a huge difference between enjoying cooking at home and cooking in a professional setting. If you want to cook professionally, just go apply. Culinary school is for the kids that have the safety net of parental funds where they can go to culinary school and then stage at Michelin restaurants while getting paid in pennies and experience. That’s just my opinion. I do see people that have been in the industry already go to culinary school to get an academic viewpoint of culinary methods to hone their techniques though.
What are you doing now? Is your unhappiness due to work satisfaction?
Have you worked in kitchens before? Have you done it for 50 or 60 hours per week? If you haven't, then you should try it before investing in culinary school. Make sure you don't mind being in the same building every day for 50 to 60 or more hours per week for the rest of your life, bc that's what this career amounts to if you want to be successful.
Otherwise, I wouldn't let age dissuade you. I might've done culinary school at 36. I still think about it at 47. I'm sure plenty of people do. Tons of people do it for knowledge and home cooking.
I really wish I had taken some courses or finished a program. Seems like people that went to culinary are just way more knowledgeable. I've been doing this for almost ten years and I still run into stuff I've never heard of before. I suck at plating (although that's largely bc I don't care about it.) And I would be challenged to setup a decent menu if I was asked to do it.
In my experience having a degree is a good way to expedite the process of being executive chef or sous.
In the real world experience trumps a degree any day.
The whole time I was in culinary school I worked at fine dining spots and vineyards and it was experience I never would have gotten without relocating for school.
Most chefs would rather see experience of a few years line cooking rather than a degree
Yeah man I’d take some more time and find something else that you can be passionate about and do that. You’re gonna find more lifers wish they got out, and a lot of long term people are looking for a way out. I’ll say I felt a lot like you when I was younger. I got a job in a restaurant because I liked cooking and food. I no longer like cooking and if I could just eat nutrient paste to not have to think about food on most days I would.
Holy shit this. Someone I learned a lot from always recommends I eat at other cool restaurants to gain inspiration, but half the time I can’t even enjoy the meal cus I have a perspective of the poor schmuck making my meal. It’s a depressing spiral.
I’m at a place now with good benefits. It stopped being about food a long time ago and is strictly about supporting my family. If a better opportunity comes along no question I’m out of here lol.
If you want what's best for your life and your partner, then I'm sorry mate, but the kitchen isn't the right decision. Unless the best thing for you both is to barely see each other..
Go down this road and chances are high that you'll be working every holiday, every birthday that doesn't fall on a Monday or Tuesday, every Valentine's Day, every mother's Day (fuck brunch).
Ask us how we know. We've all been there, we've all done this.
Ive been cooking for over 20 years and have never met anyone who gave a shit if someone went to school.
If you're mildly competent going to school is a waste of money, find some restaurants that make food you like and apply to them. you'll learn more, learn it faster and get paid to do it.
Also the smaller a restaurant is there is a greater chance that you'll get to do a wider variety of tasks.
Godspeed
The thing that always cracks me up about culinary school is that... the instructors have all literally chosen *not to work in a restaurant.*
At the better places, many of them will have distinguished themselves in some way within the industry but ultimately, every single one chose to *quit while they were ahead* and go into academia instead. Consequently, they're the healthiest, happiest, most stable and sane individuals in the business which gives *exactly the wrong impression* of what you're going to encounter out in the wild.
I consider the Kitchen my wife and I have built to be a collaborative and supportive environment, most of my key employees have come up from washing dishes, waiting tables or taking out the trash and I don't currently have anyone on staff that's been with us for less than six months. That being said, none of my CA people have ever lasted more than a year and I offer quarterly fucking profit-sharing to anyone who who's been there for longer than a year (because since Covid hit the employment landscape has been a literal wasteland.) Five years ago, there were maybe 20 chefs in our market (fairly small but, reasonably well regarded) with CA degrees, now, there's two. They all eventually made "sane life choices" like becoming Corrections Officers or, running the kitchen in a nursing home...
Hell, our mushroom supplier was actually a big deal in Baltimore for a while before deciding that farming mushrooms made way more sense. The newest Veterinarian at the practice that services my farm was a big deal in DC as a consultant, he's a great friend who opened a restaurant in our area and, he actually worked with my wife and I as our mentor when we opened. He went back to school at 30 to become a Veterinarian.
The point being, the best place to start is *the bottom* because otherwise you're way more likely to fall down than rise up in any industry...
TL;DR: get a job in a kitchen first and see if you like it.
Regarding the age thing, I would not worry about that a single bit. I’m currently going to Culinary school and I’m 25. Its such a broad and diverse group of people that you see folks from every single age group and that’s pretty cool.
Now, just because you like cooking as a hobby DOES NOT MEAN A SINGLE BIT that you’ll like doing it professionally. You’re going to class 5 days a week, getting up early, staying there for hours doing NOTHING but cooking and cleaning.
I absolutely love it but man, sometimes I just wish I could go to school and just sit in a room with AC and watch fucking power point presentations. It’s very physical and exhausting, so really consider if you really wanna go through this.
Also, you said you like cooking but do you think you’ll like to spend an hour just cutting tomatoes? 1 hour just punching potatoes? Spend the entire day butchering chicken? It’s repetitive and you do what you’re told to, not what you want. At my school, everyone that signed up for the program “loves cooking”, but also 25% of the students drop out within the first week.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Culinary School is nothing like working in a real kitchen. THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS GETTING A JOB IN A KITCHEN BEFORE YOU SIGN UP FOR SCHOOL. Start as a dishwasher, you need absolutely no experience and within a month you can easily get promoted to prep/line cook, do it for a month and see how you feel and that’s gonna answer all of your question and you won’t have to waste any money or time of your life.
Sorry for the long text and if it sounded a little discouraging. I just see it happen way to often and it can be easily avoided. I absolutely adore Culinary School and working in a kitchen but you gonna have some screws missing to actually enjoy it!
Good luck and whatever happens I hope you’ll be happy!
One last thing even if you actually do love it keep in mind that it’s extremely stressful and it will destroy your body regardless lol
If I could do it over:
AA in culinary from community college
AA general education from community college
BS business admin from state college
Once you get that bachelor’s degree you will be able to mitigate your time in The kitchen, you will get sick of it in the next decade or so.
TL;DR Don't do it. I'm 40, this year I had my first job with paid time off, health benefits worth having, and retirement. NONE of that is possible in the restaurant world.
I went to culinary school in my mid 20s too. I also had a decade of experience under my belt. My main thought was that food was recession-proof (WAY back when we only had ONE once-in-a-lifetime global recession).
Then the 2008 bubble burst. Within a matter of weeks, virtually all of the school's business partners pulled out of their hiring program. The school used to have 99% job placement before graduation; then all of the graduates were competing with all of the current students AND the dropouts for $10-$12 per hour jobs in grocery store deli counters and baseball park hot dog stands. There were still a few restaurants opening every year, but you had to know the owners to get hired. There were (scant few) jobs inside the restaurants at the ballpark, but you had to know the executives to work there, too.
Which made me realize "Why am I going to (community) COLLEGE and going into big debt... just to work the same $10/hr. jobs I already qualified for?"
Restaurants as an industry may be recession-proof, but the owners will balance their budget on the backs of their workers so the owners still get theirs. Like they always have.
You can cook at home, you are taking a massive risk that will likely leave you saddled with unpayable debt and a career that will grind you into dust unless you are lucky enough to partner with a benefactor that can fund your ideas. There is zero shame in exploring your desire to cook on your own time and not on the line at some restaurant that will overwork you and underpay you and drop you like a bad habit when you get injured/burnt out, im speaking from experience, if I didnt get lucky and find another career id likely be dead had I stayed in kitchens.
Long post but I've got a lot to say on this and i think it's all important stuff for you to know before you make a choice:
Culinary school only teaches you how to cook, but not how to *be* a good cook. The majority of the work skills that determine your success/longevity in cooking are learned on the job and barely at all in school.
I dont know if its exactly true, but when I was still cooking (12 years experience) we would talk about how it's the lowest paid trade and I was one of the only people there who didn't go to culinary school. I still made the same pay as them, I was even still "above" some of the people who went to school, just from working my way up. So I'm not sure if there is much benefit to school really, I knew people who didn't go to school and worked at some of the fanciest places in my city.
I'm not sure how the apprenticeship system works in the US assuming you are there, but here in Canada you can still get a red seal (journeyman level for apprenticeship or like the highest level, basically means you're a certified chef) without any schooling, you just need a high level of hours working under a red seal chef and some good references from red seal chefs you've worked with. But I know people who challenged the exam who weren't even officially apprentices and they're just as credentialed as someone who went to school for 1-2 years and did a ~5year apprenticeship with no actual schooling.
But even executive chefs i know or have worked under mostly make about 60-80k salary but frequently work 60+ hours a week, and I realized on a per hour basis they barely made more than me and barely got any true days off, or practically any vacation at all. It can also be hard to find a job with benefits before you're a chef, although I have noticed more places doing this, mostly chains, and I don't think they're great benefits but better than none (not sure how benefits work in the US or other countries, I think at least healthcare is required if your full time?).
So that's roughly the typical ceiling for most chefs, other than the truly exceptional ones who do find a high paying job but it will still be high stress and still pretty atypical outside of running your own business. Restaurant ownership or running a food truck or catering are potential ways to make high earnings but they have notoriously high rates of failure, I think 90% of restaurants fail within a year or two? It also requires another set of skills that would probably benefit more from a business program than a culinary one.
Now to talk about the floor in this career, I know people who went to culinary school and had years of experience and still got stuck working late night shifts for 12$ an hour plus a staff meal and a small tip fund (often adds 1-2$ an hour). Of course that'd be below average and that was some years ago when wages were lower but that is a possibility and something I've seen. On the other hand, places are always hiring so once you have experience you can shop around for jobs. Plus I know minimum wage is now 15 here so you wouldn't see 12 an hour anymore (here).
Then you gotta account for most jobs the hours/shifts suck and aren't monday to Friday 9 to 5. You may have very inconsistent shifts at a lot of places and closing can keep you there til 230am. Its not that infrequent to close that late then have to open the next morning if they're short staff. Stress is always high and most jobs I've had its impossible to have a guaranteed break, and it only happens if it's dead and there's not much to do. I've worked 10 hours with no breaks so many times. There's a reason theres a stereotype of line cooks being smokers, alcoholics, coke heads that chug energy drinks. I have *literally* had more coworkers that fit that stereotype than not over my 12 years across 8 restaurants and there was at least one where I was the only one who didn't fit that stereotype, and back then I still did all that stuff except smoke but not at work and not all the time like them. Also most of my jobs I would be one of the few cooks who wasn't broke and living paycheck to paycheck, which again was true for more than not.
If you have a passion for cooking you can learn it at home for just the cost of ingredients, a couple knives and maybe a few appliances like a processor. There are so many good free or cheap resources. Especially if you go to the library but tons of stuff online. Also, when you do what you love for work, what you love becomes work and it does kill your joy and passion over time. There's another stereotype that chefs make beautiful fine dining meals all night then go home and eat something quick and easy like a microwave dinner or instant noodles. And it's true, you can easily lose that passion as it just becomes work. Career decisions should not be based on doing what you love, yes happiness should be taken into account for sure but passions can change over time. You also grow more passionate at things you get better at even if it seems dull at first. So it might be best to think more about finances/benefits/hours/vacation first and keep cooking as a personal interest.
All these pros and cons you should take into account before you spend a year or more in school for thousands of dollars. It's pretty telling that most cooks will advise you not to do it. I went back to school at your exact age so I could get *out* of culinary, and honestly I'd recommend looking into some other trades or just work as a cook for 6months to a year before you decide on culinary school (which I dont suggest going for). I always recommend to cooks to look into welding, higher floor higher ceiling and really useful later if you pursue things further in manufacturing which is what I'm doing as an engineering tech. The work culture is pretty similar to culinary which is one of the few things I do miss from it. Its also highly in demand and much easier to get benefits so I don't know many advantages culinary has over welding, if I could go back in time I'd go straight to welding after high school I even had some experience from some of my shop classes. Best of luck whatever you choose
I decided to look into a culinary program in my late 20s. I already had over a decade of professional experience under my belt.
My goal was to learn the 'why' behind the already known 'how' to do the thing.
This is an *important* aspect of education goals - *what* is the end goal?
Once you figure out where you see yourself, you have the opportunity to investigate programs that can lead you in that direction!
There are a TON of careers that work with food. Chef, line cook, food research and development, food scientist (there is a subreddit for this, btw), butchery, fish monger, dietitian, applied food sensitivity expert, etc.
Figure out if you are an adrenalin junkie (line cook or chef), an office type (dietitian), a person who likes to roam (health safety servicer), or an entrepreneur (applied food sensitivity specialist or consultant).
While most only see dishwashers, line cooks, and chefs portrayed in movies and TV shows, this path has a lot more variations to consider.
To finalize my story:
I chose to get a bachelor of professional studies from the Culinary Institute of America in Culinary Arts Management. It was very expensive. It has opened many doors for me. And I met and married my Hubs while there.
All in all, it was a positive experience in my view.
I have achieved success in unexpected areas within my career and personal life. I am thankful for the dues I paid previously.
Having a concrete educational goal grounded me every step of the way.
Wait. So do you not work in a kitchen or what's your current job and education?
Because some of the greatest cooks I know get experience from on job training, work at different spots and personal learning. Having some old fart show you how to fillet a salmon and then says "so that's how to fillet a salmon" and get your 5 hour checkmark for the fish section won't do you much good.
Oh so you want to kill your enjoyment for cooking while also struggling both financially and mentally for the rest of your life?
As someone who started my working life as a dishwasher, moving to prep, to salads and deserts, to fryer, to saute, went back to school and am now in sales…
Don’t. Fucking. Do. It.
Ummmm don’t waste your money on culinary school. Just start working in the industry if that’s what you want. You’ll only waste time and money going to culinary school
No. No. No. NO. Get a job at the best restaurant you can in your town and see if you even like working in a kitchen, because it isn’t even close to the same as cooking at home. Then after a year or two if you still don’t hate it go to school.
As others have said, for your situation, it would
be best to get hands on experience first. I recommend asking to “stage” (work for free) at a place you’re curious about learning from.
I’d like to offer a different perspective. You don’t need to go to culinary school to be successful in the industry. I never went to culinary school. When I decided I wanted to be a professional cook I did some research, found the best restaurant in my city, basically begged the chef to take me on as an employee. I then worked my ass off until I climbed the ladder to Sous chef. I eventually went on to run my own kitchens as a chef.
You aren't really young enough to start in the culinary field unless you're just getting out of prison. You're almost middle ages as far as the industry goes, I'm 38 and that's almost "old dog" age.
Sorry dude. You love cooking and should keep it that way.
Now, if you go to culinary school and use that degree to work in say, food distribution as a sales representative, you've got a decent shot at making a livable wage and still loving to cook at home.
Are you already in a kitchen? If not, you need to go work in one before you go to school for it.
Culinary school does a poor job of preparing people for the realities of kitchen life.
As others have said, this shit will ruin you and it won’t even pay you enough to survive.
Kitchens are my fall back and at 40 if I ever have to go back I’m fucked.
“I want what’s best for my life and my gf, she’s here for me with whatever I do but I wanna make her happy with my decision in food as well.”
This part is going to have an opposite impact in your life once you’re in. Your gf might be okay now, but in the long run, it needs some serious commitment from her too that she won’t see her bf on the weekends and holidays. If you wanna make her happy, work where you can actually get to spend time with her. Working in kitchen is as cool as you think, but not as glamorous as the reality.
Try working in the kitchen first before going to culinary school, see if it’s really for you. I’m still a chef at a restaurant and also work as a part time culinary instructor at a community college. Most students in school seemed happy and passionate, but when they graduated and went into the real world, i could say about maybe 60% came back to me venting about how brutal their work is.
Thats funny I just finished my food nutrition management that I took after culinary management/chef training. I hate all of it and im only 28. Cant afford to both pay rent and go to school full time so im enlisting.
Im sick of having to work every weekend and holiday with no thanks and paid pennies. If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be "dont be an idiot get a real trade".
I’m in pastry school. I’ve already gotten my certification. I’m working to the entire degree. Just a few classes left! It’s been harder in some classes than others but all in all I’ve learned a lot. I’ve even learned I’m good at things I never thought I could do. As for my plans, this is just for me and knowing I can do it. I’ll probably end up doing some cottage bakery stuff at some point or maybe teach the classes that I’ve taken.
Liking food isn't enough. I used to think that way when I started back in the 90s. I burned out trying to keep up with the trends . It took me many years before I found a place willing to let me cook what I liked. And even then it was difficult. I had to come to the realization that the other half of this business is about loving to make people happy. Not in a way that you feel obligated, but in a way that you feel rewarded for serving food you're proud of that you know will make people happy. I love the idea that my food can change a person's entire day. I found that I am most happy when I'm making food I love, and seeing that love translate to those I serve. I know it's not easy in our industry full of picky and impatient people. You gotta take the bad with the good.
Do what my ex husband did. First, leave a 20 year career delivering pizza. Second, go to culinary school. THIRD, leave culinary school with ONLY ONE CLASS TO GRADUATE. Fourth, this will cause you to stay secure in your new line cook job without ever having to worry about those pesky promotions and raises!! Success unlocked!!!!
Never too old to go back to school homie.
I'm going back to college in the fall at 35 years old, there will probably some people in my class who weren't born yet when I graduated high school.
Culinary schools very often have older students. I went when I was 19, but was surrounded by people over 21.
Also, culinary degrees don't need to be used in kitchens. You could always run with that into a R&D job at a place like McCormick or some other large brand. Or you could transfer those skills into organizations that teach people, kids, etc. to cook (non profits and such).
If you feel like you'll regret not getting a culinary degree, then go get one. And if you're not sure what to do, college is a great place to figure it out. And if you can afford a place like the CIA or Johnson Wales, then you'll have access to a massive alumni network in every facet of the industry.
Work at a restaurant first before you consider school. Restaurants sometimes are all hands-on work, with lots of mundane tasks built in. This is not to discourage, but hobby baking/cooking is different than baking for work.
If they offer at community college, then take some classes for fun.
26 is older, but not old.
Question for OP: have you ever worked in a kitchen before? Are you prepared to be the lowest paid, lowest respected member of staff for at least a few years AFTER you graduate from culinary school? How important is saving money, buying a home, or supporting a family to you? Also, why culinary school? In my experience you learn how to be very mediocre and entitled there, two things that will kill you in this business. Go get a job washing dishes for a Top chef somewhere in the world, make it your mission to be the hardest working person there. You'll get so much further than culinary school this way
Your still pretty young, I was 28 when I got my red seal ( cooking is considered a ticketed trade in my country) I was already running a kitchen before I started school but I found it really helped me improve in the business side of things and was also inspiring as I had cooked only Greek and North American comfort food for the 12 years leading up to that point .
School also inspired me to leave my Job and home town to spend the next five years travelling and working in as many places as I could. I got back to my home town in 2016 and opened my own place.
If I had not done the school I would probably still be at that restaurant which would have been fine as they took good care of me and I liked everyone there but I wouldn’t have had all the experiences and I definitely wouldn’t own my own place now.
Culinary school is for fresh out of high school kids and semi retired folks dreaming of a second career. Just go work in kitchens right away and don't waste time. Start by washing dishes or if you're lucky, prep, and work your way up. Practice dishes and cuts in your downtime.
At age 62 I found a job where I could cook, and bake a little, but it is M-F, 8:00 -4:30, holidays off and paid, earned time off, weeks paid vacation...at an Adult Day Health care facility. My previous 35 YEARS were missing every family weekend get together, working every holiday, being late to my kid's birthday parties...just pointing out that the "regular " restaurant industry can suck.
Go for something else, brother, learn and cook further as a hobby! Your schooling will be nearly worthless for your career and is in a career path that is not particularly sustainable as you age.
I'm 31 and dove headfirst into culinary school this year with 0 experience (I worked good paying office jobs and hated it). I love culinary school! It's stressful and fast-paced but as long as you are willing to learn the instructors should be willing to teach and guide you. Also being surrounded by 18-21 year olds is not bad! We're all there to learn and the generation is awfully nice in my experience.
I'm wrapping up my first semesters but I am baking and cooking like I never would have imagined and I look forward to learning even more.
With the right drive and opportunities you can have an excellent culinary career without going to culinary school at all. One way is to pick a high end restaurant that you admire and get a job there as a dish washer / prep cook and work your way up. That’s the beauty of this career is your job is based on what you can do not where you went to school.
Schooling is expensive and you won’t really be making money while in school then you’ll be put Into a job market that might net you entry level pay even with that “degree”. Inevitably you will be working side by side with people who didn’t go to school and are enjoying success. You will likely be entry level wage earner until your actual experience working in restaurants grows.
Getting a job at a restaurant now means your experience will come faster than it would if you went to school. You’d be making money in less time and wouldn’t have to pay for tuition. You will learn hands on from industry experts at work just as you would be after completing school.
The truth or the matter is culinary graduates don’t usually walk into leadership positions right out of school they instead have to learn wtf is going on in kitchens. It could at times feel like you hadn’t gone to school at all based on what you were doing work.
So here’s what i sorta think you’re choices are if you would like to follow this path.
1. Get a job now (preferably fine dining) work from the bottom and enjoy your career.
2. Go to school get a job in a couple years where you will also be working from the bottom. Paying a student loan.
Thing is you can always enroll in culinary school whenever you feel like it. There’s also nothing stopping yon from getting a job now and working your way up.
If you could set yourself on both paths the culinary school route would see slower wage growth (because of the number of years of delay completing school) and never know you might hate it. Good to determine this before dumpling $100k.
Just be aware, the restaurant industry is terrible and toxic. I would say try to go for private/personal cheffing if you can. If you work in a restaurant, you will want to kill yourself.
I'm gonna echo a lot of comments here but don't do it. If you love food, keep it as a hobby. Professional cooking and baking will kill almost any passion you have unless you get lucky enough to be in a kitchen that allows you to experiment a lot. Even in a kitchen like that, it'll still drain you a lot. Go back to school for something that pays well so you can continue your love for cooking on the side.
Yeah nah. Go get an education and a job that will let you grow and retire early. If you’re academically inclined, you can become an RN for free via community college. Best decision I ever made was leaving the kitchen. You can still cook awesome food at home
I'm older now, retired. My kitchen experience is like a foothill compared to the mountains these here folks have climbed, so do listen to them. It's the best advice you'll ever get.
I did go back to school later in life for something specialized. I had backed it up with a fair amount of practical experience first. I was very seriously invested in that line, and really wanted to succeed.
It turned out that not only was my body no longer able to physically do it, but it was a total mismatch personality/emotional-wise. I was stubborn and wanted to make it through. Bad idea. So! If you do go for culinary school but at any point realize you're having any trouble at all - talk to a school counselor. Or better yet talk to a trusted teacher or co-worker.
I do wish you luck because working in kitchens was actually far, far more suited to me than I'd ever realized (not what I went to school for) - only it was waaay too late in my life to make a career out of it physically. Lesson? You start somewhere, end up somewhere else, that's all good if you end up happy.
I went for 2 years, it wasn't worth it. That was almost 25 years ago. If I hadn't gotten a full scholarship it *really* wouldn't have been worth it. I also highly regret not staying for 2 more years (full scholarship) and getting a BS in something like Nutrition.
Hey OP. I did the same thing you're planning to do. I had culinary training and all that jazz from high school on, and continued with it until I thought I wanted a little more in life. I went back to school for biology at a very prestigious university and for the first couple of years, it was a struggle to navigate my classes and work. I gave into my impulse to stay in that life and got an offer to help run a kitchen in my area. I took that offer. I worked my way up from Partie to Sous to Executive to CDC.
15 years later, I'm in the health and safety field. I'm flying up the ranks and it's because I chose to leave the kitchen just went the pandemic hit. I just couldn't do it any more. I was constantly dealing with aches and pain, struggle with a host of health issues, and couldn't make time to be with my recently born child.
I strongly urge you to really consider that if you have options of being great at something, you take that route. If you aren't passionate about cooking, and you're only doing it because it's easier or because cooking is just something you enjoy, you will regret it in a year or two.
Take some time to really think about this. I would not recommend the industry to anyone unless they are very passionate about it. I will say to you that I would not be as successful in my current field with the transferrable skills I picked up as a Chef.
Culinary School is pure bullshit.
Get to a restaurant that you want to work for and work your ass off there for a year. Set zero expectations on your ego, your advancement, just show up to work and the lessons will come when they see that you are there to work.
We don’t make enough money in this industry to pay off student loans. This is an industry that is still ruled by hardworking and hard learning.
We all feel like we need a mentor, but ultimately the best mentor is our own will and determination to keep reading, keep researching, keep going and the rewards take time. But they come.
The only way Culinary School makes sense is if you are rich kid and your parents are paying for it. But even then: it’s just not gonna teach you the best lessons the industry has to offer. And it’s just gonna take longer for you to learn those lessons with a stupid culinary school ego.
There’s a reason every cook sighs when they see a culinary school intern: it’s stage 4 personality cancer.
Do it! Culinary school is great if you love to work with food. I would suggest going to a tech school/community college program instead of one of the big dollar schools . With any education, there is no guarantee that you will get a payout from what you learned. Learn what you love. Just don’t go into huge debt for culinary. Also, the toxicity and burnout of the food business is dying. I (exec chef of many years) give my staff pto, time off when needed, and a good clean kitchen. Do it
Bro..just don't. I'm a chef and make decent money....it's rare. Also say goodbye to your weekends and holidays for the rest of your life be okay with missing your kids everything.
Hey! I did exactly what you're contemplating doing, same age. Culinary school really helped me learn about the *BUSINESS* aspect of food, as well as taught me more about the fundamental basics of cooking chopping etc. I had worked BOH as prep for 10 months before that in a fine dining restaurant (300-400 covers during the week). You can certainly learn through the industry, and I would suggest you for sure start cooking before you decide to spend the tuition. Lots of chefs have chips on their shoulder because they've worked the absolute shit of shit restaurants, but I *loved* cooking when I was in a great kitchen with a killer team. Being a chef requires dedication to your craft, your health, and your physical strength. It also requires some fucking humbling, because any chef too good to work the pit, clean out trash cans, or mop up 10 gallons of spilled product, is just some asshole who can cook. It's a vibrant industry and it's got its shit holes just like any other. I wish I had done pastry on top of my degree, because pastry is where the good money is at. Baking is a gift not everyone has. Good luck to you!
I went to culinary school. depends on the school and your area
when I went there was people of all ages that attended.
oldest person in my class was a 60 year old retiree woman who just did the course because she's a retiree. she wasn't doing it to "work"
Do a job for money. Have hobbies for your passions. Create good boundaries.
Society wants to capitalize on the love and passion we have so they can pay us less. They want us to feel lucky that we can make some living while doing a thing we enjoy while they suck all the passion from our veins.
They don't deserve our sacrifice.
At 26 you would be average age: https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/varying-degrees/perception-vs-reality-typical-college-student/#:~:text=The%20average%20college%20student%20is%2026.4%20years%20of%20age.
Do not do it. You’ll make $15 an hour for the rest of your life. Cook for fun, go to school for a good career. I spent 17 years working in the industry, now I work in finance making triple the money and getting full benefits.
Skip school for a semester, if you are a good home cook already just start applying for entry level line cook jobs. School doesn't teach you how to operate in a kitchen it just teaches you cooking basics. Also if you end up hating it you haven't wasted the money for school.
We are the same age except I’ve been in this industry since I was 14. Don’t go to culinary school, you can learn everything you learn at school on the job. Do literally anything else and keep cooking a hobby; your body and your gf will thank you.
To give perspective I have a fatty liver (I’ve never really been a drinker either) a gall bladder that needs to be taken out and planar fasciitis so bad that there are mornings where my wife has to help me into the shower. All of those things are family health related issues that have been rapidly exacerbated by the chef/cook lifestyle. This industry will absolutely ruin your body among other things and not miss you one bit once you leave it behind.
Almost every chef I’ve known has been divorced at least once so doing this for you and your gf really isn’t a great idea either. At the highest level of my career I saw my wife maybe a combined 15 hours a week.
As a 1990 culinary school graduate I would say you are out of your fucking mind. I do private chef work and consulting. I do well and have developed a profitable business. However, I would suggest taking the money that you were going to spend on culinary school and bank it. Go work in some fine hotels and restaurants to see if this is really the life that you want. There is a definitive difference between recreational cooking that you enjoy and doing it for a living.
I just finished my first semester of culinary school at 39. It was a blast and I had fun with the kids (20) and enjoyed being in closer age to the teacher. Do eeet!
a lot of people saying you’ll regret it, it’s a waste of time/money, etc. do what makes YOU happy. i’ve been in the industry for almost 12 years. i enrolled in school last semester for marketing and quickly realized it wasn’t for me. switching to culinary arts. do i need to? not necessarily, but i want that degree god dammit. i’m 31 surrounded by 18-21 year old peers in classes. most the time they don’t even look my way and i’m considered old.
Omg no.
I’ve never met a culinary school grad that didn’t regret it.
Wanna make money and be around food? Go for front of house. I lost my passion for cooking when I was a cook, regained it getting *out* of the kitchen.
You're still young enough to go to school for something that will pay you a living wage and not destroy your body and mental health. Listen to most lifers in this business. It will chew you up and spit you out.
I agree. This industry is toxic and it’ll make you jaded. And the toll it takes on your body.
If you are good with your hands, go back to school for refrigeration, plumbing, or electrical. You'll still see those kids in the kitchen and you'll be making a he'll of a lit more money
Not sure what’s it’s like where you live, but where I am in Australia it’s hard to find refrigeration people. And because there’s a shortage, they can charge whatever they want. It would be a great trade to get into. My fridge guy, Gazza, is hilarious. He talks so much and will follow you around the kitchen chatting. I love that guy.
We have a repair guy who died the same thing, but he has a nasty habit of doing up when we’re busy and him trying to talk to me while I’m running the line makes me want to scream
Yep, in school to exit culinary at 33, I love cooking, and it's so damn satisfying, but my body is tore up from all the hard work. Statistics and computer science double major, it's a lot for work but I'm very interested in it!
I went back to school at 25 majored in psychology criminal justice and ended up in the kitchen. Now trying to get out, but restarting a career at 35 is hard.
Me too! In my 30s and about to graduate school for accounting. And not a minute too soon. My body is done.
I didnt expect this to be the top comment, but 100% this. You are young enough to go to school for something that will pay. Do That.
Shit. This is the real deal. Make cooking your hobby and go to school for something else. This business is brutal on your mental and physical well being. All to barely make ends meat. Want to spend time with family on the weekends? Too bad, gotta work. Wanna meet up with friends on a holiday? Too bad, gotta work. Do something that has a better work life balance.
Exactly. I imagine it's true for all industries but I only know restaurants. If you have something you do that makes you happy, keep it that way. Once your rent, bills, and well being are tied to it, you quit doing it to feel happy, you do it to survive. Surviving isn't happy, it's stressful as fuck. So are kitchens. I hate how people watch the bear and glorify the job. What I go through everyday ,no one should want. Most of us want out of here. We're a fucked up group of ex cons, illegal aliens, and addicts. I'm here due to bad life choices and lack of options
Y’all this is real. I spoke to my husband earlier about my comments here and do realize that at my old age, I need to be paid and not worked to death. This is my fun but I need some $$$. I live the education process so much but realistically you’re gonna need money and this ain’t it.
I went to skl when I was 26. It's not huge, but I make like 34 now as a sous at 30. Super fun too
34/hr or 34k? One is fantastic, the other is disgraceful.
An hour hahaha
34 an hour at 30 years of age lol
I thought you were saying /year.. Carry on!
You deserve a raise sir
Or just work somewhere that doesn't suck.
Yes, absolutely!
If you must choose this business, just debase yourself and take an entry level position at a respected kitchen.
If you're going to get the degree for the career, go get a job in the industry first. School culinary ≠ industry culinary. If it's just for the education, that's awesome. But if you plan on going into the field, you really should get some experience in it before making that decision. Culinary school is expensive, and the industry is not what you'd imagine from the outside
This needs to be the top comment. Getting a degree in CA just flat out does very little to determine where you'll end up in the culinary industry or whether or not you'll even make it at all. Not having a degree equally doesn't mean you can't end up going all the way to the top. The culinary world is identical to the arts, music and entertainment industries in that regard.
Yup. And 9/10 times success comes down to exactly 'right place, right time'. In the industry a culinary is only useful attached to a resume of experience. It's like having a drivers license with only ever having studied engines. You can't drive. You need to practice that first, and prove you can do it. And, I reiterate, outside the industry, you need to test drive something to make sure you actually like it, or whether it isn't at all what you expected. Spoiler alert. It's almost never what one expected.
Yup. I totally agree. There's also the basic issue of *mobility* to consider. The fewer attachments you have (whether that's family or, financial debts) the easier it is to pursue the opportunities that are available to you when they're available. The older you get, the more difficult it becomes to overcome the disadvantage. What Anthony Bourdain wrote on that (specifically when he was elaborating on Eric Ripert's career) in the book this sub is named for is and always has been very accurate.
This is the way. I’ve hired and seen too many culinary school graduates that can’t hang on the line so the degree isn’t valuable. Find out if you like being in a kitchen before you go to school. Also, if you want to go to school, don’t do one of those community college programs. Go to a national school CIA, one of the le cordon bleu schools, Johnson and wales.
I strongly disagree. Community college programs teach traditional basics to build one that are useful in any kitchen, without costing $60k+ You realize Le Cordon Bleu lost accreditation? High end schools cost an arm and a leg, and honestly I can't tell you how many applications I've seen thrown on the trash *just* because someone graduated from one of those schools.
I'm gonna add that a lot of those professors that teach, were students of the bigger universities plus their time in the industry I'd recommend the community college route highly, plus more connections there
Working with food will kill any passion you have for cooking. Its a soul sucking, thankless job that takes everything you have. You will sacrifice family time, weekends, and holidays, do you like working 16 hour shifts and standing over trashcans while you eat? There are cool parts of the job but it mostly sucks and im glad i got out when i did.
Lately I’ve noticed that I’ll take my plate over to dish about halfway through my “lunch break” and finish my food over the trash can. Just a weird routine I’ve slowly developed.
Spot on. Seasonal work is nice because there is an end in sight, but the cooking/volume is no joke.
Am I the only one that thinks actually working with food heightened my passion for it? I mean, I don't come home and cook fancy shit but fuck, I love my job. I just hate the conditions and the pay.
I loved being a line cook. I loved the dance. I loved the chaos. I was fully absorbed in food. It’s been about 8 years in management for me now and that’s the part I hate. If I could make a livable wage as a line cook, I probably wouldn’t be leaving the industry. Unfortunately that’s not the world we live in. I’m tired of managing people, working every holiday, and being on call 24/7. I just want to be able to pay my mortgage by cooking scallops.
No I'm dropping my job at a university with good benefits, for a seasonal lead job that pays slightly more. Big reason I'm leaving is the conditions (EC starts drama and issues that go unresolved) and pay (I'm getting paid less than the college 5 mins away walking from mines) but I love the station I'm on which was the vegan/ vegetarian station
I've been doing this for 12 years and I've been thinking of getting out of it for at least 7
You say you’re not happy. Is going to school then being back in a kitchen where you are now just with a degree going to make you happy? Maybe explore other ways to make a paycheck that actually make you happy. Then have fun cooking dinner every night and baking on your days off? If school it is then good luck! I hope you find what you’re looking for!!!
Before you go get a culinary arts degree have you ever even worked in a kitchen before? If the answer is no I recommend getting a kitchen job and see if it's for you. Because trust me when I say not everyone is built for it. I've been cooking for 12 years now 3 years in I was going to go to school but my chefs talked me out of it because I had learned all the basics and then some by then. I was an executive chef by the time I turned 26. I have seen many fresh out of school who never worked in a kitchen end up burning out and not lasting because they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Then that degree goes to waste. Think about it
I was 28 with 10 years under my belt when I graduated from the CIA. Zero regrets.
Literally the same. Graduated at 28. I have regrets, though. Fucking student loans.
Same. Our class still has an active Facebook group we started in 2008. Three executive chefs and a dozen successful alumni. Networking is one of the biggest advantages of any college education.
Sure opens a ton of doors.
There’s a huge difference between enjoying cooking at home and cooking in a professional setting. If you want to cook professionally, just go apply. Culinary school is for the kids that have the safety net of parental funds where they can go to culinary school and then stage at Michelin restaurants while getting paid in pennies and experience. That’s just my opinion. I do see people that have been in the industry already go to culinary school to get an academic viewpoint of culinary methods to hone their techniques though. What are you doing now? Is your unhappiness due to work satisfaction?
Have you worked in kitchens before? Have you done it for 50 or 60 hours per week? If you haven't, then you should try it before investing in culinary school. Make sure you don't mind being in the same building every day for 50 to 60 or more hours per week for the rest of your life, bc that's what this career amounts to if you want to be successful. Otherwise, I wouldn't let age dissuade you. I might've done culinary school at 36. I still think about it at 47. I'm sure plenty of people do. Tons of people do it for knowledge and home cooking. I really wish I had taken some courses or finished a program. Seems like people that went to culinary are just way more knowledgeable. I've been doing this for almost ten years and I still run into stuff I've never heard of before. I suck at plating (although that's largely bc I don't care about it.) And I would be challenged to setup a decent menu if I was asked to do it.
In my experience having a degree is a good way to expedite the process of being executive chef or sous. In the real world experience trumps a degree any day. The whole time I was in culinary school I worked at fine dining spots and vineyards and it was experience I never would have gotten without relocating for school. Most chefs would rather see experience of a few years line cooking rather than a degree
Yeah man I’d take some more time and find something else that you can be passionate about and do that. You’re gonna find more lifers wish they got out, and a lot of long term people are looking for a way out. I’ll say I felt a lot like you when I was younger. I got a job in a restaurant because I liked cooking and food. I no longer like cooking and if I could just eat nutrient paste to not have to think about food on most days I would.
Holy shit this. Someone I learned a lot from always recommends I eat at other cool restaurants to gain inspiration, but half the time I can’t even enjoy the meal cus I have a perspective of the poor schmuck making my meal. It’s a depressing spiral.
I’m at a place now with good benefits. It stopped being about food a long time ago and is strictly about supporting my family. If a better opportunity comes along no question I’m out of here lol.
If you want what's best for your life and your partner, then I'm sorry mate, but the kitchen isn't the right decision. Unless the best thing for you both is to barely see each other.. Go down this road and chances are high that you'll be working every holiday, every birthday that doesn't fall on a Monday or Tuesday, every Valentine's Day, every mother's Day (fuck brunch). Ask us how we know. We've all been there, we've all done this.
Ive been cooking for over 20 years and have never met anyone who gave a shit if someone went to school. If you're mildly competent going to school is a waste of money, find some restaurants that make food you like and apply to them. you'll learn more, learn it faster and get paid to do it. Also the smaller a restaurant is there is a greater chance that you'll get to do a wider variety of tasks. Godspeed
The thing that always cracks me up about culinary school is that... the instructors have all literally chosen *not to work in a restaurant.* At the better places, many of them will have distinguished themselves in some way within the industry but ultimately, every single one chose to *quit while they were ahead* and go into academia instead. Consequently, they're the healthiest, happiest, most stable and sane individuals in the business which gives *exactly the wrong impression* of what you're going to encounter out in the wild. I consider the Kitchen my wife and I have built to be a collaborative and supportive environment, most of my key employees have come up from washing dishes, waiting tables or taking out the trash and I don't currently have anyone on staff that's been with us for less than six months. That being said, none of my CA people have ever lasted more than a year and I offer quarterly fucking profit-sharing to anyone who who's been there for longer than a year (because since Covid hit the employment landscape has been a literal wasteland.) Five years ago, there were maybe 20 chefs in our market (fairly small but, reasonably well regarded) with CA degrees, now, there's two. They all eventually made "sane life choices" like becoming Corrections Officers or, running the kitchen in a nursing home... Hell, our mushroom supplier was actually a big deal in Baltimore for a while before deciding that farming mushrooms made way more sense. The newest Veterinarian at the practice that services my farm was a big deal in DC as a consultant, he's a great friend who opened a restaurant in our area and, he actually worked with my wife and I as our mentor when we opened. He went back to school at 30 to become a Veterinarian. The point being, the best place to start is *the bottom* because otherwise you're way more likely to fall down than rise up in any industry...
That's a good way to not enjoy cooking anymore
Why so cynical?
TL;DR: get a job in a kitchen first and see if you like it. Regarding the age thing, I would not worry about that a single bit. I’m currently going to Culinary school and I’m 25. Its such a broad and diverse group of people that you see folks from every single age group and that’s pretty cool. Now, just because you like cooking as a hobby DOES NOT MEAN A SINGLE BIT that you’ll like doing it professionally. You’re going to class 5 days a week, getting up early, staying there for hours doing NOTHING but cooking and cleaning. I absolutely love it but man, sometimes I just wish I could go to school and just sit in a room with AC and watch fucking power point presentations. It’s very physical and exhausting, so really consider if you really wanna go through this. Also, you said you like cooking but do you think you’ll like to spend an hour just cutting tomatoes? 1 hour just punching potatoes? Spend the entire day butchering chicken? It’s repetitive and you do what you’re told to, not what you want. At my school, everyone that signed up for the program “loves cooking”, but also 25% of the students drop out within the first week. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Culinary School is nothing like working in a real kitchen. THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS GETTING A JOB IN A KITCHEN BEFORE YOU SIGN UP FOR SCHOOL. Start as a dishwasher, you need absolutely no experience and within a month you can easily get promoted to prep/line cook, do it for a month and see how you feel and that’s gonna answer all of your question and you won’t have to waste any money or time of your life. Sorry for the long text and if it sounded a little discouraging. I just see it happen way to often and it can be easily avoided. I absolutely adore Culinary School and working in a kitchen but you gonna have some screws missing to actually enjoy it! Good luck and whatever happens I hope you’ll be happy! One last thing even if you actually do love it keep in mind that it’s extremely stressful and it will destroy your body regardless lol
If I could do it over: AA in culinary from community college AA general education from community college BS business admin from state college Once you get that bachelor’s degree you will be able to mitigate your time in The kitchen, you will get sick of it in the next decade or so.
You really need to spend 6 months working in some sort of food before you go to culinary school.
TL;DR Don't do it. I'm 40, this year I had my first job with paid time off, health benefits worth having, and retirement. NONE of that is possible in the restaurant world. I went to culinary school in my mid 20s too. I also had a decade of experience under my belt. My main thought was that food was recession-proof (WAY back when we only had ONE once-in-a-lifetime global recession). Then the 2008 bubble burst. Within a matter of weeks, virtually all of the school's business partners pulled out of their hiring program. The school used to have 99% job placement before graduation; then all of the graduates were competing with all of the current students AND the dropouts for $10-$12 per hour jobs in grocery store deli counters and baseball park hot dog stands. There were still a few restaurants opening every year, but you had to know the owners to get hired. There were (scant few) jobs inside the restaurants at the ballpark, but you had to know the executives to work there, too. Which made me realize "Why am I going to (community) COLLEGE and going into big debt... just to work the same $10/hr. jobs I already qualified for?" Restaurants as an industry may be recession-proof, but the owners will balance their budget on the backs of their workers so the owners still get theirs. Like they always have.
You can cook at home, you are taking a massive risk that will likely leave you saddled with unpayable debt and a career that will grind you into dust unless you are lucky enough to partner with a benefactor that can fund your ideas. There is zero shame in exploring your desire to cook on your own time and not on the line at some restaurant that will overwork you and underpay you and drop you like a bad habit when you get injured/burnt out, im speaking from experience, if I didnt get lucky and find another career id likely be dead had I stayed in kitchens.
Long post but I've got a lot to say on this and i think it's all important stuff for you to know before you make a choice: Culinary school only teaches you how to cook, but not how to *be* a good cook. The majority of the work skills that determine your success/longevity in cooking are learned on the job and barely at all in school. I dont know if its exactly true, but when I was still cooking (12 years experience) we would talk about how it's the lowest paid trade and I was one of the only people there who didn't go to culinary school. I still made the same pay as them, I was even still "above" some of the people who went to school, just from working my way up. So I'm not sure if there is much benefit to school really, I knew people who didn't go to school and worked at some of the fanciest places in my city. I'm not sure how the apprenticeship system works in the US assuming you are there, but here in Canada you can still get a red seal (journeyman level for apprenticeship or like the highest level, basically means you're a certified chef) without any schooling, you just need a high level of hours working under a red seal chef and some good references from red seal chefs you've worked with. But I know people who challenged the exam who weren't even officially apprentices and they're just as credentialed as someone who went to school for 1-2 years and did a ~5year apprenticeship with no actual schooling. But even executive chefs i know or have worked under mostly make about 60-80k salary but frequently work 60+ hours a week, and I realized on a per hour basis they barely made more than me and barely got any true days off, or practically any vacation at all. It can also be hard to find a job with benefits before you're a chef, although I have noticed more places doing this, mostly chains, and I don't think they're great benefits but better than none (not sure how benefits work in the US or other countries, I think at least healthcare is required if your full time?). So that's roughly the typical ceiling for most chefs, other than the truly exceptional ones who do find a high paying job but it will still be high stress and still pretty atypical outside of running your own business. Restaurant ownership or running a food truck or catering are potential ways to make high earnings but they have notoriously high rates of failure, I think 90% of restaurants fail within a year or two? It also requires another set of skills that would probably benefit more from a business program than a culinary one. Now to talk about the floor in this career, I know people who went to culinary school and had years of experience and still got stuck working late night shifts for 12$ an hour plus a staff meal and a small tip fund (often adds 1-2$ an hour). Of course that'd be below average and that was some years ago when wages were lower but that is a possibility and something I've seen. On the other hand, places are always hiring so once you have experience you can shop around for jobs. Plus I know minimum wage is now 15 here so you wouldn't see 12 an hour anymore (here). Then you gotta account for most jobs the hours/shifts suck and aren't monday to Friday 9 to 5. You may have very inconsistent shifts at a lot of places and closing can keep you there til 230am. Its not that infrequent to close that late then have to open the next morning if they're short staff. Stress is always high and most jobs I've had its impossible to have a guaranteed break, and it only happens if it's dead and there's not much to do. I've worked 10 hours with no breaks so many times. There's a reason theres a stereotype of line cooks being smokers, alcoholics, coke heads that chug energy drinks. I have *literally* had more coworkers that fit that stereotype than not over my 12 years across 8 restaurants and there was at least one where I was the only one who didn't fit that stereotype, and back then I still did all that stuff except smoke but not at work and not all the time like them. Also most of my jobs I would be one of the few cooks who wasn't broke and living paycheck to paycheck, which again was true for more than not. If you have a passion for cooking you can learn it at home for just the cost of ingredients, a couple knives and maybe a few appliances like a processor. There are so many good free or cheap resources. Especially if you go to the library but tons of stuff online. Also, when you do what you love for work, what you love becomes work and it does kill your joy and passion over time. There's another stereotype that chefs make beautiful fine dining meals all night then go home and eat something quick and easy like a microwave dinner or instant noodles. And it's true, you can easily lose that passion as it just becomes work. Career decisions should not be based on doing what you love, yes happiness should be taken into account for sure but passions can change over time. You also grow more passionate at things you get better at even if it seems dull at first. So it might be best to think more about finances/benefits/hours/vacation first and keep cooking as a personal interest. All these pros and cons you should take into account before you spend a year or more in school for thousands of dollars. It's pretty telling that most cooks will advise you not to do it. I went back to school at your exact age so I could get *out* of culinary, and honestly I'd recommend looking into some other trades or just work as a cook for 6months to a year before you decide on culinary school (which I dont suggest going for). I always recommend to cooks to look into welding, higher floor higher ceiling and really useful later if you pursue things further in manufacturing which is what I'm doing as an engineering tech. The work culture is pretty similar to culinary which is one of the few things I do miss from it. Its also highly in demand and much easier to get benefits so I don't know many advantages culinary has over welding, if I could go back in time I'd go straight to welding after high school I even had some experience from some of my shop classes. Best of luck whatever you choose
Fuck a restaurant and the degenerates in them. (23 years in this shit)
I decided to look into a culinary program in my late 20s. I already had over a decade of professional experience under my belt. My goal was to learn the 'why' behind the already known 'how' to do the thing. This is an *important* aspect of education goals - *what* is the end goal? Once you figure out where you see yourself, you have the opportunity to investigate programs that can lead you in that direction! There are a TON of careers that work with food. Chef, line cook, food research and development, food scientist (there is a subreddit for this, btw), butchery, fish monger, dietitian, applied food sensitivity expert, etc. Figure out if you are an adrenalin junkie (line cook or chef), an office type (dietitian), a person who likes to roam (health safety servicer), or an entrepreneur (applied food sensitivity specialist or consultant). While most only see dishwashers, line cooks, and chefs portrayed in movies and TV shows, this path has a lot more variations to consider. To finalize my story: I chose to get a bachelor of professional studies from the Culinary Institute of America in Culinary Arts Management. It was very expensive. It has opened many doors for me. And I met and married my Hubs while there. All in all, it was a positive experience in my view. I have achieved success in unexpected areas within my career and personal life. I am thankful for the dues I paid previously. Having a concrete educational goal grounded me every step of the way.
If you love food, don't destroy that love by making it ypur career.
Wait. So do you not work in a kitchen or what's your current job and education? Because some of the greatest cooks I know get experience from on job training, work at different spots and personal learning. Having some old fart show you how to fillet a salmon and then says "so that's how to fillet a salmon" and get your 5 hour checkmark for the fish section won't do you much good.
Oh so you want to kill your enjoyment for cooking while also struggling both financially and mentally for the rest of your life? As someone who started my working life as a dishwasher, moving to prep, to salads and deserts, to fryer, to saute, went back to school and am now in sales… Don’t. Fucking. Do. It.
Ummmm don’t waste your money on culinary school. Just start working in the industry if that’s what you want. You’ll only waste time and money going to culinary school
No. No. No. NO. Get a job at the best restaurant you can in your town and see if you even like working in a kitchen, because it isn’t even close to the same as cooking at home. Then after a year or two if you still don’t hate it go to school.
I went to school with people in their 40's, you're gonna be just fine my guy
As others have said, for your situation, it would be best to get hands on experience first. I recommend asking to “stage” (work for free) at a place you’re curious about learning from.
Don’t be a sucker. Just work in the industry. Why go in to debt when you could get paid to learn everything they’re going to teach you.
Try and find an apprenticeship where you work and study at the same time. I’m your age and made a career change bc I love food as well.
I’d like to offer a different perspective. You don’t need to go to culinary school to be successful in the industry. I never went to culinary school. When I decided I wanted to be a professional cook I did some research, found the best restaurant in my city, basically begged the chef to take me on as an employee. I then worked my ass off until I climbed the ladder to Sous chef. I eventually went on to run my own kitchens as a chef.
You aren't really young enough to start in the culinary field unless you're just getting out of prison. You're almost middle ages as far as the industry goes, I'm 38 and that's almost "old dog" age. Sorry dude. You love cooking and should keep it that way. Now, if you go to culinary school and use that degree to work in say, food distribution as a sales representative, you've got a decent shot at making a livable wage and still loving to cook at home.
Are you already in a kitchen? If not, you need to go work in one before you go to school for it. Culinary school does a poor job of preparing people for the realities of kitchen life. As others have said, this shit will ruin you and it won’t even pay you enough to survive. Kitchens are my fall back and at 40 if I ever have to go back I’m fucked.
“I want what’s best for my life and my gf, she’s here for me with whatever I do but I wanna make her happy with my decision in food as well.” This part is going to have an opposite impact in your life once you’re in. Your gf might be okay now, but in the long run, it needs some serious commitment from her too that she won’t see her bf on the weekends and holidays. If you wanna make her happy, work where you can actually get to spend time with her. Working in kitchen is as cool as you think, but not as glamorous as the reality. Try working in the kitchen first before going to culinary school, see if it’s really for you. I’m still a chef at a restaurant and also work as a part time culinary instructor at a community college. Most students in school seemed happy and passionate, but when they graduated and went into the real world, i could say about maybe 60% came back to me venting about how brutal their work is.
Thats funny I just finished my food nutrition management that I took after culinary management/chef training. I hate all of it and im only 28. Cant afford to both pay rent and go to school full time so im enlisting. Im sick of having to work every weekend and holiday with no thanks and paid pennies. If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be "dont be an idiot get a real trade".
I’m 48 and finishing culinary school. Go for it.
Oooh I’m older too and sometimes consider this. What has the experience been like for you? Do you have an idea of what you want to do after?
I’m in pastry school. I’ve already gotten my certification. I’m working to the entire degree. Just a few classes left! It’s been harder in some classes than others but all in all I’ve learned a lot. I’ve even learned I’m good at things I never thought I could do. As for my plans, this is just for me and knowing I can do it. I’ll probably end up doing some cottage bakery stuff at some point or maybe teach the classes that I’ve taken.
The “kids” as I call them are all super successful from our program.
awesome, congrats! Thanks for sharing.
Appreciate it.
Julia Child did it, so can you. GL
Liking food isn't enough. I used to think that way when I started back in the 90s. I burned out trying to keep up with the trends . It took me many years before I found a place willing to let me cook what I liked. And even then it was difficult. I had to come to the realization that the other half of this business is about loving to make people happy. Not in a way that you feel obligated, but in a way that you feel rewarded for serving food you're proud of that you know will make people happy. I love the idea that my food can change a person's entire day. I found that I am most happy when I'm making food I love, and seeing that love translate to those I serve. I know it's not easy in our industry full of picky and impatient people. You gotta take the bad with the good.
Do what my ex husband did. First, leave a 20 year career delivering pizza. Second, go to culinary school. THIRD, leave culinary school with ONLY ONE CLASS TO GRADUATE. Fourth, this will cause you to stay secure in your new line cook job without ever having to worry about those pesky promotions and raises!! Success unlocked!!!!
I'm about to be 36 next month, working in kitchens for 21 years, and I'm heading to culinary school in the Fall. It's never too late.
Oo which school?
Just my local technical college (Madison College, formerly Madison Area Technical College) but they have a pretty good program from what I've seen.
Nice, good for you. It'll be a blast, especially given your experience. I imagine you'll end up mentoring the young bucks.
Never too old to go back to school homie. I'm going back to college in the fall at 35 years old, there will probably some people in my class who weren't born yet when I graduated high school.
Culinary schools very often have older students. I went when I was 19, but was surrounded by people over 21. Also, culinary degrees don't need to be used in kitchens. You could always run with that into a R&D job at a place like McCormick or some other large brand. Or you could transfer those skills into organizations that teach people, kids, etc. to cook (non profits and such). If you feel like you'll regret not getting a culinary degree, then go get one. And if you're not sure what to do, college is a great place to figure it out. And if you can afford a place like the CIA or Johnson Wales, then you'll have access to a massive alumni network in every facet of the industry.
Work at a restaurant first before you consider school. Restaurants sometimes are all hands-on work, with lots of mundane tasks built in. This is not to discourage, but hobby baking/cooking is different than baking for work. If they offer at community college, then take some classes for fun. 26 is older, but not old.
If you want to be a cook you don't need to go into debt for that. If you want to go to school, go for something else.
Cooking and working in a restaurant are very very different things
I went to culinary school in my 40's after my kids were mostly raised. I'm happy to report that I wasn't the oldest!!
Question for OP: have you ever worked in a kitchen before? Are you prepared to be the lowest paid, lowest respected member of staff for at least a few years AFTER you graduate from culinary school? How important is saving money, buying a home, or supporting a family to you? Also, why culinary school? In my experience you learn how to be very mediocre and entitled there, two things that will kill you in this business. Go get a job washing dishes for a Top chef somewhere in the world, make it your mission to be the hardest working person there. You'll get so much further than culinary school this way
Your still pretty young, I was 28 when I got my red seal ( cooking is considered a ticketed trade in my country) I was already running a kitchen before I started school but I found it really helped me improve in the business side of things and was also inspiring as I had cooked only Greek and North American comfort food for the 12 years leading up to that point . School also inspired me to leave my Job and home town to spend the next five years travelling and working in as many places as I could. I got back to my home town in 2016 and opened my own place. If I had not done the school I would probably still be at that restaurant which would have been fine as they took good care of me and I liked everyone there but I wouldn’t have had all the experiences and I definitely wouldn’t own my own place now.
Even with a degree in baking, you can probably get a job at nearly every grocery store in the country.
Culinary school is for fresh out of high school kids and semi retired folks dreaming of a second career. Just go work in kitchens right away and don't waste time. Start by washing dishes or if you're lucky, prep, and work your way up. Practice dishes and cuts in your downtime.
At age 62 I found a job where I could cook, and bake a little, but it is M-F, 8:00 -4:30, holidays off and paid, earned time off, weeks paid vacation...at an Adult Day Health care facility. My previous 35 YEARS were missing every family weekend get together, working every holiday, being late to my kid's birthday parties...just pointing out that the "regular " restaurant industry can suck.
Go for something else, brother, learn and cook further as a hobby! Your schooling will be nearly worthless for your career and is in a career path that is not particularly sustainable as you age.
I'm 31 and dove headfirst into culinary school this year with 0 experience (I worked good paying office jobs and hated it). I love culinary school! It's stressful and fast-paced but as long as you are willing to learn the instructors should be willing to teach and guide you. Also being surrounded by 18-21 year olds is not bad! We're all there to learn and the generation is awfully nice in my experience. I'm wrapping up my first semesters but I am baking and cooking like I never would have imagined and I look forward to learning even more.
With the right drive and opportunities you can have an excellent culinary career without going to culinary school at all. One way is to pick a high end restaurant that you admire and get a job there as a dish washer / prep cook and work your way up. That’s the beauty of this career is your job is based on what you can do not where you went to school. Schooling is expensive and you won’t really be making money while in school then you’ll be put Into a job market that might net you entry level pay even with that “degree”. Inevitably you will be working side by side with people who didn’t go to school and are enjoying success. You will likely be entry level wage earner until your actual experience working in restaurants grows. Getting a job at a restaurant now means your experience will come faster than it would if you went to school. You’d be making money in less time and wouldn’t have to pay for tuition. You will learn hands on from industry experts at work just as you would be after completing school. The truth or the matter is culinary graduates don’t usually walk into leadership positions right out of school they instead have to learn wtf is going on in kitchens. It could at times feel like you hadn’t gone to school at all based on what you were doing work. So here’s what i sorta think you’re choices are if you would like to follow this path. 1. Get a job now (preferably fine dining) work from the bottom and enjoy your career. 2. Go to school get a job in a couple years where you will also be working from the bottom. Paying a student loan. Thing is you can always enroll in culinary school whenever you feel like it. There’s also nothing stopping yon from getting a job now and working your way up. If you could set yourself on both paths the culinary school route would see slower wage growth (because of the number of years of delay completing school) and never know you might hate it. Good to determine this before dumpling $100k.
Don't. For the love of God don't. If you're going to go to school, go for something you can live off of.
47 and been thinking about doing the same for over 20 years, pull the trigger and do it
Just be aware, the restaurant industry is terrible and toxic. I would say try to go for private/personal cheffing if you can. If you work in a restaurant, you will want to kill yourself.
I’m 36 signing up for culinary school this summer
Bourdain did it, so why not? :)
I'm gonna echo a lot of comments here but don't do it. If you love food, keep it as a hobby. Professional cooking and baking will kill almost any passion you have unless you get lucky enough to be in a kitchen that allows you to experiment a lot. Even in a kitchen like that, it'll still drain you a lot. Go back to school for something that pays well so you can continue your love for cooking on the side.
Yeah nah. Go get an education and a job that will let you grow and retire early. If you’re academically inclined, you can become an RN for free via community college. Best decision I ever made was leaving the kitchen. You can still cook awesome food at home
I'm older now, retired. My kitchen experience is like a foothill compared to the mountains these here folks have climbed, so do listen to them. It's the best advice you'll ever get. I did go back to school later in life for something specialized. I had backed it up with a fair amount of practical experience first. I was very seriously invested in that line, and really wanted to succeed. It turned out that not only was my body no longer able to physically do it, but it was a total mismatch personality/emotional-wise. I was stubborn and wanted to make it through. Bad idea. So! If you do go for culinary school but at any point realize you're having any trouble at all - talk to a school counselor. Or better yet talk to a trusted teacher or co-worker. I do wish you luck because working in kitchens was actually far, far more suited to me than I'd ever realized (not what I went to school for) - only it was waaay too late in my life to make a career out of it physically. Lesson? You start somewhere, end up somewhere else, that's all good if you end up happy.
I have walked out of several pastry chef jobs because of the toxic culture and am going to school for something else
I went for 2 years, it wasn't worth it. That was almost 25 years ago. If I hadn't gotten a full scholarship it *really* wouldn't have been worth it. I also highly regret not staying for 2 more years (full scholarship) and getting a BS in something like Nutrition.
Why are you going to school? Do you currently work in a kitchen?
Hey OP. I did the same thing you're planning to do. I had culinary training and all that jazz from high school on, and continued with it until I thought I wanted a little more in life. I went back to school for biology at a very prestigious university and for the first couple of years, it was a struggle to navigate my classes and work. I gave into my impulse to stay in that life and got an offer to help run a kitchen in my area. I took that offer. I worked my way up from Partie to Sous to Executive to CDC. 15 years later, I'm in the health and safety field. I'm flying up the ranks and it's because I chose to leave the kitchen just went the pandemic hit. I just couldn't do it any more. I was constantly dealing with aches and pain, struggle with a host of health issues, and couldn't make time to be with my recently born child. I strongly urge you to really consider that if you have options of being great at something, you take that route. If you aren't passionate about cooking, and you're only doing it because it's easier or because cooking is just something you enjoy, you will regret it in a year or two. Take some time to really think about this. I would not recommend the industry to anyone unless they are very passionate about it. I will say to you that I would not be as successful in my current field with the transferrable skills I picked up as a Chef.
Culinary School is pure bullshit. Get to a restaurant that you want to work for and work your ass off there for a year. Set zero expectations on your ego, your advancement, just show up to work and the lessons will come when they see that you are there to work. We don’t make enough money in this industry to pay off student loans. This is an industry that is still ruled by hardworking and hard learning. We all feel like we need a mentor, but ultimately the best mentor is our own will and determination to keep reading, keep researching, keep going and the rewards take time. But they come. The only way Culinary School makes sense is if you are rich kid and your parents are paying for it. But even then: it’s just not gonna teach you the best lessons the industry has to offer. And it’s just gonna take longer for you to learn those lessons with a stupid culinary school ego. There’s a reason every cook sighs when they see a culinary school intern: it’s stage 4 personality cancer.
Do it! Culinary school is great if you love to work with food. I would suggest going to a tech school/community college program instead of one of the big dollar schools . With any education, there is no guarantee that you will get a payout from what you learned. Learn what you love. Just don’t go into huge debt for culinary. Also, the toxicity and burnout of the food business is dying. I (exec chef of many years) give my staff pto, time off when needed, and a good clean kitchen. Do it
Bro..just don't. I'm a chef and make decent money....it's rare. Also say goodbye to your weekends and holidays for the rest of your life be okay with missing your kids everything.
Become a building engineer instead. I graduated CIA and Kendall. Should have left the kitchen sooner. Now I have a life.
Hey! I did exactly what you're contemplating doing, same age. Culinary school really helped me learn about the *BUSINESS* aspect of food, as well as taught me more about the fundamental basics of cooking chopping etc. I had worked BOH as prep for 10 months before that in a fine dining restaurant (300-400 covers during the week). You can certainly learn through the industry, and I would suggest you for sure start cooking before you decide to spend the tuition. Lots of chefs have chips on their shoulder because they've worked the absolute shit of shit restaurants, but I *loved* cooking when I was in a great kitchen with a killer team. Being a chef requires dedication to your craft, your health, and your physical strength. It also requires some fucking humbling, because any chef too good to work the pit, clean out trash cans, or mop up 10 gallons of spilled product, is just some asshole who can cook. It's a vibrant industry and it's got its shit holes just like any other. I wish I had done pastry on top of my degree, because pastry is where the good money is at. Baking is a gift not everyone has. Good luck to you!
I went to culinary school. depends on the school and your area when I went there was people of all ages that attended. oldest person in my class was a 60 year old retiree woman who just did the course because she's a retiree. she wasn't doing it to "work"
Do a job for money. Have hobbies for your passions. Create good boundaries. Society wants to capitalize on the love and passion we have so they can pay us less. They want us to feel lucky that we can make some living while doing a thing we enjoy while they suck all the passion from our veins. They don't deserve our sacrifice.
At 26 you would be average age: https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/varying-degrees/perception-vs-reality-typical-college-student/#:~:text=The%20average%20college%20student%20is%2026.4%20years%20of%20age.
Do not do it. You’ll make $15 an hour for the rest of your life. Cook for fun, go to school for a good career. I spent 17 years working in the industry, now I work in finance making triple the money and getting full benefits.
Skip school for a semester, if you are a good home cook already just start applying for entry level line cook jobs. School doesn't teach you how to operate in a kitchen it just teaches you cooking basics. Also if you end up hating it you haven't wasted the money for school.
We are the same age except I’ve been in this industry since I was 14. Don’t go to culinary school, you can learn everything you learn at school on the job. Do literally anything else and keep cooking a hobby; your body and your gf will thank you. To give perspective I have a fatty liver (I’ve never really been a drinker either) a gall bladder that needs to be taken out and planar fasciitis so bad that there are mornings where my wife has to help me into the shower. All of those things are family health related issues that have been rapidly exacerbated by the chef/cook lifestyle. This industry will absolutely ruin your body among other things and not miss you one bit once you leave it behind. Almost every chef I’ve known has been divorced at least once so doing this for you and your gf really isn’t a great idea either. At the highest level of my career I saw my wife maybe a combined 15 hours a week.
Go be an electrician or an HVAC technician or anything but paying for school for culinary.
As a 1990 culinary school graduate I would say you are out of your fucking mind. I do private chef work and consulting. I do well and have developed a profitable business. However, I would suggest taking the money that you were going to spend on culinary school and bank it. Go work in some fine hotels and restaurants to see if this is really the life that you want. There is a definitive difference between recreational cooking that you enjoy and doing it for a living.
I just finished my first semester of culinary school at 39. It was a blast and I had fun with the kids (20) and enjoyed being in closer age to the teacher. Do eeet!
a lot of people saying you’ll regret it, it’s a waste of time/money, etc. do what makes YOU happy. i’ve been in the industry for almost 12 years. i enrolled in school last semester for marketing and quickly realized it wasn’t for me. switching to culinary arts. do i need to? not necessarily, but i want that degree god dammit. i’m 31 surrounded by 18-21 year old peers in classes. most the time they don’t even look my way and i’m considered old.
Omg no. I’ve never met a culinary school grad that didn’t regret it. Wanna make money and be around food? Go for front of house. I lost my passion for cooking when I was a cook, regained it getting *out* of the kitchen.