I’m looking into culinary schools and after narrowing down my options I’m stuck in a predicament. I applied for the Baking and Pastry Arts certificate program at the Culinary Institute of America California Campus but there is a Baking and Pastry Arts program at my local community college which is much cheaper and would give me an associates degree. The problem is which one do I go for? The degree or the name?
I’ve worked on and off for 20 years in the restaurant and hospitality business and I have to say that the overwhelming majority of people who are at the top of their game give little credence to schooling. You can learn about technique and how to run a business in culinary school but a lot of the stuff you learn there doesn’t seem to translate very well to real life work.
I would recommend looking for a job in a good, reputable bakery to start. you’ll start out at the bottom of the ladder but in a relatively short period of time, if you stick to it, you will learn a lot about the business and whether you really want to per sue it as a career. In the interim you can go to business school and learn how to balance books etc. After a year or two if you feel like school is going to benefit you then go for it or you can seek out a better bakery (maybe in a different market) and work as an apprentice or, because you have been to business school, you can help run a bakery with a really talented baker/ pastry chef.
The best part of this approach is you get paid, although small wages, to learn a skill and to learn about a business.
Look at the curriculum and instructors both offer. The French Pastry School of Chicago is perhaps one of the best in the world because of their instructors. Chef Jaquay Pfiffer, one of the founders, was Exective Pastry Chef to the Sultan of Brunei and is joined by several high profile instructors, including Chef John Kraus who won the first Food Network Chocolate Challenge. They teach pastry as a pure, true artform and not as an academic subject. Also find out which school fits you best. Do you want to be an artist or more of a manager? Pastry is a very different field than any other culinary area and for the gifted really is meaningful and enjoyable. The very best to you!
References :
http://www.frenchpastryschool.com
check out their job placement options…where have former students been able to get jobs? I was in the same predicament, I was looking into the pastry arts program at the Art Institute where I would receive an AA, and I found a Culinary and Baking school which would give me just a certificate for like $60,000 cheaper…I did some research and found out that students were getting hired by the same hotels and restaurants, so I ended up going to the cheaper school
References :
I’ve worked on and off for 20 years in the restaurant and hospitality business and I have to say that the overwhelming majority of people who are at the top of their game give little credence to schooling. You can learn about technique and how to run a business in culinary school but a lot of the stuff you learn there doesn’t seem to translate very well to real life work.
I would recommend looking for a job in a good, reputable bakery to start. you’ll start out at the bottom of the ladder but in a relatively short period of time, if you stick to it, you will learn a lot about the business and whether you really want to per sue it as a career. In the interim you can go to business school and learn how to balance books etc. After a year or two if you feel like school is going to benefit you then go for it or you can seek out a better bakery (maybe in a different market) and work as an apprentice or, because you have been to business school, you can help run a bakery with a really talented baker/ pastry chef.
The best part of this approach is you get paid, although small wages, to learn a skill and to learn about a business.
References :