Any Help?

I am a high school student who very much would love to go into the field of culinary arts after high school. Obviously i would love to go to culinary school and work my way up as a chef and then eventually i would like to own my own restaurant. My parents both really want me to get a degree at a school like Johnson and Wales, which would give me both culinary experience and business. My problem with this is that i feel as restaurants will take the culinary part less seriously if i apply as a chef because it is not a full culinary certificate from a school like CIA. So is it true that my culinary certificate if doing this program at a school like Johnson and Wales would be taken less seriously as compared to a culinary certificate from a culinary school? Thanks! Also, any school suggestions would be great, I live in New Jersey and i would prefer to go away.

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Cheryl_71360

In order to get in to a school like CIA there are requirements. You don't just get in right after high school. You might want to research that first. I think there's a minimum 6 months working at a restaurant that is not fast food. Also, there have been many amazing chefs that didn't go to culinary school (Heston Blumenthal is self taught). Johnson and Wales is a fine school, don't knock it. If it were me, I'd find a really nice restaurant that would hire you and learn that way for 6 months to a year and then if you still want to go to CIA knock yourself out. Seriously though, your best experience is going to come through actual working experience. Culinary school is expensive, especially CIA.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

If you plan to run your own restaurant at some stage, get a business degree first. While getting your degree work in a restaurant to see if you enjoy the work. You can eventually become a chef without going to culinary school, it is hard to run a business with out formal training.

Most restaurants care more about attitude than a piece of paper with a qualification on it. Most chef/owners I know will take someone with no experience, but a wiliness to learn over a graduate from a culinary school who think they know what they are doing in the kitchen.

Which ever route you go, take a year off after high school and work in a restaurant in NYC. No restaurant will turn you away if you bang on the door and say you are willing to stage (work for free) in the dishpit for a month, to see what life is like in a professional kitchen. Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut; come in early and leave late; come in on your day off or work in a different restaurant that day. If you can survive a year of that, you are likely to do ok in the industry.