Anyone here a Chef/Cook? Or a Culinary student, need advice...

daxtreme1

daxtreme1

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Nov 4, 2002
So I'm thinking about getting into the culinary field, and attending culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, CA, I'veheard they were one of the better programs in Southern California. Has anyone gone there, know someone who has?

Also if anyone here is a cook/chef, is it a good profession to get into? I do have a passion for cooking, but I'm concerned with pay as a chef... but ifanyone has some advice or experience please let me know...

Thanks
 
I know someone who went to culinary school.
1. You gonna work your *** off like any cooks.
2. Tuition will cost a lot of $$ unless u have financial aid then your good.
3. Starting salary is around $20K a year. Sucks.

You should follow your dreams no matter how hard it is, as long you love something you wanna become.
 
I m in the kitchen at my friends new place. I work with people that are lead cooks elsewhere and have had experience for alot longer then me. Overall Ithink going to school is worthless because you will know how to make sauces and dressing and all that but some people cant handle a dinner rush. Sometimes weget like 20 -30 tickets within 4 minutes and all the servers expect them to be ready in 10 minutes. Some people really cant handle multitasking and can'tthink under pressure. Get some experience first then look into school.

Also restaurants go under real quick so unless you're lead or executive chef you'll be looking for jobs constantly, which means your pay will alwayshave to restart and hope for a quick raise. Right now in So cal a cook in a decent restaurant will pay about 15 per hour. most will start off in the 10-13range. An executive chef starts about 50 K but the hours are ridiculous ! Plus you know the bar makes 4-5 times what any kitchen makes.

Hope that help alil some good some bad but if you love what you do then it's all that matters.
 
I start at le cordon bleu in Jan. Im doing it for the love of it. I don't mind the hours since i've worked retail before and I already put in 4 yearsof cooking classes during high school (high school major FTW) If you really wanna make good money be a cook on a cruise.
 
My friend went to that school. He paid an !%%load of $$$$$ to go to school there. He finished and they hooked him up with a job as part of the staff at somerestaurant at Downtown Disney. He liked the school as expensive as it was. Last I talked to him though, he wants to go back to school in the medical fieldbecause apparently he's not making enough $$$$.

My sister went to a culinary school in Vegas and liked it. Unfortunately, she left the school and is now enrolled in an LVN program.
 
It sucks.
I was a cook for a little over a year.
Hours suck, pay sucks, and in my experience exec chefs are always d-bags.
My pay was only 24K a year.

Since your main concern is pay, i wouldnt suggest it.
 
the passion is key, if you want to work long hours and you're open to learning you can actually make decent money after you have got some experience.
Hotels are a good place to start because you can learn everything as long as the chefs are willing to teach you and you are willing to learn. But like i saidnot only do you have to have passion for it now, but all the time. No passion leads to cutting corners which leads to bad food, which leads to you not goinganywhere in the culinary business. If i had one suggestion for you about getting your first culinary job if you decide to go to school: do not accept a salaryposition, you will get slammed with hours.
 
Look the best way to become a real chef is not by going to school. Find the best non-corporate restaurant where the most influential people go and get a jobthere.

It doesnt matter how you get your foot in the door, but once you do kiss the chefs %%* until he decides to teach you...easier said than done, but this the thebest advice...

If you want to reach anywhere dont even look at a corporate restaurant.

PM me if you serious.
 
^^^ I agree. As a chef, I would not suggest going to culinary school. sure, it will teach you a lot ab sauces, wine pairings, diff cuisines, but you couldeasily learn the same by working for a good chef whos went to school-- w/o the 40K loan.
Ive cooked w/ graduates who couldnt make a decent ceasar dressing & on the flip side I worked w/ chefs who never been to school and were the most talentedcooks Ive ever met. It basically comes down to passion and dedication....get a few good books and practice. I suggest stag'ing in a restaruant and see ifit is something you really want to do. It is no the same saying, I like to cook and wanting to be a chef. Be prepared to work ridiculus hours: 2--12:00 and notseeing your friends/GForBF on a regualr basis. working really hard ( hey, newb dice those carrots, onions, chop all the herbs, etc) There are some benifits,tho. Working in the "industry" you'll meet a lot of really cool people( bartenders, waitresses
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, hostesses
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, pastry chefs
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) and there is usually a high turnover in restaurants so youll be smashing newchicks on the regualr. You will most likely turninto an alcoholic and chain smoker; I mean when your off at midnight where else is there to go? a bar. a club.a coworkers house to drink/smoke/fornicate. this is what it is, and it will happen. trust. the pay is horrible; I started my own catering co. this year b/c ofit. But like I said see the benefits. Also, being a chef is the best pick up line next to being independently wealthy. know this.
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I'm applying for culinary school right now, its going to be a 7 month accelerated program. At first, i didn't want to go that much for the reasonspeople have been saying above, but i figure this is a good time to go with the way the economy is. I'm lucky my parents have the money to pay for it(25k)but i am going to pay them back once i start working.

I've been working in food service for a couple of years (corporate restaurants, catering, etc.) but haven't really been in a noncorporate restaurantsetting yet. I'm trying to get jobs in those restaurants now but its been hard since everyone wants line cooks with experience and what not. Especiallywith this economy, it doesn't seem like a lot of chefs want to take the time to teach someone. I'm def ready for the long hours and what not, we'lljust have to see how it goes. I have a one week internship at a real nice restaurant coming up, so i'm just going to bust my #!$ and hope the chef willoffer me a job if any open up.
 
defyant, how long have you been a chef and did you go to culinary school? If not, how did u get a chef to teach you everything?
 
DDizzle:

I've always cooked throughout my life. waffles houses, burger joints, etc.
Plus, ive always been into fine dining. Most of my boys are cooks/chefs and I wanted in to the higher class , non chain restaurants. so, i sacrificed. I wnetto the executive chef and told him I would work for FREE. (I had a day job at the time, 9-5) I would come in after work (6-11) and just prep ( my dice, smalldice, batonee, chiffinade are insanely on point) the hell out of everything. eventually, they let me start making the stocks, then it was the dressing , nextthe i was on Garde Manger, or pantry chef:responsible for cold entrees, ..salads, etc. From there I just moved up.
One day the owner of the restaurant came to me and said I was on the staff as pantry chef....its been on since then. A def resume builder.
If you are a talented cook it will be recognized. I was literally working from 9-11 everyday...you gotta have dedication
 
Nice man, thanks for the advice. I will be working without pay for the next week and do so for longer if thats whats needed. I just graduated from college andhave been wanting to get into fine dining for a while, it was just hard to do with school and everything. Just looking to put in some work now and learneverything i can
 
I've been a cook in restaurants since I was 14, and I thought about going to culinary school. I never did, but I've worked at a country club/finedining place where basically everyone else has.

Just like any other field, there's easy and hard people to work with. You will most likely have to work weekends, but there's a lot of perks if you getin at a nice country club or resort. You'll basically never have to pay for food, free golf/tennis/etc., great health care and benefits.

You can definitely get some great jobs and there's so many different opportunities. I've known cats who've been private chefs for people on yachtsand they got paid good money to travel the world. There's so many different avenues you can take.

If you're passionate about it, I'd say go for it.
 
good luck to you daxtreme, i graduated from that school this past july. its a good school, i learned a lot. i dont think it was a waste of money since i didlearn a lot. but you do have to realize going into it, your first job out of school expect to make 8-12 an hour in la county. i can tell you, i do it because ilove what i do, i work weekends, i stand on my feet for 9 hours at a time, i work nights, and my weekends are monday/tuesday. If you are going into this forthe money, turn around and find something else. but i do agree with everyone here, you dont need the formal education to show your talent. some of the greatestchefs in the world have zero formal training.

but daxtreme, if you got any questions about the school, hit me up and ill give you any info/insight i can
 
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