During a recent open house at ACI, I described the Meat Fabrication and Saucier class to a group of student candidates. During a question-and-answer period, a cautiously enthusiastic prospect asked an excellent question. She asked if a culinary degree limits one to working in a kitchen for an entire career.
In and of itself, a culinary degree does not dictate which path any given student will take. In my case, for example, I had been in the kitchen side of the hospitality industry for 11 years when the opportunity to attend culinary school finally materialized.
So then, what exactly does a culinary degree do? The best answer I have for this question is that a degree provides a strong and tall foundation upon which we build our paths, bridges, and roads to reach our goals. I had made it as far as a Sous Chef but could not progress from there.
Six months following my graduation, I achieved my first Executive Chef position. I aspired to plan, design, cost, and execute menus. I also derived many rewards from training, cross-training, and promoting cooks.
I also enjoyed the financial, administrative, and operational responsibilities, which were an integral part of being an Executive Chef. Several years hence, I started a small “Private Chef” business. I used the culinary knowledge, operational experience, and financial and managerial skills acquired over the years to offer small, intimate dining events to many clients.
The point is this: having our pie in the sky is okay, but we must build the foundation to get there. It is imperative that we build on the foundational skills and knowledge gained in culinary school. Where we start certainly does not determine where we will end up. Some of the numerous directions a culinarian can follow include line, prep, banquet cook positions in resorts, country clubs, chains, and stand-alone restaurants; Pastry arts; Catering; Nutritionists; Personal/Private Chef; Traveling Chef; Recipe development; Food writer; Food stylist; Consultant and more.
So, my answer to the student’s question is this: obtaining my diploma in the culinary arts erased any limitations on future progress. Instead, it opened a variety of horizons. I didn’t know which one to pick at first, so I followed my quest to become an Executive Chef by choosing resort and country club kitchen line work.
Now, I teach at this wonderful school from which I graduated, and I have a little private chef business. If life is a recipe, culinary school is, to me, a star ingredient, and this dish is delicious!