What is the best Culinary Arts School?

Question

I have heard Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts - Minneapolis/St. Paul is an excellent one,(best of the best) I was wondering if that is true?
What is the start wages for being a chef? I make 17 an hour now where I am doing labor workshould I go into being a chef or stay where I am?

Answer 1

Johnson and Wales is the best school. I am going to be a chef myself and the best school for CA (culinary arts) is J&W.

Answer 2

Le Cordon Bleu North American program is top-notch. There is also the CIA - Culinary Institutes of America, another top-notch school and probably the two most recognized in this country. Try for one of those.

If all you are concerned about is amount of money you will make, stay where you are. If you want to follow a dream and become a chef, definitely take the lower pay a beginning chef with no 'street cred', so to speak, would make and go for it! I tried Veterinary medicine (my first college degree), the computer industry (my second degree), specialty retail management and self-employment before I finally realized there was a reason I kept going back to cooking between jobs. I'm much happier now that I've finally followed my true passion - the culinary arts!

I suggest you follow your passion as well.

~Morg~

Answer 3

Le Cordon Bleu North American program is top-notch. There is also the CIA - Culinary Institutes of America, another top-notch school and probably the two most recognized in this country. Try for one of those.

If all you are concerned about is amount of money you will make, stay where you are. If you want to follow a dream and become a chef, definitely take the lower pay a beginning chef with no 'street cred', so to speak, would make and go for it! I tried Veterinary medicine (my first college degree), the computer industry (my second degree), specialty retail management and self-employment before I finally realized there was a reason I kept going back to cooking between jobs. I'm much happier now that I've finally followed my true passion - the culinary arts!

I suggest you follow your passion as well.

Answer 4

Cordon Bleu is great, but there's also the Culinary Institute of America in either Hyde Park, NY, or St. Helena, CA in Napa Valley. Or Johnson and Wales on the east coast. All premiere cooking schools and highly respected. As a chef, you'll get more than $17 an hour. The chef I worked for was going for his Master Chef designation, was building a new house in a very nice area, and drove a Jag. Go for it!

Answer 5

Everyone is going to tell you to go to the school they went to. I went to the French Culinary Institute in Manhatten. They have a quick program, six months for the day culinary program. They have great chef instructors. Chef Sixto and Chef Henri are both amazing. Pepin, Solter, Torres, these are some of the deans. It is expensive, but worth it for the most part. I have worked with graduates of most major culinary schools over the past few years. I have mixed opinions about most of them. Basically, it comes down to the person. As with any educational experience, you'll get out of it what you put in. If you work hard, you'll learn a lot. If not, you won't learn as much. As for pay, I was making 14 an hour, in Vail, CO as a line cook. Chefs don't cook for the money. The money sucks. You have to really love it, as it is a brutal lifestyle. If you haven't worked in a kitchen, do so before spending the money on school. You may hate it. I can't tell you how many food network fans I've seen run screaming for the hills the first time they have to serve 200+ on a busy night. The work is hard on your mind, your body, and particularly your liver. Read Kitchen Confidential by Tony Bordain, if you haven't already. Some good insight. An entire chapter for prospective culinary students. Good luck.

Culinary schools are just like any other school. If you keep paying your tuition, they'll let you graduate. I know graduates from every major school who can't cook their way out of a paper bag, including some from my own class at FCI. Also, with so many schools popping up, and so many students flooding in, a degree doesn't mean what it used to. My degree got my foot in the door, but that's it. Professional cooking is one business where your experience and abilities are all that matter. If you can keep up, then you'll be fine. If not, you'll be out the door or in tears before you know it.

Answer 6

There are many good schools, but a lot of them just teach without actual doing the work.
I've had students from the American Culinary Institute and was not real happy.
My best success was with Johnson Wales graduates.
Like most jobs, you don't start at the top. You have to intern and go through every phase. you learn prep, broiler, line, gard manger, sous chef and if your really good to executive chef.
If you don't have a real passion for cooking
you are wasting your time and money
It ain't an easy profession! It may look that way on TV with Emeril and Bobby Flay but
it is not.
You don't start out as a chef just because you went to school, and you won't make $17.00 per hour starting out.
I don't know where you live but I'd suggest you go to the nearest 5 star hotel and discuss your plan with the Executive Chef.
You also could check in with your local Restaurant Association or the State Assn.

Answer 7

It's ok, but the best schools are CIA (Culinary Institute of America) I know there is one in downtown San Francisco. I almost enrolled there when I was younger. They have a great reputation. The Art Institute schools also have great culinary programs, and these schools are a lot cheaper than Le Cordon Bleu.

Answer 8

i completely agree with the above poster. I did not work in a real restaurant before school (just KFC for 3 years). Not too many people at school had worked in restaurants either so I didn't feel behind. However the few that had been in private restaurants were better with the knife skills and a lot of the basics which if you work at it you will quickly catch on and be just as good. First day of class my chef instructor told us that after graduation half of you will not be working in restaurants after two years. And that held true. Half of the students I kept in contact with stopped cooking and pursued different careers, from bank tellers to military. Its a lot of hours and poor pay starting out. and when you're friends are out for dinner on the weekend having a good time you are the one cooking for them. O well I love doing it and its worth missing the parties. Many went to culinary school just to go to college, not to become chefs. Best advice I can give is get in a restaurant and work there doing everything. Learn you're mother sauces (and procedure), look up the classic French knife cuts and practice them. It wouldn't hurt to pick up a SerfSafe book and study you're sanitation. Do these and you will be further advanced than a lot of people getting started.

Answer 9

Le Cordon Bleu of Culinary Arts is great. There is one in France I believe. But being chef is a great hassle. One of my relatives dreamed of being a chef but after a one year course he decided that it was too difficult. You have to love and devote to the job.

Answer 10

I agree with the previous answers... The Culinary Institute of America (in either NY or CA) is probably the best bet...

But what you have to realize is how EXPENSIVE it is... You'll be in a LOT of debt if you go there.

If you truly want to invest that kind of money in a culinary education, go for it!! But, if you only casually want to be a chef, you can probably work your way up to an even bigger salary as you learn new things, progress, etc...

Good luck!

Answer 11

There are a number of good schools available. I graduated from Johnson & Wales in RI and loved it. An education will get you in the door but you will start at the bottom. Starting pay is about $13 hr. It is not as glamourous as you see on TV. Top chefs have paid their dues for many years. Everyone starts at the bottom to learn what is not taught in any school. If you have the money, go for it or you might regret later in life that you didn't try.

Good Luck.