So you think you wanna go pro? 

You watch The Food Network, or the cooking competition shows on Bravo or Fox , and it all looks so glamorous, so.....cool.  Knives and white jackets and lots of cursing?  Excellent!  It seems kind of magical, being able to create an amazing dish out of a few simple, or exotic, ingredients in very little time with excellent results.  Well, it ain't that easy.  It takes practice.  Lots of it. You have to be dead on with your basics, with the theory of cooking.  And remember, "chef" and "cook" are historically blue collar jobs.  Lots of sweat and hard work and paying your dues.  I don't want it to sound worse than it is.  Not every chef makes you feel like you're in hell, but many do, so just be ready.

Still interested?  Here are some other facts about the job that you might not have thought of while daydreaming about being Top Chef.  You're on your feet for hours at a time with very little, if any, down time.  At home, you might make one or two dishes, but at a restaurant, every day is like Thanksgiving: cranking out one product after another, only to have customers eat it (which, granted, is the point), turning around and doing it all again.  Over and over, day after day.  I'm not trying to talk you out of it; I'm only trying to show you the reality.  If you are lucky enough to work in a restaurant whose menu changes frequently, then you get to make new things.  If you're working the line at most big-name restaurants, be prepared to make the same thing over and over and OVER again.  TGIFriday's will have potato skins on their menu until the end of time.  And someone has to make them.  Often.

Still interested?  There is a lot of heavy lifting.  Fifty pounds of flour?  Up 20 steps?  Sure!  You will hurt yourself.  Frequently.  Cuts, burns, bruises.  You name it.  You will sweat a lot.  You will be yelled at.  You might be told when you're doing a great job; you'll definitely hear about it if you're screwing up. 

I could go on, but if you're still reading, you probably won't be deterred.  And, honestly, that is not my intention.  I just want to you really think about what cooking for a living really means.  I also don't want you to get the impression that I hate my job.  On the contrary, I find it very fulfilling and enjoyable.  I love being able, not only to create dishes, but make them day in and day out to a very high standard.  I love getting feedback from guests who are amazed or delighted by what the pastry team produces.  I love playing with chocolate and eggs and sugar for a living and turning them into, well, art.  

Now that you've read about the positives and negatives, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.  Culinary school.  Do you need to go?  The short answer is, it depends.  It depends on your skill level, your commitment to cooking, your passion for food, and your money situation.  Culinary school is not cheap.  The most cost-effective way to do it is to enroll in the culinary program at your local community college.  Le Cordon Bleu programs are available around the country.  Johnson and Wales has several campuses as well, and the Culinary Institute of America is the granddaddy of culinary schools in America, albeit at the upper end of the monetary scale. 

My advice to you is to try the profession on for size before you commit  big money to tuition.  Go to a restaurant that serves the style of food you're interested in cooking, and ask to do a "stage."  (Rhymes more or less with "lodge").  This is an unpaid trial, if you will.  It gives you a chance to check out the lay of the land while committing no more than some time.  Chefs will often jump at the chance to let someone stage--it's free labor.  Staging is also a great way to learn new techniques once you're in the profession. 

Once you've survived a day or a week of staging, then you'll be in a better position to assess whether you want to commit to school.  And here's a special note based on my personal experience.  This is not meant to be a generalization.  At the end of the day, culinary school was trade school.  Do not expect to be surrounded by the best and the brightest, necessarily, once you make it to school.  A 15 month degree or a 2 year degree takes a lot less time than a 4 year degree, so many people are just in it for the piece of paper.  Don't let this deter you.  Culinary school is, by and large, what you make of it.  You will definitely get out of it what you put in, so ask as many questions as possible, take advantage of your access to commercial kitchen equipment, volunteer for as many special projects as possible and learn as much as you can while you are there.  Your chef instructors will recognize your passion and go the extra mile to help you.

Here are some helpful links for you as you investigate the strange and exciting world of the professional chef:

The Culinary Institute of America
Le Cordon Bleu Programs 
Johnson and Wales 
The Art Institute 
The French Culinary Institute 
The Notter School of Pastry Arts

And, for a directory of all culinary schools in the US, click here.

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