Advice on culinary schools

keith allen

---

My son will graduate this spring and believes he wants to be a chef,well I dig that I love to cook myself,my son has enjoyed cooking since his first home eck class in the 7th grade,I think its a great fit for him.Now we heard le cordon bleu is the finest culinary school in the world,and we took a visit on saturday at the campus here in tucker,ga and was impressed to say the least.
He can get his DEGREE in 15 months,and looks like they have a lot of job placement as well,many pros,but one con...$40,000 for tuition!

I never thought culinary school would cost so dayum much,I mean for fifteen months of school,ya use to could attend UGA for four years for 40k.I'm just trying to get input on this and thought there maybe some chef's around here who would give me their thoughts.There are other schools around,even gwinnette tech has a culinary department.I want to put my son in the best position to succeed,but I wouldnt mind as we all say in the stereo world...get the best bang for our buck.If anybody has experience in this field,I would love your thoughts.
__________________

Rivrrat

My daughter wanted to go to the Scottsdale Culinary Arts School, and the tuition there is pretty much the same, I told her I wouldn't even consider helping with tuition until she worked in a resturaunt and learned what the real job was all about.

She didn't like that idea at all, and now she doesn't want to be a chef anymore. She's still a freshman in HS, she has time to decide what she wants to do.

shack

My daughter has worked in restaurants for over 4 years during college. These are not greasy spoons or chains but upscale, expensive restaurants. Her stories from the kitchens are not anything like what you see on "Top Chef" or food network. It is typically very hard work, long hours, fairly low pay, repetetive, no room for advancement and a workforce that is unreliable at best (even when they are not stoned). Like Rivrrat, I suggest he actually work in the kitchen of a nice restaurant for a few months and then see if it is worth $40K to train to work in that environment.

Willow

I know it's far but we have the Cordon Bleu in our city.

keith allen

Oh,my son has worked in a nice local restaurant for the past year,he started out as a dishwasher,now he does food prep,and fry cook.He really likes it,but 40 grand!

obieone

A friend of mine is/ was a chef for Marriott food services. Went to Johnson & Wales in RI, and was in the trade for 10 years before I lost touch with him.
Well, the Chef trade is a VERY demanding line of work. I'm talking about 80-100 hours per week for 5+ years if he wants to move up. It's good $$$, but it's a LOT of work to get there.
Just putting it out there so he knows what ahead of him.

Ricardo

Doesn't 15 months seem too short to get a degree?? I have a nephew that is studying for chef in Spain, and I know he's been at it for three years already. Just a thought.

Demiurge

CHIC by a long shot for the money, IMO. Also puts him in a great environment to be a top chef because of the city alone.

SKsolutions

The experience of working in the back of the house of a restaurant should be enough to dissuade those eager to 'be a chef'. It's something I've done, and it's something I hope I never have to fall back on. Rivrrat has good advice. Restaurants become a lifestyle, and it's often an unhealthy one.

obieone

Here's a link:

http://chef2chef.net/culinary-institute/

MY previous posts aren't trying to sway y'all from pursuing this career- Just want to make sure you go into it eyes wide open. IF he has PASSION for cooking, then go for it.