Posted by Gerard on May 27, 1997 at 18:31:35:
In Reply to: Re: Really Confused...Like Others posted by Ciotti, J on May 27, 1997 at 16:59:06:
: Ok. Thank you to Gretchen and Gerard for their input. I still await more input. Gretchen, I will e-mail you with questions. Thanx. As far as being a grunt, and this is ONLY MY OPINION:-->> that sort of terminology breeds nothing but disrespect for an employer thus leading the employee to not want to proceed in the aforesaid profession. I understand that one must be realistic. No one starts out at the top and only goes up from there. I understand this. I also understand that people never reach greatness without having struggled all the way there. However, I am now more than before, persuaded that culinary school would be appear to be a better option in that one gets his feet wet and does an apprenticeship or 3 to get the basics down rather than starting out scrubbing floors for someone and learning some 'cooking tips' only every so often whilst he's not scrubbing the floor. I would rather have that experience from school, and internships (apprenticeships) so that I don't end up doing nothing but scrubbing someone's floor and resenting what I got myself into. I also find at the end of this reply that although it's a relistic response and good advice, it also really tells me that no one who is great loves his/her job. That I disagree with and believe that there have to be people that could tell me otherwise...at least, I hope. Please keep sending the input. I'm soaking it all in. Thanx
: J
" culinary school is the better option"
Hmmm, the better option or the easier option.? Not that I wouldn't done the same if the choice was presented.!
I'm not sure I follow your grunt analysis, I AM the employer and still consider myself doing the grunts work, thats the business we are in, its blue collar and we are tradesmen practicing a trade that takes years to master.
I recently interviewed a woman who had taken Kumps pastry course in NYC, worked a bit at a restaurant and wanted to learn how to bake, I told her she'd have to serve customers when we were busy, she said that wasn't the direction she wanted to go in, I told her I've been baking over 25 years, been pastry chef at the top hotels, done pastry for 3 presidents, made the King of Spain's wedding cake blah blah blah but didn't consider serving customers beneath me, good job I didn't tell her we all have to mop our own floors too.
I wonder what kind of business she thought she was getting into.
I see a lot of this attitude, its worthless. BTW, this is NOT typical of culinary grads, I put it more to the dilitante types.
I love my children, not my job, its just a case of perspective.
It kinda sounds mutually exclusive to go the culinary school direction AND do an apprenticeship, there isn't enough hours in a day for both and one excludes the other.
If the cooks in the kitchen where you work aren't very talented then its a lost cause anyway, you need to get with the skilled pro's . I was just plain lucky .
Good luck.