Posted by Beth Kujawski on February 03, 1999 at 13:09:00:
What a relief to log onto this site and see a posting entitled MAJOR CAREER CHANGE! I'm at just about the same place. I've been a journalist for most of the '90s and have finally mustered up the courage to leave the "safety" of this profession and embark on a career in food.
A friend of mine, a restaurant consultant in New York, once advised that before I take the CIA plunge, I should get a job in a restaurant and see if I even liked being on my feet for 10 hours in a bustling, hot kitchen. Good advice, I thought.
I live in Chicago. I know every food critic/writer, past and present, in this town. I have tons of connections to the food world. But the "chicken and egg" question remains: I want to get restaurant experience before I make the commitment to a school, but will a worthwhile kitchen let me in without having followed the traditional path? And do I NEED to go to school to ever make it in this field?
I've been cooking since I was a kid. I made my first loaf of bread when I was 8. I certainly have a lot to learn, but I also think that I'm ahead of the curve already. My friends refer to me as a gourmet chef. Hardly. I'm simply someone who can cook well.
I looked into CIA when I graduated from college in the early '90s. The restaurant consultant friend seemed rather down on the idea of my attending school there, feeling as though CIA turns out an awful lot of "cooks, not chefs" (his words) and that the sheer volume that they turn over every year makes him suspicious of students' individual talent. He's also noticed that CIA grads seem to have awfully huge heads about the training they've just received.
What do YOU feel is the best path? My research into making this shift has only just begun (in earnest); I'm trying to gather as much information as I can.
Thanks,
Beth