Lately Ive been in a funk and not really excited about my current career. I love to cook but I want to learn more so I have been putting serious thought into going to culinary school to learn everything about the art. I would love to become a chef in a nice restaurant or even maybe one day open up my own place. Anybody here dropped what they were doing for a living and started culinary school? How long did it take you to graduate, and were you able to find a job right away? Any other tips or advice you want to give?

 

If you do what you love, you will love what you do, n'est-ce pas? If you can take night courses or something, do that while you have your day job, then see if you can jump to a cooking job.

 

My brother has a degree in Pastry Arts from Johnson & Wales. He does top secret type stuff with Predator drones. He makes really good brownies though.

 

To much money for what you'll get out of the gate. If you are that interested, find a CC with a good certificate or 2 year degree program. The whole 2 years will cost less than a semester at one of the big boy schools. This profession is all about learning and adapting on the job. School will only give you the essential skills and terminology, but these days you can learn a lot of that on TV. If you're not completely clueless about cooking (and it seems you're not), $40k a yr is way to much for a job that may not even pay the same when you start.