I own a restaurant and let me strongly advise you to find another profession. Pay for kitchen work is really really shitty and the hours are really long. Even if you do graduate from culinary school, the competition is extremely fierce and the salaries for all but the head chef is still relatively shitty. It generally takes years of hard work to become even a sous chef at a decent restaurant and even then, you'll make maybe 50K. I recently put out an ad for a chef and I literally got over 100+ resumes in the first day. There are just a tiny select few who become well respected, well paid chefs and for everyone else, they work long hours for little pay. It is far from the glamour that you see on top chef.
I read an article somewhere, I think it was the NYtimes about a year ago about how the return on investment for most culinary schools is very poor. You'll spend a ton of money on tuition, get yourself in deep debt... so that you can enter a crowded competitive field where the hours are long and the pay sucks. If you really love food that much, then I guess you should go for it. But I suggest that you think long and hard about this decision. I mean maybe if your family is wealthy or if you have some prospects for financing, you can enter this field with an eye for opening your own restaurant. But don't get false hopes of saving enough money from your pay as a cook to eventually open up your own place. You are looking at 500K+ to open up a 50-75 seat restaurant and you'll never get there on a kitchen salary. And if you don't own your own place, then your chances of making a decent salary and working reasonable hours are pretty slim. |
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