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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai  well....whether or not it's worth it...i'm enjoying it. |
But are you focusing on career training or enjoyment? "whether or not it's worth it."
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai I'm at the top of my class right now, and still don't know if I can make it. |
Pay your tuition and you may stay there. If you
don't know if you can make it, what the heck are you doing there.
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai Yes it is hard work, and if I weren't willing, and able, to do it, I wouldn't be there. |
Wait a minute!!! Cooking school is hard work, HUH? kraftymom. it's isn't the work world. The owner isn't going to rush into the kitchen screaming for you to get the he** out his restaurant 'cause you prepared a lousy meal for a good customer.
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai I am learning alot. I have never worked in a commercial kitchen.... |
Before you made your first tuition payment or sat in your first class, you should have spent at least one year in a commercial kitchen...period. What do you do after spending $40K on "chef" school and discover that a commercial kitchen is simply too hot and you can't physically bear the heat rash?
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai but it can't be any harder than dealing with 4 kids and a mentally ill husband full time. If I can do that for 20 years...I can work in a kitchen. |
Apples and oranges. I'm quite certain that your family situation was a challenge, but dealing with it successfully, does in no way prepare you for any specific career. It means you handled a very specific situation; that's it. Both of my parents died before I was out of my teens. Should that have prepared me to be a brain surgeon? Of course not.
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai I'm sorry that you feel that culinary school is a waist. |
Did I write that? I wrote that before you commit to spending a bundle of money; often borrowed money on any culinary training, you spend at least a year in a commercial kitchen to really see what goes on. The food industry has been grossly romanticized by PBS, Food Network, and the Travel Channel. It's hard physical labor and exhausting hours. You need to be an artist, scientist, tactician, psychologist, and perpetual student to ever become a chef with a following. And Kristen...I don't think it's a waste of time or energy or effort for the right person at the right time in their career.
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai It's good for me at the moment. |
As in what? Recreation, therapy, diversion.......?
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai And even if it only gets me in the door in a resturant...that's all I want. I will do the rest. |
Kristen, you can get in the door by walking in, talking to the owner, telling him you'll wash dishes, swamp the floor, do the most mundane prep and work for peanuts, 'cause you view the experience as OJT. You know what....that's what you'll probably be doing after you finish your training.
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Originally Posted by kraftymomkai Have a nice day. Kristen |
Two phrases that I never permitted in any establishment I ran/owned:
"Have a nice day." Is there a more trite, insincere expression in the English language. I asked staff to be sincere and show real appreciation, "I hope you enjoyed your meal. Please come again." or "Thank you."
If any waitstaff brought a meal to a customer, then smiled and said, "Enjoy," they may as well have walked right out the back door. How about, "I hope you enjoy what we've prepared. If there's anything else I can get you, I'm happy to do so.
Kristen, I truly appreciate your taking the time to respond. Thank you.