But, How's the Food?

[Moxiefan]

Here's a question I'm hoping some of you culinary students/grads have some opinions on. See, I've got barrells of literature and videos and all sorts of things from all of these culinary schools, but none of them mention how well they do (or do not) feed you while you're there. A guy on my tour at NECI did say that the food was "pretty good," but this is less than convinicng. So, how's the food?

This is not such a frivolous question. So far as I'm concerned, if I'm going to pay 50-something THOUSAND dollars for a degree, that degree better include some pretty high-order palate training.

Regards,
P

P.S., sorry if this has been asked before... I couldn't even imagine what to search for.

[Suzanne]

Actually, that's a good question! One issue is that it's really expensive to provide high-end stuff for general eating. Also, in spite of what people are learning to cook, they still bring their own (possibly untrained) palates with them. So I would not expect great stuff in a dorm setting.

I can tell you about New York Restaurant School, where I went. Since it's entirely a commuter school, there were no dorm meals. You ate what you made in class, or what other classes made. All in all, it was pretty good, considering that everyone was learning and often had never encountered some of these foods/ingredients before. The best was when classes made croissants. The only time I remember a total disaster was at our Baking and Pastry Final Practical. One guy (who was actually legally blind, but that's another story...) misread Tablespoon for teaspoon, and we almost choked to death on his focaccia.

French Culinary Institute runs a public restaurant, L'Ecole. But I've never eaten there. However, I've been less than impressed with the food they've catered for meetings I've been to there. The same with Kump's, I mean I.C.E. (sorry, KyleW). And last week I was at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia, which was pretty good but meager (and the skin on the duck legs didn't look all that appetizing, although it tasted fine). Although the group I was with, including some top cookbook writers, agreed that the cake was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fussy and sweet. But again, they were probably just following the recipes.

[KyleW]

Originally posted by Suzanne
However, I've been less than impressed with the food they've catered for meetings I've been to there. The same with Kump's, I mean I.C.E. (sorry, KyleW

Marie must not have been in the kitchen that night