Associates degree or Bachelors degree? Culinary Managment or Culinary arts?

I am not a "chef," for the word "chef" in the french language simply means "boss." Nothing more nor less. It has nothing to do with one's cooking ability or lack thereof. I have an A.S. degree in Hotel Management, and Certificates in: Restaurant Management, Culinary Arts, and Baking and Pastry Arts. I am weary of repeatedly reiterating my point that neophytes or dilettantes should recognize the difference between cooking as an avocation and cooking as a vocation. Employers do not care about which school you attended. They only care about your: work experience, job-skills, work-ethic, punctuality, dependability, sobriety, civility, and the lowest wage that you are willing to work for. What is more important than any school degree these days, is ACF Certification. European cookery students do not attend any prestigious, private cookery schools, but they typically do apprenticeships, while attending a vocational school concurrently.

I advise you to consider the following options:

ACF Apprenticeship, you will get 3 years' work experience, wages, and a 2-year degree in Culinary Arts, Culinary Management, Food Service Management, depending on the school.

If you forgo the apprenticeship option, then consider:

Schoolcraft College:

Culinary Arts, Course Descriptions

Culinary Management, Course Descriptions

Grand Rapids Community College

Cal Poly Pomona

UNLV

Good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocktrns 

...I want to be an executive chef,...

That is very similar to saying:

• I want to be a CEO, or
• I want to be a General or Admiral, or
• Senator/Congress person/President

Becoming an Executive Chef has very little to do with one's culinary skills and very much to do with:

• Personnel management (human relations, labor management & relations, labor law)
• Inventory and cost control (accounting)
• Profit & Loss (Financial management)
• Business liability (law and insurance)
• Marketing (business management)
• Investor relations (for those with partners or investors) (Sales management)
• and a host of other, non-culinary skills.

An advanced culinary degree/certificate/diploma, in some cases, may even be a roadblock to your goal of becoming an Executive Chef as some may consider you to be too narrowly focused.

IMHO, you will NEVER become n Executive Chef by cooking well, you will become one because you have the ability to MANAGE two or more culinary production units simultaneously.

BTA, WTHDIK!