The surge in interest in all things culinary has opened up a wide (and freaky!) range of new jobs, says the Los Angeles Times in its article “Wanted: Cave Manager.” What kind of new jobs, you ask? Oh, you know, beer sommeliers. Water sommeliers. Salt sommeliers. Um, food bloggers. Culinary historians, who consult on movie projects. And more.
Some of the jobs the Times mentions sound downright fancy: How’s about a career in culinary tourism, or culinary philanthropy? The article mentions one young chef who brings teams of cooks to New Orleans to buck up the locals.
But the nut of the story, the really killer insight, arrives more than halfway through. These new positions aren’t being born just because more people are paying attention to what they eat. According to one professor at New York’s Culinary Institute of America:
[M]ost of her students at the nation’s premier cooking school ‘don’t want to go into restaurants after spending all that money’ and are increasingly open to jobs ‘with a better quality of life’ — meaning anything that does not involve ‘days being shouted at by mean chefs.’
Yeah, it does seem kind of weird to pay $30,000 (or more!) for culinary school, only to land a $7-an-hour job with no benefits. Who knew the damages wrought by Hell’s Kitchen would be so extensive?
I think the first and most important reason to be a chef, or in the culinary department should be, “because I love it”, and second for the money, if you are a chef/owner. Not because all of your inspiration comes from the food network. I am not saying the food network is bad influence, but a lot of young culinary students think is easy to be that great, but in fact it takes time, energy and a good mentor, then finding your niche and going forward. I have work in the industry for 11 years, started bussing tables at the age of 16 and now I have the title of Chef d’ Cusine,
I agree that nobody should expect “greatness” right out of the barn. But imo it is perfectly absurd to spend a minimum of $30K on a culinary education, and then not be able to go out and find a job that pays at least a living wage. If that (less than min. wage pay, no benefits and verbal abuse by kitchen workers) is really how bad it is out there, it’s little wonder why so many culinary professionals are looking for other, less traditional ways to earn a living within their industry
It mystifies me to hear about all the disillusionment with low wages. How much research do people do before they jump on this path? Low wages, long hours, no holidays, and back breaking work are all exchanged for the priviledge of working with your senses, with cool equipment, with a tight knit team, and all the performance stress an adrenaline jockey can take. Kitchen work is for people who can’t handle reality. It’s like a drug.