Culinary artists and experts bring the spice to life! When you watch cooking shows on TV, you can get a sense of the food prep process and the creativity that is needed to create culinary dishes. However, there are many details, rules, and roles to a culinary arts profession that you may be surprised to learn. If you’ve ever been curious about going to culinary arts school, now may be the opportunity to learn more about this exciting and creative profession.
What Culinary Arts Professionals do?
Before you decide to join a culinary arts profession you need to have thorough understanding of the field and what it offers as a profession for you. Culinary arts term encompasses many professional titles. With a formal culinary arts education background, you can work as a sous chef, prep cook, pastry chef, or head chef. As a cook, you’ll be handling and preparing food during each work shift. These professionals also season, cook, and bake a wide variety of food including appetizers, entrees, and desserts. They work under the direction of chefs, head cooks, and food service managers. Chefs and head cooks, specifically, oversee the. food preparation in kitchens. They handle food management and direct staff. Exclusive and dedicated programs in Culinary Arts and Science are designed to offer you a wide range of culinary arts career as:
- Specialty Chefs
- Specialty Bakers
- Pastry Professionals
- Food Photographer
- Concept Developer
- Food Blogger
- Chef Manager
- Food Entrepreneur
- Kitchen Designer
Business And Entrepreneureship: The Other "ARTS" Of Culinary School
The culinary arts are just as creative as any other art form. But many people don’t realize how creative and fascinating starting and running a business can be…which is why we calt it “the other arts” of culinary school. From menu design to interior design, restaurant entrepreneurs blend creative artistry from kitchen to table for a complete experience.
Nevertheless, the competition is stiff. Most restaurants shut down within the first year of opening, and nearly 80% close shop before they hit the five-year mark, according to CNBC. Often, this is the result of picking the wrong location to start the business. Other sources of insolvency might include failing to adequately project operating expenses such as the cost of ingredients, employee wages and equipment upgrades.
This isn’t to discourage students from diving into culinary entrepreneurship. The restaurant industry is a vibrant and exciting marriage of commerce and creativity, and we can help you build the ideal educational pathway for a restaurant career. Now as is as good a time as any to jump into the fray. Just keep in mind that there is another art to the industry – that of business and entrepreneurship. Culinary entrepreneurs have a lot of ground to cover before opening their doors
Beyond cooking: The business side of culinary arts
Anyone who’s considering opening a restaurant, deli, catering service, bar, cafe or other eating and drinking establishment need to keep a variety of factors and expenses in mind. For starters, that entails a realistic sense of what you’re getting yourself into. Owning a restaurant is a full-time job, and getting it off the ground is even more than that.
Other critical factors to consider include:
• Competition in the area.
• Licensing, health codes and local tax law.
• Restaurant safety.
• Sources of financing to get your business up and running.
• The concept behind your restaurant.
• Interior design, furniture and other elements of your space and how they influence diners.
• Building and testing a menu.
• Sourcing your ingredients and knowing the costs of those ingredients.
• Marketing your restaurant and the associated costs.
• Whether or not you should offer delivery and takeout.
• Much more.
You also need to be aware of the average profit margins depending on your type of restaurant as benchmark for your success. For example, fast food-style eateries have different average profit margins than a full-service restaurant.
All of these considerations, and more, weigh into the success of a career in culinary entrepreneurship.
Specialty Chef and Cooks use a large supply of kitchen equipment like grills, slicers, and blenders. Oftentimes, a cook’s role is identified by the ingredient they prepare or the type of cooking they do like vegetable cook, fry cook, or grill cook.
You need to know that the responsibilities for different work environments varies. For example, restaurant cooks may order supplies, adjust menu prices, and help plan the daily menu with the head chef. Fast-food chefs may prepare a limited selection of food items, such as burgers and fried chicken or if you are a pastry professional you will work in pastry organizations or outlets with a skill set developed towards artisan cakes and pastries. If you work as a personal chef, you will be in-charge of preparing and overseeing menus, a client’s dietary needs and personal tastes. They are typically self-employed or through an agency and work for one full-time client.
Work Environment
Most culinary arts professionals work in kitchen environments of various settings. They may work in the kitchens of hotels, speciality standalone restaurants, cafeterias, fast-food chains, or private households. However, it is estimated that 69% of chefs and cooks work in restaurants.
Duties for chefs varies depending on their work environment, the facilities’ size, and the service needed. However, all work settings require culinary professionals to use sanitization and handling procedures. They will also need to store foods in the correct designated areas and at the correct temperatures. Most culinary arts professionals work full-time. Many cooks and chefs may have to work early mornings, weekends, evenings, and holidays. If you work in an institutional cafeteria, schedules are usually more traditional. School cooks typically have off during the summer months. Resorts restaurants may also only offer seasonal employment.
