Find Schools offering Culinary Arts Degree Programs

• Executive Chef, restaurant manager, and food prep are just a few of the career paths that can be taken in this field.
• Professionals in the field of culinary arts dedicate their careers to perfecting the preparation and presentation of food.
• Several trade schools, universities, and professional organizations offer specialized training for beginning, to very advanced technique in culinary arts.

What are the culinary arts?

The culinary arts is a professional field dedicated exclusively to cooking and preparing food for guests. From the mom and pop cafe down the street, to the five star hotel restaurant downtown, the culinary arts hosts a wide array of tastes and culture. Many professionals grow to love a particular piece of the culinary arts and end up becoming specialists, for example, in pastry, or cultural cuisine. A career in culinary arts is a people-oriented profession, usually requiring daily interaction with customers. Having an interest in people and interactions with people is extremely important for this profession.

What are the career options in the field of culinary arts?

Executive Chef, restaurant management, and food preparation are a few of the career paths that can be taken in this field. The culinary arts is a industry of growth. Hotels and restaurants are leaders in creating new jobs for qualified culinary professionals. A hierarchy of culinary professionals exist within the kitchen, headed by the executive chef and followed by the chefs, sub chefs (or sous chef), cooks and food preparation workers. Beyond employment in established restaurants culinary professionals can also choose to open up their own restaurant, or work for other food servicing agencies in schools and tourism companies. With the service industry in a growth period, food service managers are especially in demand.

What kind of education is needed to work in the field of culinary arts?

Some college is often required for highly esteemed and highly paid positions in this field, but there are many jobs in the field of culinary arts that do not even require a high school diploma. Most fast food or food preparation jobs require very little education and most skills needed are learned on the job. For those planning on a career as a chef or head cook, plan on getting, at least, some vocational training. Several trade schools, universities, and professional organizations offer specialized training for beginning to very advanced technique in culinary arts. Executive chefs, who work in restaurants of fine-dining, often go through many years of school and internships before they can land a good job.

How much money does someone working in the culinary arts make?

Salaries earned by chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers vary greatly according to experience and location. Wages are the highest in four and five start restaurants and hotels in larger cities. The average wages for chefs and head cooks ranges from $18,000 to $60,000 a year. In very elite restaurants chefs can make much more than that. Private household cooks, cafeteria cooks, and food preparation workers make anywhere from $14,000 to $32,000 a year. Fast food cooks have slightly less earning opportunity; they make between $14,000 and $19,000 a year. It's sometimes best to look for a job that qualifies for one of the many unions in the culinary arts field.

What are the leading schools offering programs in Culinary Arts?