JCC Culinary Arts

I was having a conersation with a friend recently about some of the ambitions/misgivings that some young culinary students have these days.
He made the analogy that Food Network and Sullivan are to aspiring cooks/chefs what ESPN's WSOP coverage and internet gambling are to the occasional poker player. I can see his point.
The lure is there, and the tiny amount of people that really do make it big time, seen on TV, magazines, etc make it seem like anyone can do it at any given time without really showing how grueling and time consuming a career it can be. Not to mention that even the most skilled in each field can sometimes experience setbacks that are completely undeserved and how much integrity it takes to stick to the game plan during such times.
You can't teach the love of the game.
Experience is the best teacher.
The willingness to get one's hands dirty and rise through the ranks on your own merit, IMHO, is where the wheat is seperated from the chaffe.
Everything else is just preparation and rehearsal for the show.

Experience is the best teacher.
The willingness to get one's hands dirty and rise through the ranks on your own merit, IMHO, is where the wheat is seperated from the chaffe.

Yes, it is good to work in restaurants and get a feel for cooking on your own. However, if you want to receive an extensive knowledge and have no culinary background, I think it can be quite beneficial to attend culinary school. I've worked in restaurants for 10+ years, front and back of the house. I learned to cook menu items as well as the chefs or cooks do. However, that only gives me experience with the type of food the restaurants i've worked at serve. I'm at a loss when it comes to French cuisine, for instance, or making anything more than a basic sauce. If you want to be in the restaurant business, yes, working your way up is good, but if you want to be an excellent cook of all styles of food, there is no substitute for the knowledge studying can instill (be it schooling or studying on your own, outside of work)

I'm a professor at JCTC, i.e. the old JCC. The admissions people will never set up appointments with counselors. Your contact person is the head of the program, Gail Crawford. You can contact her at gail.crawford@kctcs.edu. Our other permanent instructor is Derek Kelley, who was at L & N. Nancy Russman is a fulltime, temporary instructor. The facilities are excellent. New equipment was installed over the past two years.

We've hired Sullivan grads and had JCC instructors (Nancy Russman and Derek Kelley) for our cooking classes. We've been extremely impressed and pleased with both. But that is largely about those individuals, all of whom were/are passionate about food along with being well trained and experienced.

I'm not familiar with either program to be able to comment on them and their advantages or disadvantages. But as a business person (MBA and all), what I'd be asking is 1) what are chefs /owners looking for in their hiring and is there a preference to them between graduates of one school or the other and 2) what kind of jobs, placement rate and pay are graduates of each program getting? It may be worth paying more to go to a school if the typical grad starting salary is $5k more from one school...

Any additional restaurant chefs (other than Will and Dave) want to chime-in as to what they are looking for /their experience with hiring people from the two different programs?

Deb

Experience is the best teacher.
The willingness to get one's hands dirty and rise through the ranks on your own merit, IMHO, is where the wheat is seperated from the chaffe.

Yes, it is good to work in restaurants and get a feel for cooking on your own. However, if you want to receive an extensive knowledge and have no culinary background, I think it can be quite beneficial to attend culinary school. I've worked in restaurants for 10+ years, front and back of the house. I learned to cook menu items as well as the chefs or cooks do. However, that only gives me experience with the type of food the restaurants i've worked at serve. I'm at a loss when it comes to French cuisine, for instance, or making anything more than a basic sauce. If you want to be in the restaurant business, yes, working your way up is good, but if you want to be an excellent cook of all styles of food, there is no substitute for the knowledge studying can instill (be it schooling or studying on your own, outside of work)

I agree with you, and didn't mean to come off like 'don't go to school' or anything.
I guess I'm just trying to say that even with a great educational background, (which is always a wonderful thing) you never reaaallly know what you're in for until you're in the trenches for yourself.
One definitely does compliment the other though, for sure.

We've hired Sullivan grads and had JCC instructors (Nancy Russman and Derek Kelley) for our cooking classes. We've been extremely impressed and pleased with both. But that is largely about those individuals, all of whom were/are passionate about food along with being well trained and experienced.

I'm not familiar with either program to be able to comment on them and their advantages or disadvantages. But as a business person (MBA and all), what I'd be asking is 1) what are chefs /owners looking for in their hiring and is there a preference to them between graduates of one school or the other and 2) what kind of jobs, placement rate and pay are graduates of each program getting? It may be worth paying more to go to a school if the typical grad starting salary is $5k more from one school...

Any additional restaurant chefs (other than Will and Dave) want to chime-in as to what they are looking for /their experience with hiring people from the two different programs?

Deb

Hey-why can't I chime in?? While I did not go to a Culinary School, I do have a degree. I find no fault in seeking formal education and a blend of both practical experience and education is always best. Having said that, it is a choice of personal preference as to going to Sullivan VS JCC. Granted, Sullivan is much more expensive but that does not neccesarilly mean it is better. I know that the City College of San Francisco has an equal program to CCA for a third the cost and both produce excellent Chefs. Given a choice, I would take someone with 5 years of practical experience in multiple restaurants over ANY graduate with no history whatsoever. I know in ten minutes whether someone has the chops to function on a high pressure line and nine times out of ten, a culinary grad with no experience fails.......JMHO

Dave,

Sorry, didn't mean to exclude you at all. I just meant to try to get some of the other chefs to chime in as I thought you and Will were already in on the conversation...just came across wrong in my typing.

Your reply was exactly the kind of input I was trying to get. ( and it really made me want to go back to San Fran soon...)

Deb

I think there's a big difference in day and night pricing, so compare.

Are you saying that the day prices are less expensive than the night? I'm mostly limited to nights and weekends, as I work fulltime 9-5ish, just curious.

Just for background - I have 2 bachelors degrees, and would never pay for the general requirement classes at Sullivan's prices, but that is excellent advice for newer students or undergrads. But the balance of the culinary education alone still left a hefty price tag.

But thank you so much for your sound advice, Leah. I love your drive, and how you truly made the most of your educational dollars. I'll tell you exactly why your business is slammin - your cakes are out of this world, you love what you do, and have TRULY found your niche!

I am doing OK. The surgeon said my L4 L5 disc was shaped like an L and I pinched 2 nerves - no half measures for me! My left leg is still weak and my range of motion is not great. I take PT 3 days a week, and it is slower than I want, but I am taking it a day at a time. I am hoping to get back on light duty until I am 100% after I see the doc in June! Though I have to say, going from 12 to 16 hour workdays and the rest of my busy life to almost a full stop is HARD!

Hi Suzi!

Thanks so much again for your input. I have gotten others input on JCC, and so far, it has all been positive. I really appreciate your insight.

I'm sorry you have been having such a time. I can't really imagine going from go-go-go to STOP! Must be frustrating, but maybe a sign to slow down for a while? Anyway, been thinking about you, and pray for a speedy recovery. I tend to see this blue jeep suv on the Watterson with the paramedic emblem on the front license plate, and it always reminds me of you. I sure do appreciate you and all those in your profession. I know I couldn't do it.

Take good care, and if I can help, let me know! ~Kim~

I'm a professor at JCTC, i.e. the old JCC. The admissions people will never set up appointments with counselors. Your contact person is the head of the program, Gail Crawford. You can contact her at gail.crawford@kctcs.edu. Our other permanent instructor is Derek Kelley, who was at L & N. Nancy Russman is a fulltime, temporary instructor. The facilities are excellent. New equipment was installed over the past two years.

Thank you so much for the information!! That's a bit curious though, as I'm used to going through counselors with a college program, and admissions didn't seem to direct me otherwise. Question - has the website changed with the JCTC? Because the JCC culinary site is from 2002, but maybe I'm at the wrong site?

Anyway, I really appreciate the information, love to hear about the new equipment, and am anxious to speak with Gail! Thanks again!

Kim,
Thaks for the kind words.

It was always my impression that the night program at Sullivan was less expensive than the day program. I think my assumptions were rooted in that the night classes were charged by the credit hour, and the day classes were charged by the semester. Most kids took a minimum of classes during the day to give them more time to work (and play perhaps) which drives up the per credit hour cost, relatively.

Ah...regarding the outdated information on the JCTC web site... The college does not have a professional web master. New information goes up only if someone takes the initiative and forwards the materials to our tech support person. I will mention the need to update the information to the CA faculty.