culinary school

[LittleOldLady]

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Geormiet, I'm excited about your interest, but you've got to ask yourself just how serious you are. For instance, Delgado Community College. I lived and worked in NO for a year and had the pleasure of working with several Delgado students/grads. Here's what you should know about that school: It is not classroom intensive. You have only 1 (or 2?) days of classes a week, but you are required to get a 4 day a week job. Your employer will likely ask you to work a 40 hour week. On top of school, that means working 6-7 days a week, 50-60 hours. However, the price is right (I'd guess around 6K per semester?).


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In-state tuition and fees at Delgado are roughly $800/semester. Out-of-state tuition and fees come to about $2300/semester. Living expenses in New Orleans are iffy at the moment because of the Katrina housing shortage. They used to be fairly cheap. Rental costs will ease as repairs are made. UNO's tuition and fees are somewhat higher, but not that much. Delgado and UNO will both be open on their main campuses in January, and Delgado is offering its culinary arts program.

While Delgado's program is not of the caliber of the Culinary Institute of America (no other program is), it is also not even remotely as expensive. It also has the advantage of placing its work-study students in some of the finest professional kitchens in the country, working with and under some of the finest professional cooks in the country. I am given to understand that the right mentorship could mean a lot in the development of a culinary career.

[CardSharpCook]

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It also has the advantage of placing its work-study students in some of the finest professional kitchens in the country, working with and under some of the finest professional cooks in the country.

[/ QUOTE ] The way Delgado works is you have to work like 700 hours while attending classes so basically, every student is a work study student. It is a very nice program in this way as it isn't the financial/time burden that other schools would be.

You are correct in your appraisal of N.O. cooking opportunities, and the value of working for fine chefs. Thanks for the additional info on Delgado. One of my co-workers would bitch about the cost of Delgado, but she was out-of-state student.

Do you (or anyone) know of any good culinary schools in the Chicago area? I wouldn't cook professionally, but I really like cooking and want to learn more.

[BradleyT]

geormiet,

Since you like to travel (and play *****), why not see what France has to offer as far as schooling?