On 2010-08-20, Giusi > wrote:


> slave these days as an apprentice for 10 years before they actually cook
> anything?

Nonsense.

The current head chef of Brasserie Les Halles, Tony Bourdain's former
job, was a Mexican immigrant who started at the bottom, there, and
worked up to exectutive chef in only 8 yrs. Tony profiled him on one
episode of his show.

On the other hand, I worked with an aspiring cook who was already a
line cook for a former Iron Chef America contestant and that chef, his
boss, recommended the young man go to Johnson and Wales, a rather
pricey school and the chef's former school. I thought that was pretty
weird advice, but the last I heard, the young cook left cooking in the
chef's restaurant is now at J&W. So obviously, some chefs have
different hiring/training criteria.

nb