Should you go to culinary school? The president of the Culinary Institute of America says it depends. A head of school says you might not need the next degree. And I never went at all.
Over the last year, I've asked this question to very different people on Fugitive Chefs. This episode puts their answers side by side: two chefs mid-way through the Master's in Gastronomic Sciences at the Basque Culinary Center, the president of the CIA, a head of school in New Zealand, and me, a chef who skipped culinary school entirely.
In this episode we discuss:
- Why the CIA's Michiel Bakker answers "it depends," and when culinary school becomes just an expensive hobby
- Harsh and Hans on the real investment behind a culinary Master's, and what it actually opens up
- The gap between manager-level promises and entry-level reality after a degree
- Adrian Woodhouse (Otago Polytechnic) on imposter syndrome, collecting credentials, and who really owns culinary knowledge
- Why career changers are the group culinary education rarely talks about
- Skipping culinary school: the door I had, and what hiring conversations actually asked me
- The four different questions hiding inside "should I go to culinary school?"
🎧 Fugitive Chefs explores how culinary expertise creates value across the modern food system.
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