I'M GOING TO BE A CHEF!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:20pm

Woo HOO! I found out today that I was accepted into the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, CA! I haven't got the official letter yet, but my admissions rep called me and told me the news over the phone. I'm so excited.

Classes start August 15th. Now all I have to do is find $50,000 dollars and a place to live.

(Beav, I have a question to ask you.)

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:29pm

Wow =- I'm actually checking into The Institute of Culinary Education here in NYC - and I thought $25,000 was a lot of money! Best of luck to you. It's exciting, isn't it?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:34pm

Good luck! And thanks :) I was going to try and get into the Culinary Institute of America, but you have to have 6 months of experience in a restaurant first, which I don't have and I don't really want to wait.

Yeah, I'm very excited. This next week is going to go by fast.

When are you going to start classes?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:36pm

Congratulations! W00T! I am happy for you! Dude...it'd be even better if you were Swedish. Are you?

[Elphaba]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:38pm

captain, congrats!

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:41pm

Oy - I didn't say I was doing it - I said I was looking into it. Once I tour the facilities and mull the situation over, I'll decide if it's the right move for me - but still, congratulations.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:41pm

I can pretend to be Swedish? Last night I was Swiss (Thanks to Bill.)

And Elphaba.. you don't know how tense/excited/nervous I've been the past few weeks.

I was going to announce my plans earlier, but I didn't want to be rejected and have to face you people.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:46pm

If you were Swedish, then you could be a Swedish Chef. And those are the best kinds of Swedish people...and Chefs.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:52pm

Congrats C.O - did I not see you on Hell's Kitchen???

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 9:59pm

No. I decided on this chef idea two weeks ago.

Beav, okay. How much is the rent?

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 10:02pm

when you're done with classes, wanna cook me dinner?

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 10:05pm

Congratulation! Next time I am there, I will let you know so you can cook me dinner. My family lives in Palo Alto and I always go up to SF.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 10:08pm

Beavs... I dunno if I can do a 1000 a month... That's kinda steep, but please ask. I'm coming to the city for this Welcome Weekend thing on the 11th, I believe. I'll be more than happy to see it then, and PM me your number.

But, I have a HUGE dilemma: I have no money. I have no car. I have no place to live. Oh, the difficulties.

And I'll be more than happy to cook for anybody who wants to come. I'll make spaghetti. (We all remember THAT fiasco, lol.)

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 10:12pm

Best wishes, Obvious.

I know you're feeling as light as a soufflé.

It is a tough business and will be personally rewarding.

If you remember anything, remember this: Life will never burn you if you heat your butter as you heat your pan, and always control the flame.

Cheers!

José

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/05 at 11:54pm

Beaver, what's your name? If anyone searches through my phone book, they're gonna see The Beaver. Although The Beaver is quite sexy, I'd rather just have your name.

And add one more flame to the mix!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 2:30am

Congratulations.



Now stop reading if you don't want to hear some reality.


>>>>>>>>>>REALITY CHECK<<<<<<<<<<

You are moving to one of the most expensive cities in the USA...?

To attend a school that specializes in something you decided to do 2 weeks ago...?

You have no restaurant experience to speak of? (6 years is nothing for people who decide to go into this field...NOTHING...)

You have NO money, yet you are going to be able to pay $50,000 tuition, pay rent, and all other living expenses...?(I don't know about this program, but there are many where there is NO time to work outside of school. That is if it even allowed.)

You have NO car...? Well, that can be gotten around with public trans I suppose...

You start classes in two weeks yet have NO place to stay? And say you can't afford $1000 a month, but Beaver says that is the going rate in San Francisco...Did you do your homework? Why did someone on a message board have to be the one to tell you THAT? What are you going to use for a down payment?
Have you applied for student loans? Scholarship?

And all this has happened within 2 weeks?

You know, people plan for years how to build a career. They save and scrimp and make goals and agendas to make thier dreams come true. I know people here will say, "Great for you, Go for it." But the ones who don't are rolling their eyes and saying, "What a fool."

Have a great time. I am done. You can return to your fantasy world now...


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>END OF REALITY CHECK<<<<<<<<

Updated On: 8/5/05 at 02:30 AM

[orion59]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 7:14am

It's wonderful to have a dream to work toward but it sounds like you haven't completely thought this out. Six months working experience is not a long time and it would possibly enable you to save some money. SF is not a city you can pick up and move to with only two weeks notice, no place to live, no job and no substantial savings.

In any city it can take a long time to find a job especially when you are attending a school and have to work around the class schedule. Renting an apartment requires paying firsta nd last months rent up front and a security deposit that is usually equal to one months rent.

Too many young people with high hopes and no experience in life end up going to large, expensive cities to follow a dream. Their expectations on how easily they can get a job and a place to live are much too idealistic. Eventually they end up on the streets if they are not fortunate enough to have a home to go back to.

It's a harsh reality to face but you have to do your research and spend the time setting up what you will need before you go off. If it's worth having, it's worth waiting for.

I have a goal, something I want for my life. It will also require about $50,000.00 to start, an out of state move for part of each year and it's something that I've been planning. It's a five year plan that involves how to raise the money, hyow best to invest it now for maximum short term gain, reasearch on the expenses involved in teh business I want to run, the potentail return on that investment based on similar businesses in the same geographic area and the average leength of time on return. That's the way to make a major life change.

Yours wouldn't take a five year plan but you should at least plan it out and if it takes another year, at least you know what you're doing.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 8:46am

May I reference this thread dated March 3, 2005.

I'm a horrible cook
Posted On:3/3/05 at 09:01 PM
Created by: Captain_Obvious

I tried to make spaghetti for my boyfriend and I, and I messed it up. The noodles got all soggy and really gross.

Link: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=off&thread=840930#842791


This person has lied to us repeatedly, some have been caught, some have not. While I have no doubt that there may be some validity in these statements, I am certain that C_O is one of the special people. You know, the ones who drift through life, taking advantage of people, both for kind words and $30,000 foreign cars. These people rarely follow through on anything, because they just flit from hair-brained idea to hair-brained idea. It really is like a type of A.D.D. Today, a chef, tomorrow a fireman, and perhaps in a week or so, C_O will want to be Superman when he grows up. Though, I think that latter statement is a LONG way off.

Updated On: 8/5/05 at 08:46 AM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 8:57am

ya'll are some of the meanest and most obviously jealous haters ever seen on the planet earth. here on of the most beloved and wittiest and simply most lovable characters (not to be confused with people) on bww is faced with one of the most momentous moments of his, her, or its life and all you can do is rain down the negativity. i can tell you one thing, no angels will save you people when it comes time for the reckoning, but as a but of heathen athiests you probably don't care. well, i won't be a party to your vile attempts to besmirch a poor cook, dammit. no matter how inept. ya'll should be ashamed of yourselves.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 8:59am

Right on daddy-o. I apologize. I'm a bad, evil, awful person. Drinks at noon?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 9:02am

noon? i'm planning on beers at 9:15 while helping a neighbor move. if the rain lets up. by noon, i'll be needing a soctch iv drip. repent! repent!!

[ckeaton]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 9:03am

Helping a neighbor move? You've been in the hinterlands way too long mambo. You should be the one repenting. Pshaw...helping others. What next? Charity work?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 9:42am

So what happened to the trust fund? I can't keep up.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 10:15am

Ooh.. Some of that was harsh.

Who is Jon Lovitz?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/5/05 at 12:06pm

So here we are again back in The Land of the BroadwayWorld Split.

Seems there are two types of people who post here. There are those who have taken the message of too many simplistic and treacly musicals to heart and who think all you have to do is have a dream and if you stand up and belt your desires to the back row of the second balcony those dreams will come true because dammit it's your dream and nobody's gonna take it away from you! And there's ALWAYS a happy ending.

In the real world, these people are known as "enablers." In the guise of "encouragement" and "positivity," they gloss over almost ANY sense of reality and encourage others to follow through on recipes for disaster (to go with the culinary metaphor) because it's their "dream," and their dreams "feel good."

Then there's the other type of person who posts here. More influenced by theater that is grounded in reality. Able to discuss the good AND the bad of life, encouraging others to hope for the best while preparing for the worst. Around here, we're called "negative" and those who enjoy "urinating on the breakfast cereal of others." In the real world, we are called realists.

Captain_Obvious, what ckeaton pointed out about the narrative of your postings thus far rings true for me, as a reader of those narratives. What Orion and Sueleen wrote is completely grounded in the reality of making it through the world. Don't think you can cover a grand in rent a month? Of course you can't if you have to come up with FIFTY grand in a week for tuition.

I've been doing a search online for an excellent article the New York Times did in the past couple of years about the incredible grind of culinary school, and the fairly small odds that people who graduate from such schools will ever actually make a living as a chef. And for those who do, it's because they spent about 16-18 hours a day peeling potatoes for a couple of years AFTER their graduation in the shadows of full fledged chefs. The point of the article is that it is almost impossible to pay back student loans while being completely demoralized on the lowest rungs of the restaurant ladders for years and years.

I am unable to find the article at NYTimes.com because I must be searching on the wrong key words. I'd recommend the article to both you and Redhot if you had the five bucks or whatever it costs to get archived materials. But thus far I haven't found it.

By the way, it's in the best interests of the culinary schools to imply that you will have a rewarding career as a chef immediately after graduation. But the odds are stronger that you'd get struck by lightning.

Those with the gumption and the fantasy of "opening their own restaurant" have even harder roads to hoe. We're talking 20 hour days then, and MOST restaurants fail within a year and a half.

So, I'm not gonna join the chorus of enablers and say "Oh wow, how great, go for it, why not, how hard can it be, MAKE ME DINNER WHEN YOU GRADUATE."

You really won't be able to afford any ingredients to make people dinner when you graduate.

But good luck with your dream! You will make it if you spread your wings and fly!

Updated On: 8/5/05 at 12:06 PM