Creative Careers in the Culinary Arts

Creative Careers in the Culinary Arts

So you want to pursue a career in the culinary arts but don’t like the idea of spending the rest of your life in the kitchen? Many people may not realize that a culinary degree offers a wide array of opportunities beyond being a chef. Whether you have aspirations to become the next Food Network personality or have a knack for critiquing others cooking, a degree in the culinary arts is your first step in making your dreams a reality. Here are just a few of the careers available to the aspiring culinary student.

Restaurant Management

Restaurant Managers are the backbone to any restaurant, hotel or any other establishment that serves food. A restaurant manager’s duties are highly varied and can include organizing stock, ordering new inventory and food supplies, preparing the institute for health inspections, and solving issues with customers and employees. While most careers in restaurant management offer trainee programs, a culinary degree can help give you a better understanding of the restaurant management field.

Food Critic

If chefs are the backbone of the field of culinary arts, the food critic is definitely the nerve endings. Food critics travel to various restaurants, sample the cuisine and rate each restaurant on a number of factors, including food quality, portions, and atmosphere and then publish their critiques in newspaper columns or magazines. Most food critics have a degree in the culinary arts, which gives them a better understanding of the food they sample.

Food Stylists

Food stylists’ main focus is to make food presentation look its absolute best for print or television. Food stylists utilize a wide array of tricks to turn ordinary cuisine into a mouth-watering work of art. While a career as a food stylist requires a lot of creativity, a degree in the culinary arts is essential to understanding the basics of how food should be presented.

Magazine Editor

Food magazines are a great way to learn about the ever-changing culinary industry. The magazine editor needs to have a complete understanding of the field of culinary arts to help ensure that the magazine they publish has the most accurate and entertaining information possible. For this reason, most magazine editors in the culinary field are required to have a degree in the culinary arts.

Television Personality

If you have a craving for the lime-light, a career as a television chef or host may be exactly what you are looking for. With the exception of a lucky few, television personalities on cooking shows usually have a culinary degree and have paid their dues in the culinary world, which has helped them build the reputation required to have a television following.