On 2010-07-04, Peter > wrote:

> My question is simply whether one has to go to "cooking school" to
> become a cook in a restaurant.

There's are as many paths to cooking success as there are food dishes.
Start as a burger flipper when young, pay $30-50K for school,
apprentice for slave wages for years, buy a restaurant and sink or
swim, etc. Your options are endless. I think dedication and passion will
determine where you end up.

Is school necessary? I recall Anthony Bourdain doing an episode on
his former sous chef and now head chef of Brasserie Les Halles in NY
(Anthony's previous postition), a poor Mexican immigrant who came to
New York to become a cook. I think Anthony said he went from nobody
to head chef in 8 yrs! I don't remember any schools in the mix, jes
Anthony telling how his co-worker worked his freakin' ass off.

nb