What’s a guy or gal to do when the passion to perfect the art of outstanding food service is too strong to settle for hosting in their own dining room?

Two culinary school graduates share their experiences

For some talented, creative home cooks, hosting friends and family is gratifying enough to satisfy their culinary passion. But what’s a guy or gal to do when the passion to perfect the art of outstanding food service is too strong to settle for hosting in their own dining room?

Attending brand-name culinary schools can cost upwards of $40,000 a year, and with starting salaries rounding off at about $15 an hour, is this a viable option? Is a degree or formal culinary training necessary to succeed in food service? And what about kosher and other religious concerns — can they be accommodated at a non-kosher cooking school?

There are currently just a handful of kosher culinary schools in the world. The Jerusalem Culinary Institute was the first of its kind, opening in 2003 under the direction of Yochanan Lambiase, who worked at several of Europe’s best restaurants but had no formal training. New York City is home to the Kosher Culinary Center, and Tel Aviv boasts the Dan Gourmet School of Kosher Culinary Arts, where classes are taught in Hebrew. Ben Gurion University in Eilat offers a six-month combined academic and internship program with two tracks: Hospitality & Tourism, or Certification in Israeli, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean Cuisine.

But for so many, schooling in Israel or New York isn’t feasible. Two graduates of non-kosher culinary schools, Denise Marcellus and Alex Idov, shared their experiences and ensuing career paths.

Challenging But Doable

Denise attended San Diego Mesa College’s Culinary Program in the ’80s, and has worked at boutique hotels across the United States and in the Virgin Islands as a highly sought-after pastry chef. She opened bakeries for Whole Foods and worked alongside some of the biggest names in the industry. Denise and her team assisted Wolfgang Puck in preparing an Academy Awards dinner in Century City, California, and she was presented with a mock Academy Awards trophy as a thank-you gift. She prepared birthday cakes for a Grammy Award-winning musician in Atlanta and General Colin Powell in Caneel Bay, and cooked for US Attorney General William French Smith and his wife in La Jolla, California.

“It’s challenging,” Denise says of keeping kosher while in culinary school, “but it can be done. You ask a classmate you trust to taste your dish and give you feedback, or you make the dish at home and jot down notes. You’ll definitely have to work a bit harder, but it’s doable.”

She adds that once you start working, you should expect to cover for co-workers on their holidays, and they’ll cover for you on theirs. There are times when Shabbos or Yom Tov creates scheduling issues, but if you hold your ground and work hard the rest of the time, the school will respect you for it and do their best to accommodate.

Denise says she gained tremendously from the culturally diverse student body and staff — mainly retired European chefs who were industry giants in their day. “They taught us discipline and consistency, and shared the experience and wisdom they gained cooking in various countries, cultures, and settings.”

The biggest surprise for Denise in her overall culinary education was learning about the strong connection between psychology and food, and the importance of studying food theory — the history and background of food cultures and how we arrived where we are today with current food trends. These days Denise has slowed her pace a bit, working at a large supermarket bakery to ensure kosher and non-kosher consumers alike can enjoy high-quality, decadent baked goods at affordable prices. She’s also training the next generation and sharing her vast knowledge of French pastry and other baking techniques with aspiring pastry chefs.

“If your endgame is to own a restaurant or work as an executive chef, you need to attend a good culinary school, it will give you the edge you need to survive,” she says. For those who are on the fence, she suggests working in a restaurant, bakery, or hotel kitchen for a month. “You’re either going to love it or hate it,” she says, “because it’s very demanding — and that will help you decide if this is the right path for you.”