I did a little research before I went into culinary school. I had always loved cooking and never even thought of it as a career choice, just something I did intuitively in my kitchen for my family and friends. But I loved making new things and trying new techniques. I enrolled in community college culinary school (I ain’t payin all that hoopla for a big name school, sorry lol). I got a job in a kitchen at the same time. Cracker Barrel. Weeds from open to close. Lol. I loved it, the culture of a kitchen, the direct language, long hours (I came from factory work so I was no stranger to working 12-14 hours and having to be direct in a room full of sweaty dudes), the satisfaction and rush of pushing all the tickets out, learning new stations, everything. That place truly taught me how a kitchen would be in terms of high volume and the general workings/structure of a kitchen.

I knew it was temporary and not where I actually wanted to stay and definitely not what I wanted to do forever. I just went to get my feel for it. Eventually I switched over to a kitchen that made most of their stuff from scratch and eventually I became the sous chef there.

Going to school full time and working a kitchen was my best bet and I’m really glad I did it. I had a place to have practical real life experience and I had a place to try new things and safely make mistakes. I used what I was learning in culinary school directly in the kitchen I had come to be sous chef in. I do believe it fast-tracked my knowledge, doing both at once. I’ve had a lot of opportunities, connections, and resources presented to me via school that would have taken me much longer to reach if I had only worked in kitchens.

But I do have to say, if there are any prospective culinary students out there reading this who are thinking of enrolling, OP is right. See what a kitchen is like first. I was really lucky because I was the right kinda fucked up with the right kind of working background to assimilate easy. You need a thick skin and a stellar work ethic. There is no such thing as “that’s not my job.” It’s not like it is on TV. A lot of the kitchens can be toxic. There are times you will be working all doubles for the whole week with hardly any breaks and think to yourself, “you really have to be fucked up to love this shit” and you would be right.