Food For Thought

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The noncooking classes are typically designed to be relevant to the food world. At the CIA, for example, an accounting class uses old ledgers from real restaurants and hotels as study guides. An assignment for a writing course requires composing menus for different palates. Such food-free classes are particularly useful for the many students interested in nonrestaurant jobs like food-product development, food styling or food writing. Katy Dearing, 19, a student at the California Culinary Academy who applied after a CCA chef visiting her high school prepared an inspiring gnocchi with roasted bell-pepper coulis, says she plans to be a private chef for busy professionals who want to eat nutritious meals.

But there are still many who dream of being the next Rocco DiSpirito, Mario Batali or Nigella Lawson, and it is for them that CIA president Ryan says he has some concerns. "Students see Sara Moulton on TV and think they could be doing that in a few short years," he says. "We need to make sure they have realistic expectations." Overall, though, most people view the high hopes and enthusiasm of adolescents as a plus. "If you're going to make it start young," says Greystone's head baking and pastry instructor Robert Jorin, a decades-long veteran in the field. The younger the student, the more likely he or she is to stay in the business, he says. Because being a chef involves backbreaking work and long hours, it is also better suited to someone in his or her early 20s. And another thing: for the months, sometimes years, spent sampling one's homework, it's useful to have a youthful metabolism.