What Is a Culinary University?
When people are thinking about learning more about cooking or the food industry, they usually think of going to a cooking school. In general, a cooking school is a place where they teach you how to hold a knife, how to frost a cake, how to make a sauce, and how not to poison your guests. But, we all know that there is a lot more to being a good cook, or a chef, than the basics. You have to have imagination, a refined palette, and you need to have instruction from the best chefs around. If you go to a culinary university, rather than a cooking school, you will find that not only to graduate with much better skills and training, but your degree will be worth more in the eyes of your potential employers.
In fact, you may find that if you graduate with a degree in the culinary arts from a culinary university like the Art Institute of California, San Francisco, you don't need an employer at all. Many students have graduated from this program and immediately set up their own restaurant. If this is your dream, then a culinary university is for you.
If you just want to learn more about a particular aspect of the culinary arts - baking and pastry, for instance - you can do that, too. Many established cooks go back to school for continuing education, just like a nurse or a teacher might do. It never hurts to get new ideas and to refresh your skills.
A career in the culinary world is one that you can take with you, no matter where you go. You will always have a job, always get to work with food and people, and always get to use your creativity every day on the job. Who could ask for more than that?