I'm not a chef. I don't work in a restaurant, or even in food service. All that time spent at ARC, although educative, was a total and complete waste as far as getting a job was concerned.
The knowledge wasn't wasted, at least. I create fine dining meals, prepare feasts for friends and family (when they don't just buy rotisserie chicken at Costco), and play in the kitchen. There's no crazy-eyed dungeon master standing behind me, so it's even a stress-free environment (most of the time).
If you're 19 years old, your experience will differ. If not, well, you had better not be what restaurants consider "old". I never found out the age transition from young to old, but I suspect it's somewhere around the age of 35, maybe a bit more if you have dark hair (or lots of black dye). And wrinkle cream, perhaps.
It's funny though, considering all the late restaurant orders and screw-ups we suffer though in restaurants, not to mention rampant bad management.
The main result of my experience in culinary arts after getting through the crucible of back of the house is that I avoid restaurants, especially fancy ones. If we (or anyone) wants something really fancy, I know it's basically putting together the ingredients two days ahead (at least) and making the meal. It will certainly be better than what I'd get in a restaurant, I won't pay for all that labor, and I can drink my wine at retail price, no corkage fee.
So there it is.
Sometimes you don't find the grail after all.
