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Specialty Chefs Focus on Excellence

by Kirk Bangstad
kirk.bangstad@culinaryartsschoolreview.com
Culinary Arts School Review Columnist

Great cooking is an art form, and like the arts, some people show more natural talent for it than others. Even professional cooks have strengths and weaknesses. For example, two students could go to culinary school and receive the same chef education, but have different experiences.

A Specialty for Every Chef

Maybe in the first week at culinary school, one student overcooks a piece of meat, but bakes a delicious cake. If she is praised by others over the dessert, she may start focusing her chef education on her baking. If the opposite happens to another student, he might spend his culinary school years perfecting his main dishes and letting his desserts remain ordinary. These two students could get the same diploma, but go into different fields. This doesn’t mean that the culinary school failed to provide a well-rounded chef education. It just happened that certain experiences shaped each student’s culinary school progress in ways that affected their overall chef education.

Over the course of a chef’s career, he or she will often become known for certain types of cooking. These people are generally referred to as specialty chefs. One well-known specialty chef is Ron Pickarski, who is known for cooking gourmet vegetarian and vegan food. Restaurant managements often look for specialty chefs to compliment the current kitchen talent. For example, if a restaurant is known for its fish dishes, but wants to attract more a steak crowd, it might look for a specialty chef (probably not Pickarski) known for his steak recipes. Those known as specialty chefs are often able to earn a higher wage because people believe that their creations are rare.

Becoming a specialty chef usually takes a lot of talent and hard work, but with that title often comes the knowledge that you’ve risen to the height of your profession.

Sources

Specialty Chefs—Ron Pickarski

About the Author

Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, IL. Having received his B.A. in Government at Harvard, Kirk previously worked as a management consultant.