Product Description

Do you want to turn your passion for food into a career? Take a bite out of the food world with help from the experts in this first-of-its-kind What Color Is Your Parachute? for food related careers.

Maybe you're considering culinary school, maybe you're about to graduate, or maybe you're looking for an exciting career change. How can you translate your zest for flavor into a satisfying profession? Should you become a chef or open a specialty foods shop, write cookbooks or try your hand at food styling? Culinary careers are as varied as they are fascinating--the only challenge is deciding which one is right for you. Filled with advice from food-world pros including luminaries such as Alice Waters, Chris Kimball, Betty Fussell and Darra Goldstein, Food Jobs will set you behind the stove of your dream career.

In this tasty, nourishing book, food industry veteran Irena Chalmers offers profiles of food jobs by the dozen--everything from the traditional (maitre d', caterer, dietician) to the behind-the-scenes (restaurant consultant, kitchen designer, hotel promoter) to the holy-cow-I-can-get-paid-for-that? (yacht chef, tea taster, fortune cookie message writer). Chalmers provides essential information for getting started and succeeding in your chosen culinary role including job descriptions, candid musings on what the job really entails and who it's really for, and testimonials from the best in the field (Bobby Flay, Todd English, Gordon Hamersly, Francois Payard, Danny Meyer, Anthony Bourdain and more). The book also presents an array of resources on where to find more information to put you ahead of the competition. Bursting with real-life wisdom from those who've been there, Food Jobs will expose you to the myriad of different food jobs available and guide you to the one that's right for you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14375 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
A well-connected, highly regarded culinary career guru who is currently an instructor at the CIA's New Hyde Park campus, Chalmers presents a very useful guide to a dizzying array of food occupations, ranging from chef, butcher, and nutritionist to bee keeper, kitchen designer, and wild game farmer. Her knowing and pithy descriptions of duties and requisite qualifications are often supplemented by enlightening accounts of their career paths written by people prominent in their field: Betty Fussell on becoming a food historian, Jonathan King on the founding of Stonewall Kitchens, Sidney Mintz on specializing as a food anthropologist. Great perspectives here. -- Kitchen Arts & Letters Newsletter

From the Publisher
"I'm honored to be included in your book." - Danny Meyer, Restaurateur

"Irena Chalmers is a culinary Goddess. I for one am in the front of the line to purchase and devour anything she publishes." - Candy Wallace, Executive Director, American Personal & Private Chef Association

"Irena Chalmers should be right up there with Julia and Jim in spreading the word about good food in America. As the First Lady of Food books for three decades, Chalmers presence on the page or in a lecture hall charges the atmosphere with vitality, wit and wisdom." - Betty Fussell, Food Historian and Author of The Story of Corn, My Kitchen Wars and Raising Steaks

About the Author
IRENA CHALMERS has worn many hats in the food industry. The publisher, producer, and packager of more than forty books, she has regularly contributed to such publications as The New York Times, Food & Wine, Gastronomica, Food Arts, and Nation's Restaurant News. She is a founding member and past president of both the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Les Dames d'Escoffier International, as well as "Who's Who" member of the James Beard Foundation. Chalmers currently divides her time as a faculty member at The Culinary Institute of America, "The Last Word" columnist for Chef magazine, consultant, food blogger and commentator, and counselor to many about to embark on their own culinary adventure.

Customer Reviews

Reframing Options
Having worked in the hospitality industry for almost 30 years, this book can help anyone considering employment in foodservice. Instead of the traditional thinking of "what job fits my qualifications?", this book demonstrates how to make your place in the world by making a job or finding a job to fit your qualifications; to fit your personality and to fit your passion. For many people, this is a major paradigm shift.

Irena has filled the pages with examples, testimonials and research demonstrating how to make your passion into a rewarding career. So, exactly how many people are out there that hate their jobs? Apparently they never read this book.

The ultimate guide to careers in and out of the kitchen!
This is THE book I have been waiting for! From front of the house to back -- and down alleys you never even thought to explore, Irena Chalmers has created a comprehensive guide for any person interested in pursuing a career in the food industry. Food Jobs covers all the conventional occupations you can think of. PLUS, it goes on to include the unconventional and eccentric jobs for culinary and food study graduates like me that are looking to find their dream job and know it isn't located in a professional kitchen or behind an office desk. Irena has drawn on her years of experience and has done her research, interviewing experts from all arenas: chefs, food stylists, artists, publicists, retailers, farmers, writers, anthropologists, educators...you name it. This book is a must read!

This book exceeded my expectations.
This book is very good for not only the food field but also for other "creative" jobs. I'm a flower designer but I started reading this book and picked up many great hints to extend my work and my career.

I was inspired by the author's knowledge and writing style. I also appreciated learning about not only so many jobs which are involved with food, but also new ways of thinking about the job search process.

Before you get a new job, or change your career direction, if you read this book you'll be sure to pick up lots of new ideas. This is a very interesting book on many levels.