french culinary institute tour

i visited the french culinary institute this afternoon after a half-day of classes at columbia ... having slept only 3 hours a day for the last 4 days, i woke up this morning and thought i saw a panda in the mirror ... in the last 30 years of my life, i've had the luck of never growing eye-bags regardless how much i worked, how little i slept or how much i partied ... my biological age is catching up and i'm beginning to feel it the pain of last nights crazy party at juliet (pictures to come soon, hopefully someone has them out there) ...

the french culinary institute is located near nyc china town, a quaint and bustling area of town ... the student run restaurant on the first floor, l'ecole, was vibrant tho not packed as it was only 3pm in the afternoon ... i got into the elevator and went up to the fourth floor and met with john davis, associate director ... a man in his forties, his heavy-set character made him look part like a has-been chef and his well-spoken insights made him look part like a salesman as he began asking me questions about my experiences and what program i was looking for ... so not to bore this blog, i went into a 5 min spiel about my consulting, entrepreneurial, davita, and now business school experience at which point he immediately directed me to the classic culinary arts program ... wow, how convenient, priced at $40K!!! ... shiet! ...

so after a quick overview of the program, john toured me through the school going through each of the 6 kitchen classroom teaching the 6 levels of culinary arts (pictures to come) ... while the school itself wasn't large, i very impressed with the layout and the classroom environment ... as we passed by the amphitheater where a nutrion class was taking place, the smell of duck breast was overwhelmingly savory ... i was ready to start class! ...

so the tour only lasted an hour ... while i think i know what program i would be interested in, i think this tour has raised more questions, e.g.,

- dormitory: where, how much, and what's the quality of the dormitory? i've gotten accustomed to a decent quality of life and the thought of going back to a dormitory may sound exciting at first, but really, can be devastating!
- financing: $40K, holy shit! ... now that's expensive for a 6 month program! ... i thought only my emba at $50K / half year was expensive, i never thought culinary school would be this expensive ... how am i going to fund this? ... how much is it going to set me back and how much is financing? ...
- work: how can i make this happen? ... i still owe 4 years with davita ... how can i fit this into my work schedule? ... will davita let me relocate to NYC for a year? ... can i take a 6 month sabatical? ... this is more logistically difficult than i thought ...

john's tour ended in l'ecole's kitchen where he showed me the graduation picture of bobby flay in 1984, the first entry class ... i'm overall thrilled about the program; however, think this is going to take more planning and saving ... i'll need to rethink my plans and budgets for 2010 ... while i'm a little overwhelmed at the moment with the cost and time commitment, i'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel and am feeling excited about this ...