Wolfgang Puck laughs when he recalls how a date abandoned him on a Beverly Hills dance floor 25 years ago after he told her he was a "cook."
Of course, that was before he became a celebrity chef, one who helped popularize haute cuisine in America by turning Spago into a brand name and a Hollywood hangout.
Then came the Food Network and a generous helping of spinoff books and magazines that further elevated cooking from a casual hobby to a glamorous profession in which the biggest stars are often male chefs, like Puck, Michael Lomonaco or Emeril Lagasse.
Spurred by this hip kitchen culture, a new and ambitious generation of foodies is flocking to culinary schools with an appetite for big-time success. For many, the aim is not only a high-paying job, but also fame. "It used to be that if a young person were going to culinary school, it would be tantamount to running off to join the circus," said Eileen Opatut, senior vice president of programming and production at the Food Network. "It's now a highly sought, competitive career."
The number of culinary programs that offer certificates or associate's and bachelor's degrees has shot up 60% in the last five years, from 269 nationwide to 431, according to Shaw Guides Inc., which publishes education information.
Since 1994, the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena has grown from 16 students at one site to 1,200 students at four locations. Tuition runs about $35,000 for the 15-month program at the school, which is part of the Cordon Bleu network of international culinary studies.
Student Vanessa Iantorno, 20, a devotee of the Food Network and the Discovery Channel's cooking programs, said her dream is to become an executive chef with her own cooking show -- but with a slight twist.
She wants to sing.
That doesn't sound as far-fetched as it would have a decade ago. After all, Lagasse holds food concerts in which he cooks backed by a jazz-rock band.
"Once you acquire the skills, you can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it," Iantorno said.
Marvin David, a 24-year-old Filipino American student, said Asian celebrity chefs such as Ming Tsai and the campy Japanese show, "Iron Chef," inspired him to enroll in culinary school and pursue opening a Pacific Rim fusion restaurant.
"I had always toyed with the idea of being a chef," said David, who has applied for an internship at the Playboy Mansion. "Television fueled the fire."
Kyle Connaughton, head chef at the school's restaurant, said the influence that the media has had on his students cannot be underestimated. But that influence has been good and bad, he said. His biggest concern is that television makes the cooking life look all too easy.
"The generation before had to seek out information about [renowned chefs] Alice Waters and Jeremiah Towers," said Connaughton, a former pastry chef at Spago. "Now they're presented with celebrities on TV and over the Internet. They're able to draw more of a learning experience, but it also gives them an unrealistic look at what the industry is like."
Christy Yoo, 21, said roughly a quarter of the people who started classes with her at the California School of Culinary Arts dropped out because TV gave them the wrong impression.
"The media has a very big impact, especially on young people," Yoo said. "Everybody wants to be famous."
But the road from cook to executive chef is arduous.
Experts say only a small percentage of talented graduates will end up in fine dining, let alone on television. The lucky ones will land jobs in mid-range hotels, cafeterias, cruise ships and restaurant chains.
Others will end up in low-level positions where the pay can run as little as $30,000 a year.
"Not many people are going to come straight out of school and come work at Spago or Chinois [on Main]," said Puck, referring to two of his gourmet restaurants. "But I think restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory and Houston's -- casual dining -- will be very happy with the graduates."
Bill Bracken, executive chef at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, said he is weary of those whose ambition exceeds their talent. He tells the story of a recent culinary school graduate who applied to be a sous chef -- the second-in-command chef -- but had yet to spend a day on the line preparing hot food.
"It's like a medical student wanting to perform cardiovascular surgery," Bracken said.
Still, the number of student applicants continues to climb, as the culinary industry continues to grow. Restaurant sales are projected to reach a record $426.1 billion in 2003, up 4.5% from this year, according to the National Restaurant Assn. That would represent the 12th consecutive year of growth.
As the business grows, so does the number of jobs. Restaurants employed 11.3 million workers in 2000, the most recent figures available, an analysis of Bureau of Labor statistics shows. Overall, California added 32,500 jobs in the food and beverage business sector during that period, a 3.6% increase from the previous year.
