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Interviewed by Cathy Sivak
CookingSchools.com Contributing Writer
Literally fed up with the long hours and travel commitments of his career in technical sales and then in real estate, Ross Headlee decided to tap into his lifelong love of cooking for a new career.
At the age of 43, with two bachelor’s degrees under his belt (in chemistry and psychology), he started the three-year American Culinary Federation’s Chef Apprenticeship Program at Delgado Community College in Louisiana. In 1996, he received his associate of science degree in culinary arts and status as a Certified Culinarian from the American Culinary Federation (ACF). The hands-on program included classroom work as well as restaurant work, and Chef Ross also tapped into his previous bachelor’s degrees to serve as an instructor at the Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana (CIAL) in Baton Rouge.
Upon graduation, Chef Ross worked at an array of restaurants in positions of increasing responsibilities, and then became the dean of education at CIAL. Four years later, the privately-owned school suffered financial difficulties, and Chef Ross became part of the team to seek financial backing to keep the school afloat. An investor was found, and in 2002, the school became the Louisiana Culinary Institute.
He remains the dean of education, and finds culinary academia is his own recipe for success.
In addition to the ACF, Chef Ross is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), which includes not only chefs, but also food critics, food editors, restaurateurs, and educators from culinary schools among its members. He also belongs to the American Culinary Federation. He currently is designated as an FMP (Food Management Professional) by the National Restaurant Association, and is undergoing the testing process to become a Certified Culinary Professional through IACP. “Sometimes people think this is a glamorous job, especially with all of the celebrity chefs on TV like Chef Emeril Lagasse who make it look glamorous. But it’s also a lot of hard work,” Chef Ross notes.
Tell us about your career as a chef. How did your career unfold to allow you to advance to where you are today?
My career as a chef came as a secondary career. I started out in technical chemical sales, and moved on to real estate, but I always enjoyed cooking. I was 43 years old when I started at culinary college, so I wanted to get as much experience as fast as a could. The program was set up as an apprenticeship program, where we attended classes one day a week and worked in the industry the rest of the time. While I was in school, I worked as a chef apprentice at the Baton Rouge Country Club, was a chef apprentice with shared sous chef responsibilities at a catering business, and was a chef apprentice at a fine dining establishment, Dajonel’s Restaurant.
While I was earning my culinary degree, I also tapped into my previous bachelor’s degree and hands-on cooking experience to become an instructor at the Culinary Arts Institute of Louisiana. I taught restaurant management and cost controls, menu planning and production, sanitation, nutrition, business math and business communications classes, and I found that I really enjoyed teaching.
Right out of school, I stepped up the culinary chain to become the kitchen assistant manager/sous chef at an Italian restaurant, Giamanco’s. After about a year there, I made another career move to be the sous chef at the St. James Retirement Community, which was trying to upscale the community with improvements to the formerly cafeteria-style dining to more of a restaurant-quality feel by bringing in chefs. It was really the school of hard knocks for me there, managing about 20 employees, all with the cafeteria mindset. From there, I became the executive chef at the Highland House Restaurant, where I continued with kitchen and staff management.
I had the opportunity to return to teaching at the school, and was part of keeping the school going as the Louisiana Culinary Institute. I’m able to teach now, and teaching these kids to be the culinarians of the future is truly inspiring. I enjoy the educational aspects of cooking, seeing my students succeed.
What led you to shift gears to the culinary field from your previous background in technical sales and real estate?
I was good at sales, but my heart was never in it; the worst part was I was always traveling, in a car, in a plane. Traveling four to five nights a week was hard on me, and hard on my marriage. It wasn’t really me. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Real estate was OK, but it was still sales. Since my wife was making decent money, I took the chance to go to culinary school.
I initially took a tremendous pay cut to change careers to become a chef. Fortunately, I have worked long enough to regain most of it, and I’m now doing a job I love. My happiness and job satisfaction are worth a lot more to me than making bigger bucks at a job I dislike. I consider being a chef more of a lifestyle than a job, and one I actually get paid to do. It’s great to really enjoy what you do for a living.
What did you enjoy most about your career as a chef? In your current role as the dean of education at Louisiana Culinary Institute?
At the restaurant level, I enjoyed menu planning, creating daily or weekly specials, having people compliment our food, and generally enjoying what we did in the back of the house. It’s tough managing a kitchen, getting the most of the people that work for you and to have them enjoy it, too. There’s a passion there, it’s like a pulse. If you treat people fairly, with dignity and respect, people respect that and respond to it.
At the school as dean of education, I enjoyed getting it going under the new ownership, and of course working every day with the kids is very enjoyable. Helping students be the best culinarians they can be is wonderful; their success is my success. I enjoy matching the jobs with best students and seeing the school grow.
What unique challenges and rewards come from working in the culinary field? With culinary students?
In the culinary field, it’s rewarding and challenging both to work with food: cooking it, eating it, tasting it, creating new recipes. I thrive on the pressure of producing a timely meal to perfection in a given time frame. It can be scary, but when it’s over, and the meal was successful, I find it utterly thrilling.
At the school level, watching the students grow and succeed is very rewarding. My big challenge right now is working on our accreditation, which we expect to receive in February.
What are some common myths about the chef profession?
Sometimes people think this is a glamorous job, especially with all of the celebrity chefs on TV like Chef Emeril Lagasse who make it look glamorous. But it’s also a lot of hard work. You work most holidays and weekends, typically a 60-hour week and you’re working in a hot kitchen to cater to the needs of customers who dine or eat out at their leisure.
Who are the biggest inspirations for your career?
My aunt taught me to cook when I was 20 and in college the first time around in Thibodaux, La., where she lived. She’d cook great foods, Cajun-style. My mother cooked for my father, who was from Chicago, so it was all meat and potatoes type meals.
Another is Chef Paul Prudomme; my daughter worked for his restaurant in New York and brought me his Louisiana Kitchen book, which I loved. I had a chance to meet him recently, as he was a speaker at our graduation, he’s a wonderful guy.
Most interesting or unique experiences as a chef?
Passion runs high in this business. I once saw two cooks get into it, ready to kill each other, and I had to break them up. Two hours later they were drinking a beer together. Sometimes as a chef you have to pull a rabbit out of your hat. I once had a big party to cook for, and I went in at 1 p.m. for a 5 p.m. party. The chef the night before was supposed to defrost a 40-pound roast for me, but had forgotten. So there it was, frozen solid. I cut it with a saw into four pieces, put some water in a pan and stuck it in the oven to thaw it at a braise; it came out pretty good.
Another time, while we were prepping for the dinner hour, the power went out. We did all of the food and wait staff preparations in the dark, by flashlight. The power finally came back on, just as people started to arrive for dinner.
Do you feel that is important for someone to be passionate about the culinary field in order to be successful? Do you think that it's important to truly enjoy the field in order to be happy in life?
The more passionate you are as a culinary professional, or in any job, the better you do. If you are passionate about what you do, you should be successful. If you don’t like what you do, it’s like what happened to me in sales, you may be good at it, but eventually, you are just going through the motions and get burnt out.
What contributions do you feel the culinary field has made in society?
The executive chefs, the TV chefs, have promoted have promoted access to fresh food at home as opposed to defrosting prepared foods from the store. People like to watch to chefs cook, and it gets them to cook at home. The field has a lot of employment opportunities if you get trained the field of culinary arts.
How did your culinary education build on your previous degrees in bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and psychology?
I’d been to school, had gotten degrees before, so I knew how to go to school. I studied hard and got good grades in traditional college, so I was ready for it when I went to culinary school.
How did you choose the culinary school you attended?
Proximity was one aspect. Plus, it was a three-year six semester program apprenticeship program, where I got to work full-time at the same time I became a certified culinary professional. In New Orleans, there were great opportunities to get involved with the celebrated Cajun and Creole cooking styles and fine dining experiences.
In retrospect, what do you know now, that you wish you knew before you pursued your education?
At the time, I did like the situation I was in, but I could have gone at a faster pace and attended school every day, rather than school once a week and working in restaurants the rest of the time.
How can prospective students assess their skill and aptitude in the culinary field?
To assess their skill, they need to get a job in a restaurant, to see if they like cooking, being around food. It also helps if they figure out what area they like be involved in, such as baking as opposed to line cooking. Then they can assess what type of culinary education to pursue.
What factors should prospective students consider when choosing a culinary school? Are there any different considerations for those who know that they want to specialize in a certain culinary area?
I would say students should consider a school that has a good reputation, and I would advise students to look at more than one school to see what programs are available. With specializing, if you want to be a baker, go to school that offers lots of instruction on pastries and such.
What are some of the most respected and prestigious schools, departments or programs for those wishing to pursue the culinary field? Does school choice make a difference in landing a good job?
There are a lot of well-respected schools out there, including the Culinary Arts Institute of New York. There are a lot of good schools to choose from; you are likely to want to choose a school based on where you live, where you want to live, and/or what you want to specialize in. School choice is becoming less important because of the shortage of workers. At my school, we’re getting calls from all over the country looking for people dedicated to the field. With the shortage of workers, if you go to a decent school and do well, put a lot into it, it doesn’t make a lot of difference what school you go to.
What types of majors can one pursue at traditional colleges and universities that can lead to a culinary career?
Take business courses, learn how to manage costs, managerial courses to run a restaurant properly; as a chef you’re not just cooking, you’re also trying to manage your costs and manage people; the cooking end of it can come later on culinary schools. I have two BAs, and I’m glad. But it’s not necessary to have a BA to get a good job in the culinary field, especially since the job market is so open right now.
When is it a good time to go after advanced culinary training/education? Is it necessary to be successful in the field?
Some would go on to get restaurant management degree, which can be useful; depending on what it is, managing, cooking, baking. I’d say to do it as soon as possible, as young as you can, to get your career underway.
How do you feel that the educational system in the culinary field could be changed to better serve society?
It’s already improving. For instance, in our area, instead of traditional home economics classes at the high school level, we have Pro Start. It teaches students the basics of sanitation, basic cooking skills; a group recently toured our school a couple of weeks ago.
What other advice can you give to prospective students thinking about an education and career in the culinary field?
Go out and get a job in the field, even a fast food kitchen job or as a wait staff person, to see if you like being in the kitchen. Then hone in on what you like best about it, and go to school to accelerate your success.
How can the reality of being a practicing chef differ from typical expectations?
If you think you’re a going to be a celebrity when you’re a chef, you’re probably not going to get there. You’re a manager, you put out fires (sometimes literally), you get burnt and you get cut.
What are some of the trends that you see in the culinary field which could help students plan for the future?
We’re an aging population in the United States; the Baby Boomers like me are getting older, closer to retirement, and are getting the typical old age health problems like diabetes, high cholesterol and such. As a result, our doctors are ordering us to eat healthier, which is increasing the demand for more nutritious foods. So one trend for students to a trend for students to learn to cook nutritiously, but it also has to taste good and look good.
What are considered the hottest culinary specialties developing?
For a while it was the sushi craze, then raw foods; now one specialty that is coming up is restaurants cooking foods, almost finishing them, and people can pick up a full meal and finish cooking it at home. It’s not just deli food, it is high-end food designed perhaps for the well-to-do, upscale, dual-income couple that just doesn’t have time to cook a gourmet meal from scratch, but wants to eat at home.
What are the best ways to land a job in the culinary field?
Get a good education and experience, and the jobs will be there. If you are dedicated to the industry, and make yourself marketable, you’ll land a good job.
How is the job market now in the culinary field? How do you think it will develop over the next five years?
The industry is getting harder-strapped for labor, there’s not enough to go around. It’s time-consuming to get cooks trained and on board with the establishment, rather than using people who are working their way through college. The trend is to try to cut down on employee turnover, which saves on training costs.
What is the average salary/compensation package for a chef? What can recent culinary school graduates expect as a salary range starting out? Once they get to the top of the profession?
Students just getting out of school with some experience in kitchens can get a job as a chef or a kitchen manager and can expect salaries anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 to start, depending on the area and the restaurant. Often the franchise/corporate restaurants start chefs out anywhere from $30,000 up to $50,000 a year, and the corporate type establishments are more likely to offer benefits packages. At the high-end hotels and restaurants, as a chef you can bring in $100,000 or more. It all depends on you, your skills, and your drive to succeed.
What type of specialized computer programs do culinary professionals typically use, if any?
In restaurants and all types of food service jobs, there are programs to calculate food and labor costs; nutritional analysis of menu items, conversion of recipes to large-scale cooking. Some vendors have computerized ordering systems these days. There are all kinds of applications, and students completing culinary school should be well versed in how to use them.
Has the popularity of the Internet affected your profession?
Now we can order food on-line from vendors, and it’s great for networking with other professionals. We can get good ideas for recipes and preparation, as well as keep up on the latest trends in sanitation, management and so forth.
What other career advice can you offer future chefs?
Every day can’t be a red-letter day. Try to do your best to work with people, treat them fairly and with dignity to get people to work with you and for you. You want to praise in public, correct in private. If you want to be a chef, it’s a way of life, it’s a passion, and you’ve really got to love it to be great at it.
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