Industry leaders Mashama Bailey, Evan Funke and Gabi Chappel weigh in on the time, value and benefits of a culinary school education.
“Is culinary school worth it?” It’s a question that food industry veterans have asked and answered for years. While all education is an investment in yourself, the question that’s really being asked here is whether formal culinary education provides better skills training and offers more professional and networking opportunities than learning on the job.
We asked three culinary industry stars their thoughts on the matter — and they had a lot to say. Their thoughts are below. But first, let’s meet the chefs.
- Mashama Bailey – ICE alum + Chef/Co-owner of The Grey. Winner of two James Beard Awards: “Best Chef: Southeast, 2018,” and ”Outstanding Chef, 2022.
- Evan Funke – Chef/owner of LA’s Felix Trattoria, Mother Wolfe and Funke.
- Gabrielle Chappel – ICE alum + media personality. Winner of Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef, Season 3.
Three themes emerged while talking to these culinary professionals.
Culinary school offers a tool kit of foundational techniques.
Chef Mashama explained that she was already working in kitchens when she came to attend ICE for Culinary Arts.
“I think that culinary school was worth it for me," Chef Mashama says. "I was a career changer and I wanted that foundation. I wanted those fundamental skills before I went out to restaurants to cook professionally.”
Chef Gabi reflected on how cooking school taught her how to interact and engage in professional kitchens.
“ICE really has given me the foundation and the tools to be ready to work in a kitchen, to understand how to move in a kitchen: ‘How do I conduct myself each day?’; ‘Am I the first person there?’ [These have] helped me grow immensely throughout my career," she says.
Chef Evan cited how the value of formal schooling goes beyond the cooking skills themselves.
“Fundamentals are paramount," he says. "It’s important to have structure, have discipline, and I think that ICE does a great job doing that.”
Formal training is rigorous and disciplined.
When asked how school prepared her for the real world, Chef Mashama reflected on the supportive but realistic environment.
“I don’t think [ICE] pulled any punches," she says. "I think they really let us know that if you want to pursue a career in culinary arts, you have to be serious about it. The Chef-Instructors are serious, the classes are serious, the deadlines are serious, and they really ask you to perform to a high standard.”
Chef Gabi said ICE’s Plant-Based Culinary Arts program caught her eye because it was one of only a few programs focused on the nuances of plant-based cooking:
“It allowed me the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a field that I was really curious about, which was plant-based, holistic cooking…[It’s] so unique. It’s not really something that you would learn in a restaurant or learn in any environment that was just a kitchen,” she says.
While the curriculum is important when choosing a school, the Chef-Instructors delivering the education are a vital consideration. Having hired many ICE alumni, Chef Evan reflected on its Chef-Instructors efforts.
“Staff [at ICE] do an exceptional job of preparing students for the real world,” he says.
Culinary school helps you build a network in the food industry.
Chef Gabi emphasized the mentorship that accompanies attendance at a school like ICE.
“My biggest influences are definitely some of the Chef-Instructors I’ve had," she says. "They’ve really encouraged me, especially in the beginning of my career, just to put myself into situations that were maybe a little scary, and pushing me.”
Beyond the in-class education, Chef Mashama believes networking opportunities are among the biggest values in receiving a formal education.
“You already have a built-in mentorship connection when you go to culinary school, and that's really important when you’re working in this culinary industry,” she says.
Chef Evan agrees, noting that culinary school provides an “exceptional opportunity for students to begin their journey of becoming a professional.”
Ultimately, Chef Gabi’s opinion on the “Is culinary school worth it” question was clear.
“Yes! Absolutely, it’s worth it," Chef Gabi says. "It was so worth it for me. It introduced me to new concepts, new theories, new ideas about cooking and about how there’s such a deep relationship between chefs and the ingredients and the environment — and I wouldn’t have had that without culinary school. So for me, it was 100% worth it.”
Mashama Bailey — Chef/co-owner of The Grey in Savannah, Georgia. Winner of two James Beard Awards: “Best Chef: Southeast, 2018,” and ”Outstanding Chef, 2022. She’s appeared on numerous culinary TV shows, co-authored a book, chairs the Edna Lewis Foundation, and continues to grow her culinary business with The Grey Market and The Diner Bar at the Thompson Hotel in Austin, Texas. She’s also slated to open a restaurant in Paris in 2025. Chef Mashama is a graduate of ICE’s Culinary Arts program in New York City.
Evan Funke — Chef/owner of Felix Trattoria, Mother Wolfe and Funke in Beverly Hills, California, as well as restaurants in Las Vegas and Chicago. Accolades include two James Beard Award nominations, one as a “Best New Restaurant” finalist for Felix. He has written a cookbook, starred in his own documentary, and is the central figure in the premiere episode ‘Chef’s Table’ on Netflix.
Gabrielle Chappel — Food media and cooking video/TV personality with over 80,000 Instagram followers. Featured cook in several Epicurious videos and recently won Season 3 of Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef on FOX. Gabrielle is a graduate of ICE’s Plant-Based Culinary Arts (formerly Health-Supportive Culinary Arts).
