What Clothing Will I Need For Culinary School?
One of the expenses of culinary school that many students don’t consider is buying professional uniforms for the kitchen. Not all cooking schools have a dress code, but most of the top ones do require adherence to a few set standards of dress in the kitchen. In most cases, you will be required to purchase these along with a knife set and books, so it’s a good idea to figure a little extra room in your culinary school budget.
- Jacket/Coat: The chef jacket is the piece of clothing most commonly associated with working in a kitchen. These items have a double breasted panel along the front, which can be reversed to quickly hide stains, and are made of durable cotton to prevent burns.
- Pants: Chef pants are usually loose, made of cotton, and come in patterns or colors that easily hide stains. Many culinary schools allows students to wear whatever pants they want in lieu of uniform pants.
- Chef Hat: Perhaps nothing is more recognized as part of a chef’s attire than the chef hat, or toque blanche, as it is more formally known. Although these aren’t quite as common any more as they used to be, hats – either in the form of baseball caps, skull caps, berets, or more traditional choices – are fairly common.
- Shoes: A cook’s shoes are his or her most valuable tool. It’s not uncommon for students and cooks to be on their feet for hours at a time, running and turning and performing almost athletic feats of endurance. Shoes have to reflect this; in fact, most cooks wear some sort of clogs (the Crocs brand is particularly popular) that are both comfortable and non-slipping.
- Additional Accessories: Aprons and neckerchiefs are found in some kitchens as a way to keep the uniform underneath clean. These vary in size and style, but often fall in the black or white color range.
Depending on your culinary school’s requirements, the cost of all these items can range from about $100 to up to $1,000, and may have to be purchased annually or even quarterly. However, since similar uniforms will be required once you begin working in a restaurant kitchen, it’s good to get accustomed to the culinary dress code and its requirements early on.
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