Never before than now was the time to turn your creativity into a career; two of which strike me almost immediately are writing and cooking. In pursuit of the former, and as a logical continuation of my previous writing (“Careers in Hospitality Management”), I would like to throw some light on the latter - Culinary arts/skills, its scope as a career option, the various Institutes providing the required training and of course the potential employers. Food industry, both as a subset of the Hospitality Industry and as a standalone one in its own right, is booming. We know even without any newspapers or blogs telling us that there are more restaurants than hotels; that the demand for fine, luxury dining and multi- and world cuisines is on an all-time and parabolic high, thanks to higher incomes, increased business & leisure travel, globalisation, penetration of International food chains in India and sprawl of national brands and standalone/local food joints.

Career Prospects

A degree or a diploma certificate in food craft; food production; food and beverage service or bakery and confectionery opens up many employment avenues which are varied and interesting. The various job options in the business (other than participating in “Master Chef” across the world) are:

• Baker
• Chef
• Restaurant manager – Managing various aspects of a restaurant/ cafeteria/dining area of a Hotel (including food, menus, interiors, layouts, presentation, sanitation, etc)
• Food & Recipe Critic/Reviewer/Expert and Writer - Communicate with the public on food trends, chefs and restaurants though newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books, ie Visual & Digital Food Media.