Culinary schools are everywhere in the United States, but not all of them teach aspiring chefs how to make three hundred meals in one night. At the American Culinary Institute (ACI) in New Hyde Park, New York, which has a high reputation, you can take a full course.

An important aspect of the training is practice in hotels and restaurants, so you are baptized by fire in the process.

Many colleges in the United States also have specialized courses. Cornell University has a special school of hotel and restaurant services with a good reputation. In addition, many colleges in New York State and California have winemaking courses.

In many large cities there are schools for bartenders and waiters, which are not very expensive and last for only two weeks. However, some of them give only basic knowledge and skills, but at least provide the beginner with an initial orientation. There you can learn how to prepare a Bronx cocktail, which today no one orders; correctly handle the mixer and not to bang them on the bar, not to break pieces of ice cheap glasses. They teach waiters how to write down an order correctly and how to pour the contents of two half-empty bottles into one bottle. But they don’t teach gallantry, solidity, and ways to get into a customer’s soul.

Only a few of these schools have a placement service for their graduates. Only the best of the university schools have such opportunities. And their teaching restaurants, open to the general public, are quite attractive establishments. (Trainees show great diligence in serving diners, and the quality of the food is often better than in regular restaurants. There really is a lot to learn in them).

At all of these places you can learn the basics of the restaurant business. Students move from theoretical knowledge acquired in the classroom to practical, real-world skills. After all, only through practice can one learn how to serve diners quickly at 8 a.m., lie convincingly, or be satisfied with what one has, and turn bad into good.

Once again, it’s worth mentioning that many, perhaps most, restaurateurs don’t have professional credentials. And many of them do not know how to speak English correctly. They gain their experience through practical work, and once they reach a certain level of confidence, save money, and show enough initiative, they open their own business. On the whole, they run it no worse than those who have received a formal and expensive education, but here you have to face certain contradictions.

A certain head waiter decided it was time to introduce his son to the profession. At first he placed him as an unskilled laborer. But one evening he put a notebook and a pencil in his hands and sent him to serve a friendly couple he knew well. The waiter said to his son: “Come and greet these customers and take your order.” The young man’s hands were shaking slightly, but nothing terrible happened. The young man was sure he could do the job, and soon after, he became an accomplished waiter.

It doesn’t matter how you learn, if you really learn. There is no certainty that you will achieve greater success if you visit all the vineyards of the world and familiarize yourself with the best restaurants before that. There is no direct correlation between knowledge, talent and success. You learn more about yourself in the process of learning the restaurant business. Sometimes you may even regret it. Your friends and acquaintances may also regret it. Good or bad, being in the restaurant business changes the human character.

It is a pretty tough business, much tougher than other areas of entrepreneurial activity. This is due to its characteristic latent tension. But don’t be discouraged!