# Professional Chef or Pastry Chef



## jess0680 (Aug 14, 2010)

I am just curious to know if anyone could let me know the Pro's and Con's of working as a Professional Chef and a Pastry Chef. I would love to hear the opinions of professionals as I am currently trying to make up my mind for what course to take for school. I love doing both but I'm trying to find the most useful information to help me make my decision and I know posting a thread on the professional forums will probably be the best place to get feed back from


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

Actually, posting in the pro forums is one of the pros of being a professional in foodservice, so I'm moving this to the students forum.


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## soigneky (May 13, 2010)

It all depends on your personality, and what you want to get out of your career.  There is certainly no need to limit yourself to one or the other.  A pastry chef can always learn to be a CDP, and vice versa.  Were it me, I would choose the path that challenges my skills the most.  I've always found working a line more immediately gratifying (the heat of battle and all), and that's where my natural talent lies, so I might take the pastry path to broaden my knowledge base. 

Basically, if you take the path of pastry, expect to spend a lot of time working on your own with delicate projects.  If you take the more general-ed path, Professional Chef as you refer to it, then expect to be working as part of a team cranking out plates.  At least to start, anyway.


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## jess0680 (Aug 14, 2010)

I used to have a job as a waitress and I know how busy a restaurant could get but I'm not sure if I could personally handle being the chef or a chef. I do like cooking but I don't know how it would handle it career wise. I do like baking a lot because I can use my artistic skills but I just don't know how far it would get me. I don't know much about the industry but so far from what I have read, both being a chef and a pastry chef seem to be enjoyable jobs. I do like jobs that keep me busy and keep me going so I know I'd get used to the stress of it, my current job is pretty stressful, but I can't get anywhere with it and I need something more challenging. I do know how to cook really well, I'm fast at picking it up, baking I don't do as much but I'm pretty good, but I need practice. It's hard to pick one for the moment when you like doing both.


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