Playing Your Cards Right: Attending a Nevada Culinary School

If the "all you can eat" buffet can be considered a cuisine, then the Las Vegas buffet is Nevada's claim to food fame. Created by Herb McDonald, the opulent buffet became the signature Las Vegas dining experience. In the early 1950s, McDonald started an inexpensive buffet at the El Rancho, and since then, virtually every hotel-casino in Southern Nevada has followed with their own version to attract customers.

Along with changes to the Las Vegas skyline came a change in the Las Vegas food scene: the introduction of celebrity-chef restaurants at luxury hotels. You'll find star chef-restaurateurs from all over the globe such as Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, Joël Robuchon, Mario Batali, Julian Serrano, Thomas Keller and Alain Ducasse, all creating a culinary hot spot in the desert.

With so much talent in town, Las Vegas has made its mark on the nation's culinary map. In 2006 the city was home to several James Beard Award nominees and a Best New Restaurant Award winner in 2007. A Las Vegas culinary school puts you at ground zero of this exciting and growing restaurant scene, with opportunities to learn from the success of master chefs.

There's good news for Nevada culinary school students. The culinary employment outlook is booming in Nevada. The American Restaurant Association projects $5.2 million in restaurant sales for 2009 and anticipates a 23.2 percent growth in restaurant and foodservice employment by 2019.

Here's a look at the average salaries for culinary jobs in Nevada:

Schools located in Las Vegas and nearby Henderson are just a heartbeat away from the culinary heart of Nevada.

At The International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Las Vegas, you'll learn from professional chefs, preparing you to enter a challenging culinary career. You'll learn fundamental culinary techniques and explore the use of international ingredients to prepare you for the ongoing discovery and evolving fusion of world flavors. You'll find International Culinary School graduates employed with Marriott International, Macy's, Nordstrom Inc., Restaurants Associates, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Corp., Whole Foods and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., to name a few.

Students at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts experience the legendary, internationally recognized Le Cordon Bleu culinary curriculum. From its intensive, practical and comprehensive training, you'll develop the theoretical foundation and technical skills you'll need to build your culinary career anywhere in the world. Practical experience in the student-operated restaurant, Café Bleu, gives you the rare opportunity to experience the front- and back-of-the-house operations with actual paying patrons.

There's no place like Las Vegas for experiencing the unexpected. A Las Vegas culinary school is right in the center of a growing, fast-paced and evolving food scene. Search All Culinary Schools to find the right Nevada culinary school for you.

_{Source: Salary data from Indeed.com 2010}