Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs from the Quirky to the Sublime »

Irena Chalmers has worn many hats in the food industry. The publisher, producer, and packager of more than forty books, she has regularly contributed to such publications as The New York Times, Food & Wine, Gastronomica, Food Arts, and Nation's Restaurant News. She is a founding member and past president of both the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Les Dames d'Escoffier International, as well as "Who's Who" member of the James Beard Foundation.

Do you want to turn your passion for food into a career? Take a bite out of the food world with help from the experts in this first-of-its-kind What Color Is Your Parachute? for food related careers.

Maybe you're considering culinary school, maybe you're about to graduate, or maybe you're looking for an exciting career change. How can you translate your zest for flavor into a satisfying profession? Should you become a chef or open a specialty foods shop, write cookbooks or try your hand at food styling? Culinary careers are as varied as they are fascinating--the only challenge is deciding which one is right for you. Filled with advice from food-world pros including luminaries such as Alice Waters, Chris Kimball, Betty Fussell and Darra Goldstein, Food Jobs will set you behind the stove of your dream career.

In this tasty, nourishing book, food industry veteran Irena Chalmers offers profiles of food jobs by the dozen--everything from the traditional (maitre d', caterer, dietician) to the behind-the-scenes (restaurant consultant, kitchen designer, hotel promoter) to the holy-cow-I-can-get-paid-for-that? (yacht chef, tea taster, fortune cookie message writer). Chalmers provides essential information for getting started and succeeding in your chosen culinary role including job descriptions, candid musings on what the job really entails and who it's really for, and testimonials from the best in the field (Bobby Flay, Todd English, Gordon Hamersly, Francois Payard, Danny Meyer, Anthony Bourdain and more). The book also presents an array of resources on where to find more information to put you ahead of the competition. Bursting with real-life wisdom from those who've been there, FoodJobs will expose you to the myriad of different food jobs available and guide you to the one that's right for you.

"I'm honored to be included in your book."—Danny Meyer, Restaurateur

"Irena Chalmers is a culinary Goddess. I for one am in the front of the line to purchase and devour anything she publishes."—Candy Wallace, Executive Director, American Personal & Private Chef Association

"Irena Chalmers should be right up there with Julia and Jim in spreading the word about good food in America. As the First Lady of Food books for three decades, Chalmers presence on the page or in a lecture hall charges the atmosphere with vitality, wit and wisdom."—Betty Fussell, Food Historian and Author of The Story of Corn, My Kitchen Wars and Raising Steaks

Kitchen Arts & Letters Newsletter

A well-connected, highly regarded culinary career guru who is currently an instructor at the CIA's New Hyde Park campus, Chalmers presents a very useful guide to a dizzying array of food occupations, ranging from chef, butcher, and nutritionist to bee keeper, kitchen designer, and wild game farmer. Her knowing and pithy descriptions of duties and requisite qualifications are often supplemented by enlightening accounts of their career paths written by people prominent in their field: Betty Fussell on becoming a food historian, Jonathan King on the founding of Stonewall Kitchens, Sidney Mintz on specializing as a food anthropologist. Great perspectives here.