A chef generally has a 4-year college degree, but many employers are now accepting applicants from community colleges, culinary art schools, or technical schools. The Armed Forces have apprenticeships as well. You can still be called a chef without a formal education, but you would have years of experience in the restaurant industry. A culinary education can be vital as being a chef means you can run a restaurant down to training any cook staff, purchase the food you’ll need to cook with, create the menu, and price your menu items.
