Something very exciting!

I recently discovered that Boston University offers a graduate program called the "Masters of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy." It's one of the coolest programs I've ever seen offered. Until this point, I had figured on going to a full-on culinary school, but I think this fits my career goals much better, especially since they allow their students to enrich their program with classes and certificates from the culinary arts program. Check it out:

http://www.bu.edu/met/programs/graduate/gastronomy/

I'd probably choose to concentrate in business, and take their classes relating to restaurant management and food writing while earning the degree. Looking through their class list, I don't know how I'd ever pare it down and just take a few. There's so many amazing things to learn and discover!

I'd been concerned about the hours, lifestyle, and physical grind of a classical culinary career, and I think this program offers more options, whether they be in a journalism field or in high-end restaurant management.

It also corresponds with another great opportunity I have. As you all know, I have recently started working at the Provo Marriott. The company that manages our restaurant, IHR, also manages a particularly nice hotel in Boston, the Charles. The Charles, aside from being a great hotel, houses some fantastic restaurants, including the Rialto, one of the finest hotel restaurants in the country. It will probably not be that difficult, after a year or so at the Provo Marriott, to transfer to the Charles and work in one of the restaurants there, and sooner or later end up in Rialto. Check out the websites for the hotel (http://www.charleshotel.com/index.cfm) and the Rialto (http://www.rialto-restaurant.com/home/). Through IHR, I will probably also be able to get some tuition reimbursement to ease the pain of paying for a graduate program as I attend part-time and work.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share this with y'all because I'm really, really excited about it right now. More research is in order, to find out if it is a legitimate program and career options that stem from it, but needless to say it's the most fantastic graduate degree program I've ever seen and something I seriously want to consider for my future.