One point any culinary school is likely to sell you on is that the restaurant business is one that is growing and that you'll find a job.

But does this hold true during our economic recession?

I've read that restaurant jobs are available even if business is slower. On the other hand, I hear some classmates at school who say they're not getting enough hours.

My conclusion is that it depends on what type of restaurant you work in and where you live.

Some of New York's top restaurants are still hopping (a reservation at Momofuku Ko is still as difficult to nab now as it was last year), while others are hurting. New restaurants are still opening, even if fewer than before.

My belief is that everyone has to eat. Eating out is a part of our culture and food has only become more and more popular in the past decade with an explosion of food shows on television, celebrity chefs and greater interest in consumers who want to know more about where their food comes from before it hits the supermarket shelf.

At the French Culinary Institute's restaurant, L'Ecole, the school is experiencing what many other restaurants are going through: a slow period. There are fewer covers earlier in the week and some of the students don't have as much work to do.

Restaurants have always gone through these slow times and the chefs who produce quality meals that people want will continue to prosper.