NEW YORK -- Lisa Poulos had loved the frenetic pace of her job as assistant to a top executive at a Manhattan financial firm, but the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center made her lose her appetite for the stress.

So, Poulos decided to alter her life drastically and pursue her dream of running a bed and breakfast. She quit her job and enrolled in Manhattan's French Culinary Institute where she could learn cooking and baking skills for her future guests. "The reason I thrived on Wall Street is because I was always putting out fires," said Poulos, who said September 11, 2001, changed her. "I have the drive to do things well, but I don't have the drive to be under pressure anymore."

Poulos, 40, graduated in June and is working with a pastry chef at a Brooklyn bakery. Her new path places her among a surge of professionals who began switching careers for work in the culinary arts in the last two years, Reuters reported.

Cooking has been hot in recent years, as evidenced by the growing reverence for celebrity chefs and the popularity of the Food Network television channel.

Enrolment at many U.S. cooking schools has risen significantly, upward of 40 percent at some, since 2001, boosted by professionals who had worked at jobs unrelated to food. Tim Smith is among those who swapped computer screens for steaming pots and flaming grills after he fell victim to a lackluster high-tech job market.

Smith, a manager in charge of training computer technicians, became unemployed in the summer of 2001. He sent out thousands of resumes but failed to find work.

Then a mailing he received from the culinary program at the Arts Institute of Seattle put an idea in his head. "After 18 months of unemployment I really had to look at different options," said Smith, who is 37. "I needed to establish credibility in a different industry. I had to do something to get people to look past the technician in me. I had to distance myself from a career built over 20 years."

The 1,400 students currently enrolled at the French Culinary Institute include a number from the banking and brokerage fields, and former occupations run the gamut from architect, confidential investigator and public school superintendent to a monk. "There is only one thing typical about our students," said Dorothy Hamilton, founder and chief executive of Manhattan's French Culinary Institute. "They are passionate about food." "I think eating cuts across everybody," she said. "You could be a terrorist and food could be your passion. It knows no prejudices." -----------Follow Your Heart-------------

Rick Smilow, president of Manhattan's Institute for Culinary Education (ICE) said the increase was caused by a combination of events including September 11 and a weak economy, which has accelerated the pace of career changes.

"There has been a lot of bad stuff in the country that has made people follow their hearts," Smilow said.

Hamilton said she had feared for her school's future in the months following the September 11 attacks. But in early 2002 there was a sudden 25 percent rise in enrolment that has continued to grow. It is now up 75 percent from the 800 students in 2001. ICE had a similar experience with enrolment that suddenly began to rise in early 2002.

The increase was also seen in other parts of the country. Michael Nenes, director of culinary arts at the Art Institute in Houston, said the school has seen an influx of students in the last two years from financial fields as well as the oil and gas industry, including former Enron workers.

He said that enrolment has risen more than 40 percent to 516 since summer 2001.

In Seattle, hard hit by slumps in the high tech and aviation sectors, enrolment at the Art Institute of Seattle's culinary program rose about 40 percent as well.

Ian Mackay, interim chair of culinary arts, estimated 20 percent of enrolment is "mature," made up of those who have had other professions.

Culinary schools do offer a good shot at employment. The government estimates the restaurant industry added almost 130,000 jobs during the first six months of 2003.

"We find jobs for all of our students. There is a limited supply of well-trained restaurant workers," said Mackay about Seattle's thriving restaurant scene.