While attending a culinary art school or college was not mandatory to become a chef, the world of food is now extremely competitive and many high end restaurants & hotels or even just your local restaurant now prefer the credibility of chefs with a diploma from a reputable school.
However, looking for a good culinary arts or cooking school or college is not easy since there are so many options out there. So what should you choose to remain in the competition and what school or college will you benefit the most from? To help you pick your school, we made you a summary of what to seek far, and we put together a top 10 list of culinary arts institutes and schools in North America.
Why choosing a cooking college or school
For many reasons. First, being a chef is not easy. There is so much to learn, from food, to concepts, to techniques, to innovative ideas. Your palette may be good, but if your technique isn’t, chances are that you won’t be able to make a break in the industry. It can take as long as 10 years as a sous-chef to learn all the necessary techniques, but only as little as 6 years to become a fully trained master chef in a culinary art institute. Moreover, schools offer different specializations, including different types of cuisines, pastry or gourmet cooking and much more.
What to look for in a culinary school
There are major things to look for, such as the accreditation. With the popularity of chef-star or food shows, culinary arts schools are opening fast. Because they are expensive, it is important to choose your institute carefully. Look for institutes that have formed world-class chefs. You can basically pick your top 10 or 20 chefs and make a background check on them. Compare what schools they attended (if they did), and what school comes back the most.
So the things you should look for are
1- accreditation of the institute/college/school
2- the cost
3- the facilities
4- what world-class chefs were trained there
5- who teaches there
Teaching
Also, it is wise to have a look at what master chefs are teaching there. The quality of a school doesn’t always depend on how good the chef is at cooking, but also how good the chef is at communicating their skills and knowledge. So ask around. Go on forums and find out what other people thought about the classes and the teachers.
Facilities
High end facilities may charge your more because they are keeping up-to-date with the latest culinary art product or tool. However, remember that once you start working, most restaurants stick to the basic, and do not spend a fortune or fancy cooking tools. Therefore, while it may be more interesting for you, as a student, to be working in a high-end facility, community cooking schools may be closer to the future restaurant where you will be working at.
Practicum opportunities
Getting an apprenticeship or externship is the best way to get hands on the real thing. Institutes and schools are spotless and slow pace. Working in a restaurant, you will quickly learn that the real world is 180 degrees different. Externships are also the best way to show off your skills, and as a matter of fact, most world-class chefs full potential is discovered during their apprenticeship, and not at school
Different taste calls for different schools
Are you more interested in the hearty Italian cuisine, have you discovered a special love for pastries, are you all about French-American-Asian fusion, or are you more into extreme techniques, such as those used in molecular gastronomy? Before enrolling yourself and spending a lot of money in a school, check their programs, compare, but before all, know yourself. Find out what really intrigues and interests you. Otherwise, you may just end up jumping from one college, to one institute, to another.
Top 10 culinary arts schools in the U.S.
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1. Le Cordon Bleu
2. The Art Institutes
3. The French Culinary Institute – New York
4. The Italian Culinary Academy – New York
5. The Institute of Culinary Education – New York
6. The Culinary Institute of America – Hyde Park
7. Lincoln Culinary Institute
8. Culinary Academy
9. Keiser University – Center for Culinary Arts
10. Virginia College
For more information about culinary arts, schools, colleges and institutes, please visit Consumer Top 10 now.
