Serious About Learning to Cook? 2 Local Culinary Schools Explored

Art Institute and Seattle Culinary Academy deans discuss advantages of formal culinary study & more

By Sara Jones March 9, 2015

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When I started culinary school several years back, food lovers sometimes got a dreamy look when they found out. Through their questions, they tried to assess if the experience was for them—and, perhaps most to the point—if the Poet Laureate Charles Simic was right when he told the The New York Times that people looking to be happy should, “[f]or starters, learn how to cook.”

Culinary studies on your bucket list? Take a closer look at two of Seattle’s main programs below—which vary in degrees offered, cost, endeavors of graduates and more. While many chefs rise in the industry without formal cooking education, we asked deans at the Art Institute of Seattle and Seattle Culinary Academy to discuss what they believe to be the merits of culinary schooling in general, and of their programs specifically.

Both curriculums are geared toward students planning food careers (the commitment may be heavy for hobbyists), both say their graduates are highly valued and find work quickly and both have student-run restaurants open to the public to sample their work in action. Finally, both schools also offer full baking curriculums (not detailed here).

1. The Art Institute of Seattle2323 Elliott Ave

  

Art Institute student in the kitchen; photo courtesy of the Art Institute of Seattle

Program length and degree: 18 months for an Applied Associate of Arts (AAA) in Culinary Arts and 36 months for a Bachelor’s (BA) in Culinary Arts Management

Program cost: Approximately $43,650 for the AAA degree and $87,300 for the BA degree, plus texts, supplies, and lab fees. (Grant funding available through the Art Grant Program: up to 15 percent for AAA students and 20 percent for BA students.)

Weekly time commitment: approximately 20 class hours per week, plus homework. On average students take five classes per quarter which meet in one of three time slots between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Typical day (a sample; students have flexibility in organizing their schedules):

  • 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.: Students attend culinary lectures
  • 12 to 5 p.m.: Students attend a kitchen course
  • During their break or following their kitchen course, students might also attend a an extra-curricular workshop or club activity.

What do most students do for work after culinary school?

  • Graduates from the Associates in Culinary Arts program: Start in entry-level positions (prep cook, line cook and first cook) in restaurants.
  • Graduates from the Bachelor’s in Culinary Management program: Start in entry-level positions with restaurants, hotels, food service institutions, catering and other culinary- or hospitality-related business in positions such as assistant banquet manager, catering manager, inventory control specialist, kitchen manager, management trainee, sous chef and quality assurance manager

Average age of students: 24 (students range from 18 to older students making a career change)

What is one thing that sets your program apart from others?

A career services department who partners with students and graduates during all stages of their education (and for up to 6 months after graduation) to seek appropriate employment

In addition to networking, what advantages does your culinary education give students in the field versus just working their way up in restaurants?

“Students graduate with a knowledge of classical culinary technique and a foundational knowledge of terms used in the kitchen,” Scott Carnz, dean of academic affairs, says. “They learn these techniques in an environment that is not as high-pressure as a work environment where they can make mistakes and development their skill set under the watchful eye of a chef without having to get an order to table in a short amount of time. Students are also exposed to a much greater array of cuisines and techniques than they might be exposed to working in a specific restaurant with a limited menu.”

Student-run on-campus restaurants to visit: the Portfolio Restaurant, open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights while school is in session

2. Seattle Culinary AcademySeattle Central College, 1701 Broadway


Seattle Culinary Academy students in the One World restaurant kitchen; photo courtesy of Seattle Culinary Academy

Program length and degree: 6 quarters (18 months) for a certificate in culinary arts, or (with 16 additional elective credits) an Applied Associate of Science (AAS) degree.

Program cost: Approximately $12,000 total or $2000/quarter: includes tuition, lab fees, uniform and culinary tools. (Scholarships available through the Seattle Central Foundation and select donor partners, including the Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland.)

Weekly time commitment: 23 to 25 class hours per week, plus homework. On average students take five classes per quarter which meet between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. 

Typical day:

  • 8 to 9 a.m. Students have a lecture about culinary history and basic cooking techniques including saucework, butchery, starch and vegetable cookery, etc.
  • 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students have their practicum sessions in the kitchens, where they cook lunch for other culinary and baking students (in the first two quarters), then cook in one of SCA’s two restaurants open to the public (in the latter quarters). Culinary students also have serving and management rotations in the two on-campus restaurants, as well as several specialty breads and desserts rotations to learn basic pastry techniques like breads and sweet doughs.
  • 1:30 to 3:30 Students take courses in culinary-related subjects including costing for restaurants, management, sustainability, wine, cheese, etc.

What do most students do for work after culinary school?

In addition to working in restaurants, students are hired to cook for IT campuses, cruise lines, hospitals, universities, hotels, private clubs and more. Moreover, others have gone on the pursue farming, food writing, sustainability work, research and development of culinary products and community activism and small-scale entrepreneurship involving food-related issues.

Average age of students: 29 (students range from 17 to 60)

What is one thing that sets your program apart from others?

A goal of striving to “create great citizens,” especially through the program’s sustainability curriculum, says dean Linda Chancey. Seattle Culinary Academy is the first public culinary school in the nation to offer formal coursework in sustainability according to Chauncey, in which students study the social, environmental, and economic impacts of their decisions and actions. “We want our students to understand how the food at the table impacts the world because chefs are gatekeepers of the food system,” she says. “Their buying decisions determine what will be grown and ultimately consumed. As such, they have the ability to positively influence our social, economic and environmental concerns.”

In addition to networking, what advantages does your culinary education give students in the field versus just working their way up in restaurants? 

“Formal education provides a student with not only the ‘how,’ but the ‘why’ behind it,” says Chauncey. “Only the theory behind the practice teaches how to prevent or fix a problem.” Moreover, SCA is accredited by the American Culinary Federation, which ensures potential employers that each student has a broad spectrum of skills and knowledge, “not just a single skill that comes from being pigeon-holed into one station at a job,” Chauncey says.

Finally, she adds that formal education exposes students to a range of food career pathways that they might not otherwise learn about.

Student-run on-campus restaurants to visit: One World and Square One Bistro (open for lunch Tuesday through Friday while school is in session) 

 

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