Top Culinary Schools

Culinary schools teach the fine art of cooking. Cooking is no longer considered to be just simple cooking. It involves a lot of expertise and innovation. With the food industry growing at spectacular rates, there is a lot of demand for good cooks. This is the reason most people are taking up the culinary arts as a serious career option. There are now hundreds of culinary schools that teach not just basic cooking but also specialties like pastry preparation, wine classes, knife skills, desserts, baking, holiday foods, healthy foods, regional cooking, style cooking, sauces, chocolates, safety and sanitation, cost management, food handling and identification, food and nutrition, special cuisines, and more.

Culinary schools offer a lot of courses: executive chef, sous-chef, saucier, garde manager, pastry chef, sommelier and more. The courses are based on the level of expertise: level 1 for basic introduction, level 2 for more experienced cooks and level 3 for professional cooking.

The best culinary schools not only offer certifications that are respected worldwide, but also the finest facilities and instructors, food service operations, job placement assistance, good credentials, teaching by experts, hands-on teaching, and so on. They teach fundamental and traditional cooking, and encourage innovation and novelty. They generally have small teacher-student ratios. One way to judge the quality of a culinary school is to take at look at its alumni and where they are placed. These people can also provide their own critique of the various schools. Another way to judge is to see the accreditations that school has.

There are many rankings and ratings provided to culinary schools by Princeton Review or US News or World Report. Some of the best culinary schools across the world are: The Culinary Institute of America, Texas Culinary Academy, Sullivan University, New England Culinary Institute, Liaison College, The Art Institutes, Johnson and Wales University, Le Cordon Bleu, the French Culinary Institute, Western Culinary InstituteArticle Submission, and several others. 

Information about top culinary schools and their programs can be obtained by visiting the school or requesting a brochure. The internet will help you locate a top culinary school in your area; there are several websites that provide information. The schools also have their own websites that advertise their latest courses and offers.

Why Attend Culinary School?

Attending a culinary school is necessary if you are pursing a career in culinary arts.  Even if you are a “great cook”, it takes professional training in culinary arts to become an expert.  If you want to get a job in a good restaurant, you will need professional qualifications that come from attending a regular culinary school. Many people think that culinary school is very expensive.  Any education is costly and culinary programs are no exception.

Many people think that culinary arts are a talent and cannot be taught.  Culinary arts are both an Art and a Science.  In culinary training you will learn about ingredients and how they are used in the foods that you cook.  The time you spend learning about ingredients and additives in your culinary program will help you to be a well-informed chef. 

Chef, caterer, pastry arts and restaurant cook are the most familiar four options in culinary school.  There are, however, hundreds of jobs in the food industry. Students may want to direct their Culinary Career in the direction of management as executive chef, or in sales as a director of catering.  There are also culinary programs in food and beverage management.   Many people who hold Culinary Degrees strive to develop food products for the wholesale or retail market.  Students can take their culinary training and become consultants for restaurateurs, chef school teachers, or even food writers.


For any of these culinary careers, you will need to find an accredited culinary school program to get your certificate or degree.  This kind of professional culinary training will provide you the knowledge and understanding for quality ingredients and creating pleasant and balanced dishes for the diner.  Your culinary education will be an ongoing one throughout your career.  The base of knowledge you learn in Culinary School gives you the knowledge to test your own creativity in the kitchen.

If you love to cookFree Articles, you should pursue your dream of culinary school.   It is never too early for you to think about the opportunities that will come along after culinary training. 

Culinary Schools - Campus Life

Author: Erik Johnson

The experience of going to culinary school varies from one school to the next. Some culinary arts programs are part of traditional community colleges or four-year universities, so the experience will be similar to any other college experience at that school. Other people choose to get their culinary arts degree from an institution that is dedicated to training chefs. In this case, the experience will immerse the student in the world of food and drink, surrounding them with their peers and with experienced faculty who are all as crazy about cooking as they are. While every culinary education experience is different, there are a few things that every chef-in-training should expect.

One thing that makes culinary school different from other schools is the kitchen facilities. While traditional students attend classes in lecture halls and perform school work in labs, culinary students complete their courses in kitchen facilities that are similar to a professional kitchen. Even if the culinary school program is part of a larger institution that offers a wide variety of degree programs, the culinary students will have a different experience because they have to dress the part and they will probably be cooking almost every day. While the typical college student is wearing jeans and t-shirts, a culinary student will need to wear white chef's clothing to prepare for the real world of cooking.

The tools that students use in preparation for their culinary arts degree are much different from the tools that an English student, art student, engineering student or any other type of college student needs to use during their academic career. The school will provide some equipment during classes, but chefs also need to have things like professional knives, food processors, blenders and other cooking tools to use on their own.

Culinary students can earn many different levels of degrees just like other students, ranging from certificate programs and associate's degrees all the way to bachelor's degrees and even doctorates. A culinary arts degree is just like any other – it must be from an accredited institution to be valid. With this kind of education, there's no telling what a chef can do.

Choose the Right Culinary School and Fulfill Your Culinary Dreams

Author: Joe Deacon

If you have dreamed of becoming a chef and are finally ready to take the step towards achieving this goal, you probably have thought about culinary schools. How do you know which school is right for you? Do you close your eyes and pick one, hoping your finger contains a touch of luck? Surely there is a better way to choose a culinary school.

Factors to Consider When Selecting a Culinary School

1.     Reputation.

When selecting a culinary school to attend, the first thing you need to check is its reputation in the culinary world. It need not be the No. 1 cooking school but it should be known for its standing and ability to produce quality cooks and chefs.

2.     Awards or Citations.

Check if the culinary school has any awards or citations granted by culinary award-giving bodies. This way, you’re assured that the school has standards high enough that others in the industry are not only noticing it, but rewarding it.

3.     Membership in Culinary Organizations.

Check if the culinary school is an active member of any culinary organization. This way, you’re assured that the school is on top of whatever is the latest trend on the cooking industry.

Although food trends are pretty much like fashion (i.e., there’s always something going out of style and something making a comeback), there are still new things that are introduced now and then. An example is the current trend to cook meat using ‘water treatments’, where the meat is flavored and sealed in a vacuum pack and the whole pack placed in water at a specific temperature. It is trends like these that the culinary schools should be on top of.

4.     Curriculum.

What type of cook do you wish to be? For instance, do you want to excel in a specific country’s cooking that may not necessarily the country where you come from? Do you want to be more of a pastry connoisseur? Whatever you want to ‘major’ in, ensure that the culinary school has a good curriculum for it.

5.     Mode of Teaching.

Different people learn in different ways. Further, depending on where you are in your life right now, time or schedule of classes may be an issue with you. As such, check the mode of teaching applied by the school and schedules of classes.

6.     Proximity.

A school may have a good rep but is it really a viable option for you? If distance is an issue, then you may have to rule out culinary schools out of your city OR you can ask if there are local accredited schools.

7.     Check out reviews.

Nowadays, there are some sites that offer a sort of grading or review system for schools. See, if the culinary school you want to attend is listed on the site and see what others have to say. Don’t depend solely on the reviews of other people, but it can be a great starting point in your search for your culinary school.