Okay so my oldest son wants to go to Culinary School today I was looking into schools most seem to be "certificate" schools. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Johnson & Wales University- there is one in Denver he has had his heart set on a school in Oregon OCCI ? but the Denver school is closer to home.
Maybe one of the moms out there has some experience in Culinary schools and could help me out in researching schools for him?
Thank you all for your input, I have talked to my son and we are going to narrow it down to three schools and start taking tours and filling out paper work He just started 10th grade so we have a while. He has a dream he wants to be out of college and owning/running his own restaurant by 26 so I figure we better get started making his dreams come true because that is what we do right?
I've got two friends with sons that attended culinary schools. O. was Johnson & Wales --Rhode Island, perhaps?
The consensus seems to be that even a "really good" culinary school can't "teach" talent.
He should go where he can afford to go....talent will pay off in the end!
Good luck!
My husband did an associates in Culinary And Pastry Arts at a culinary school inside a community college. That way he has an associates degree on top of the certificate. He is a certified Chef and Pastry Chef as well. Then you go into the restraunt biz and work under other chefs. You have to spend so much time at each position in the restraunt, saucier, sous, etc until you reach the level of Chef. It's like an apprenticeship.
I work at Johnson & Wales Denver. :) It's a great school - I would recommend taking a tour at least. The chefs here are awesome.
husband went to Western Culinary in Portland Oregon and is now a fantastic chef!
As a culinary Professional and International High Altitude Food Specialist I would suggest The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY.
Yeah it is far away Mom, but there he will get some of the best Ed and experiences that the culinary world can offer. In fact I wouldn't even look elseware asd the CIA offers a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow as a Chef.
R./The Muffin Lady
I work at JWU Denver (we have other campuses in RI, FL and NC)... and can tell you we have an excellent culinary program (rated repeatedly as the best in the country). It's also one of the few culinary schools where you can get an actual degree (AS or BS), not just a certificate, which makes for a much more employable and well rounded graduate. If you haven't visited the campus already, I would highly encourage you to do so. You can schedule a tour through the admissions dept. They can be reached at ###-###-####. Good luck!
UVU has a great program!
Check local community colleges. Many have programs in culinary arts.
Utah Valley University has one of the best culinary schools in the country. They have won NUMEROUS awards. I even saw them on the food channel college cook off show
And I do beleive that their tuition is fairly cheap. I went to UVU three years ago ant it was very affordable. I miss UVU and hopefully will be going back soon :D
http://www.uvu.edu/ca/
Haha! I just saw that your from Sandy. Suprising isn't it that UVU is that good? I love their food. I have had it several times as compensation for shows I did for them. I LOVE their steaks. Soooo good. I also have 3 or 4 friends going there, and they love it.
Hello,
One of our very best friends went to Scottsdale Culinary Institute (AZ), now Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. He received an excellent education and has been the chef at several nice hotels around the nation (St. Regis, The Ritz, etc.) and also was head of food services at Dodger Stadium. He said it is an fantastic school!
My daughter wanted to go to Johnson & Wales but it is very expensive. We found that Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction has the same associates in Culinary Arts and bachelors in business for a lot less. The associates is actually done at a community college nearby and the two colleges work together. She starts in January, so I can't say yet if its good, but we've visited and it seems good. The cost of attending and living expenses is somewhere around $15,000.00 a year instead of just the tuition being 30 or 40,000 a year like at Johnson and Wales. I don't remember the exact details because she is 20 and has been seeing about it herself.
J&W is the only culinary school in which you can get your BA or your BS. We have many friends who attend J&W in Charlotte and Rhode Island. All are very happy with their education and subsequent employment opportunities.
LBC
I am not sure if the one in Denver you are speaking of is the Colorado Institute of Art but I am a graduate of there and they have a great reputation for culinary (I got a different degree). I also think they offer a full on Bachelors Degree program now.
I would also look at the bios of great chefs and find out what kind of schooling they have.
Good luck!
JWU has several locations, including Colorado, Providence RI (the first) and Miami. I know a young woman who started at the Miami location then transferred to Providence, as well as several other people who went to the Providence location. High marks from everyone: a well regarded school with several degree options (inc. an associate track vs. a bachelor's track); people are considered well trained and good to go upon graduation.
Good luck!
Johnson and Wales has a great reputation as a culinary school. In fact, the school I teach in did a campus visit to J&W, and several of my students were excited to possibly attend one day. Beautiful campus!
The Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, OR is VERY highly regarded! I don't know if that's the same as the OCCI that you menitoned. I know that doesn't help keep you son close to home, but in the event that he chooses LCB know that it's a great school in the heart of downtown and I'm sure he'd love it :)
I would agree with researching culinary arts programs at community colleges - the one by us has an excellent program and it's way more affordable. My stepson is thinking of doing the same thing (just started 11th grade and lives in MA) and he already understands that he doesn't have to go to Johnson and Wales (which is in Providence, RI) and spend $30 - $40K a year when he could decide to move out here, live with us, and pursue his studies at 1/4 of the cost.
