Welcome

A Message from Dorothy Cann Hamilton

If you want to be a great chef, you can’t learn everything from within the walls of a classroom.

That’s why The French Culinary Institute has evolved into The International Culinary Center.

When you come here, you don’t just learn basic culinary skills. You come to understand and to feel the whole culinary world. You have to network. You have to observe the true meaning of world-class performance. You have to intern at some of the world’s great restaurants.

At The International Culinary Center’s campuses in New York, California, and Italy, we will expose you to the whole of the culinary world, one that is evolving daily at very high speed.

It’s no coincidence that our campuses are geographically placed in the very hearts of culinary excellence. That way, you can have easy access to so much more than the classroom itself.

When I founded The French Culinary Institute in 1984, I never imagined how much we’d grow. Since our beginning, the culinary world has grown, too. We now offer programs in so many different disciplines, more than we ever conceived possible in 1984.

And now I find myself announcing that one of the world’s greatest chefs and culinary activists, José Andrés, is joining us as dean of our new Spanish Studies program.

We are so excited that José—together with world-renowned culinary writer Colman Andrews—is coming to add an even greater international flavor to our Center.

We have matured and become the home for more than 22,000 alum, many of whom have become world-renowned.

David Chang, Bobby Flay, Dan Barber, and so many more took the classic French principles that you’ll only learn here and used them as the springboard to let their imaginations fly. They all know that, without the French core, there would be no western technique at all.

Our deans and chef-instructors are not teachers in search of a quiet life. Our deans are some of the most famous names in the culinary world—Jacques Pépin, André Soltner, Alain Sailhac, David Kinch, Jacques Torres, Emily Luchetti, Cesare Casella, and Alan Richman.

The International Culinary Center offers courses that range from Classic French Techniques in Culinary, Pastry and Bread Baking, to Italian Studies to management, from culinary technology to food writing, from cake-making to wine tasting. More than that, they allow you to explore your own sense of taste and develop your palate beyond anything you might have imagined. Many students tell us how they came to us with one sense of taste and left with it entirely changed.

There is one common thread to all of our classes. We hold our teaching and our sense of skill, taste, and culture to a very high standard. Our alumni do the same.

We invest continually in our curriculum and our teachers. We have an extraordinary and large education department that ensures that our curricula are the most current and the most comprehensive. Our Chef-Instructors are trained in a program developed by Columbia Teacher’s College. This ensures that they are great teachers, as well as being great chefs.

So many of the world’s greatest restaurants have told us that they value our students most, because they come the most fully prepared not only to contribute straight away, but to add to the thinking and inspiration of their kitchens.

So many of our students and alumni have told us that being at The International Culinary Center allows them to network with names, restaurants, and cuisines that they had never dreamed would have open doors.

For you, your path into the culinary world’s dynamic future might start when you volunteer at world-class events such as the James Beard Awards in New York or the Pebble Beach Classic in Monterey and find yourself next to some of the most famous chefs in the world. It might start when you suddenly realize that you have never really tasted fish, pastry, or vegetables until you came here.

But our job is to ensure that you are fully immersed in the whole world of cuisine, not merely the classroom of cooking.

Please look around the site. Take your time and see the mise en place that we have to offer. I invite you to visit one of our locations for a private tour and meet our faculty or contact us to ask any questions you might have.

Some of our students already come with cooking experience. Others choose us in order to start their career, to radically alter their career or to simply gain new knowledge about something that inspires their passion.

Passion, in fact, is the most important word here. We prepare students to be world-class kitchen-ready in just 6 to 9 months. You cannot do that if the students and chef-instructors don’t share that passion.]

Study here and you will become connected to the widest possible corners of world cuisine. Cooking school won’t cut it for you anymore. You need to be at the Center of the Culinary Universe.

We look forward to having the opportunity to help you become your best and realize your dreams.