Hone Your Craft, Shape Your Dreams
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Filipino | Japanese | Korean | Portuguese | Spanish | TurkishWhether you want to be a chef, pastry chef, or sommelier, or if you opt to follow a different path entirely to pursue a future in food journalism, food styling or any number of careers outside the kitchen, The International Culinary Center offers culinary training that gives you an edge in today’s competitive market.
Our intense Total ImmersionSM curriculum, which has helped thousands of students find success in the industry, ensures you get the maximum real world learning in a concentrated amount of time. Total ImmersionSM is all about personal attention, with low student-to-teacher ratios, instant feedback from dynamic, inspiring instructors and hands-on repetition, so that each carefully planned lesson becomes part of your permanent repertoire. It works, and it will work for you.
International students who enroll for full-time study in Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, Intensive Sommelier Training, or the Art of International Bread at our campuses in New York City or the Bay Area of California are eligible to apply for M-1 visas. Current F-1 visa holders have the additional option of enrolling in part-time evening programs or signing up for supplementary classes at The International Culinary Center.
Classic Culinary Arts
In six months, Classic Culinary Arts immerses you in the French techniques that form the building blocks of all great Western cuisine. You’ll follow a curriculum designed by legends in the culinary world, the industry icons who are our esteemed deans: Jacques Pépin, David Kinch, Alain Sailhac, and André Soltner whose reputations are respected worldwide. If you dream of achievement like theirs, you need a culinary school like ours.
Beginning on day one, you begin the evolution into a confident cook. Under the guidance of chef-instructors, you learn and repeat fundamental techniques, quickly developing proficient knife skills and learning how to properly cook foods. As your efficiency increases, you rotate through the stations of the professional kitchen (garde-manger, fish, meat and pastry) while practicing basic techniques until they become second nature. As you practice teamwork, timing, and organization, critiques from chef-instructors encourage you to strive for high-level execution. The program culminates in cooking in a real-world environment, for discriminating guests: at our award-winning Michelin®-rated restaurant, L'Ecole, in New York or the Monte Bello dining room at our California Bay Area campus. Upon graduation you'll be ready to step seamlessly into the finest kitchens.
Classic Pastry Arts
Are exquisite pastries, cakes, and desserts your innermost passion? If so, Classic Pastry Arts will be your nirvana. Following a curriculum created under the direction of pastry deans Jacques Torres and Emily Luchetti and with the support of an accomplished team of chef-instructors, you’ll practice, bake, and create in an intimate class setting. Thanks to our Total ImmersionSM method of training, the atmosphere is electric, the feedback is immediate, and the learning is thorough. So thorough that you’ll be prepared for a new career in just six months of daytime study.
You’ll learn essential skills that will prepare you in the major elements of fine pastry, beginning with the fundamentals of pastry doughs (pâte brisée, puff pastry, pâte a choux), pastry creams and fillings, and cookies, cakes and bread. When the basics become second nature, you conquer advanced skills: tempering chocolate to mold bonbons and showpieces, creating plated desserts suitable for restaurant menus, and designing a tiered wedding cake. Throughout your training, technique and theory are reinforced by hands-on practice and continuous feedback from chef-instructors. The day you receive your Grand Diplôme, you’ll command the skills to work in the finest kitchens, anywhere in the world.
Intensive Sommelier Training
The first in the world to be approved by the renowned Court of Master Sommeliers®, our program combines lecture with intensive tastings, food pairings, and practice of service techniques. Over 10 weeks of full-time study, students take an in-depth tasting tour of the world’s great winegrowing regions, and are immersed in the geography, winemaking styles, and terroir of these storied locales. Under the direction of Scott Carney, our faculty of experienced Master Sommeliers, teaches students how to thoroughly taste, analyze, and evaluate wines from around the globe. At the conclusion of the program, students may take the Court of Master Sommeliers' Certified Sommelier Examination on-site.
Cake Techniques & Design
The International Culinary Center cake program is the most comprehensive of its kind, providing an intensive course of study that examines every aspect of cake making. You’ll start with the fundamentals of cake construction, learn the ways layers and fillings work together, and practice both classical and contemporary decorating techniques. Our program’s small class sizes ensure that you receive plenty of personalized attention and time to focus on the unique things that interest and inspire you.
Art of International Bread Baking
A freshly baked piece of bread is more than just one of life’s simple pleasures. It’s the opening act of an inspired meal. It’s a centuries old symbol of many cultures and countries. And it’s a comforting connection to home and family. At The International Culinary Center, our Total ImmersionSM method can fully train you to bake a range of artisanal breads in eight exhilarating weeks. Under the supervision of your chef-instructors, you’ll build an impressive repertoire that includes the rustic loaves of Italy, the flours and sours of Germany, and classic French breads. The immersion starts immediately in Level 1, when you’ll bake baguettes and pain au levain, and it will continue as you refine your skills and unravel the finer points of bread baking. You’ll master the basics of mixing, shaping, and proofing doughs, and develop sophisticated skills that allow you to replicate a consistent, high-quality product. When you receive your Grand Diplôme, you’ll be fully prepared to embark on a fresh new career.