Sharpen Your Knives!

And Get Prepped at Michigan’s Chef Schools

Some chefs learn by inheritance, perhaps working their way up from dishwasher or prep cook, eventually apprenticing with a more experienced chef. But a far faster route is to attend culinary school, where aspiring chefs immerse themselves in an atmosphere that’s wholly focused on training professional chefs in every facet of the career itself, from the most simple mise en place to crafting complex gourmet extravaganzas. If becoming a chef is your dream, here’s a look at some of Michigan’s best culinary launching pads.

THE ART INSTITUTE OF MICHIGAN

Detroit Don’t be led astray by the name. While the Art Institute offers courses of study in art, fashion, graphic design, film, and more, it also puts a heavy emphasis on the culinary arts, cranking out a strong output of successful chefs and food management personnel. Classes envelope everything from nutrition and the fundamentals of classic cooking techniques to specialties like Latin and Asian cuisines, pastry and baking skills, wines, European foods, and hospitality marketing. Accomplished Alumni: Shawn Ernst, executive chef for The Caterist in Chicago; Robert Knox, food supervisor for LSG Sky Chefs in Houston, Tex.; Eric Drake, culinary manager at buzzworthy farm-to-table restaurant Bumble, in Loa Altos, Calif. Find Out More: www.artinstitutes.edu/detroit or 248-675-37800

THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF MICHIGAN

Muskegon & Port Huron The culinary school that started in 1997 as a spinoff of Baker College boasts state-of-the-art facilities specifically built for courses that emulate a European-style, Rachel Snyderopen-kitchen environment. It also Photo offers by Michael student-run Poehlman Photography eateries like The Sweet Spot coffeeshop (Muskegon only) and Courses restaurants. Courses are available in culinary arts, baking and pastry, and food and beverage management, giving you multiple paths to explore.

Accomplished Alumni: Justin Raha, baking and pastry arts instructor who has returned to teach at the CIM; Michael Kenat, winner of the Michigan Chefs de Cuisine Association’s Hot Foods Competition; Char Morse, TV chef personality and owner of Muskegon’s Kitchen 242.

Find Out More: baker.edu. 231-777-5200 (Muskegon) or 810-985-7000 (Port Huron.)

GREAT LAKES CULINARY INSTITUTE

Traverse City One of the best regarded culinary schools in the state is right here in northern Michigan. Part of the campus of Northwestern Michigan College, the Great Lakes Culinary Institute is composed of four culinary labs, which include a bakery, entrylevel kitchen, garde manger kitchen (for cold food preparation), and an advanced cooking kitchen. The NMC program also has Lobdell’s, a full-service, 90-seat, modern bistro where you can learn in a real-life, active restaurant environment. Technique, food science, and serving are all covered at this school, which prepares aspiring pros for entry-level chef and management positions. Accomplished Alumni: Jim Morse, executive chef at The Boathouse on the Old Mission Peninsula; Ed Sura, former chef de cuisine at Perennial Virant in Chicago (Sura is currently traveling and seeking a new chef position); and Nick Battista, Executive Chef at Hotel Indigo. Find Out More: www.nmc.edu/programs/ academic-programs/culinary-arts/ or 231- 995-1197.

OAKLAND CULINARY STUDIES INSTITUTE

Farmington Hills Part of Oakland Community College, the Oakland Culinary Studies Institute offers an extended degree designed to prepare you

for a career as a culinary professional, plus access to experiences like culinary competitions and customer experience. You’ll take classes like cookery (foundational cooking knowledge), garde manger, artisan breads, and menu development, as well as more unusual offerings like ice carving, sugar and chocolate artistry, and dessert plating. And you’ll get real-world experience at the school’s own Ridgewood Cafe and Ridgewood Bakery, all at Oakland’s Orchard Ridge Campus. Accomplished Alumni: Eric Voigt, executive pastry chef at Big Rock Chophouse in Birmingham, Mich.; Steve Allen, co-owner of Steve and Rocky’s Restaurant in Novi, Mich.,; Joey Beato, chef de cuisine at Café Veneto in Rome, Italy. Find Out More: www.oaklandcc.edu/culinary/ or call 248-341-2000

SCHOOLCRAFT COLLEGE

Livonia Headed by four certified master chefs, Schoolcraft College’s 50-year-old culinary arts program is well known nationwide. Small classes are de rigueur here, with a 16-to-1 student-to-instructor ratio whether you choose to study culinary arts, culinary management, or baking and pastry arts. You also can hop on the microbrew wagon by taking the brewing and distillation technology courses. Schoolcraft sports two restaurants: American Harvest, with student waitstaff, and the Main Street Cafe in the VisTaTech Center, where second-year culinary students prepare dishes that include artisan breads, house-made charcuteries, French pastries, and other creative entrees.

Accomplished Alumni: Derrick Davenport, executive chef to General Joseph Dunford, the United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Mei Lin, last year’s winner of Bravo TV’s Top Chef title; Chris Gadulka, chef/partner at Fleming’s Steakhouse in Birmingham, Mich.

Find Out More: schoolcraft.edu or call 734- 462-4426.

Got a big study budget (or exceptional abilities that might snag you a scholarship)?

Check out this trio of elite — albeit pricey — culinary schools, widely thought to be the top three in the U.S.

The CIA

(Culinary Institute of America) The longest established and most widely recognized of all American culinary schools, The CIA is legendary among aspiring chefs and professionals. The school’s primary campus is in Hyde Park, N.Y., with branches in California, Texas, and Singapore. Among its 48,000 graduates working in the culinary industry are big names like Duff Goldman, Michael Simon, Todd English, Marcel Vigneron, and the always-entertaining Anthony Bourdain. Find Out More: ciachef.edu

Johnson and Wales University Providence, R.I., serves as the main campus headquarters of JWU, but the school also has three smaller outlets, in North Carolina, Florida, and Colorado. The university is said to be the largest food service educator in the world and also operates hotels as practical-education facilities, including the Radisson Hotel Providence Airport in Warwick, R.I. JWU has sent plenty of well-known chefs out into the real world, including celebrity chef Graham Elliot, Tyler Florence, Chris Santos, Michelle Bernstein, and culinary mogul and personality Emeril Lagasse.

Find Out More: jwu.edu

NECI

(New England Culinary Institute) Renowned for a learning-by-doing approach that keeps a small student-to-instructor ratio and immerses aspiring chefs in reallife kitchen situations on a regular basis, the NECI runs several restaurants in its hometown of Montpelier, Vt., and supplies food service for Vermont College. Also unusual its its admissions policy; each application is screened individually, so if you have talent and can make a good impression, this might be the school for you. It was for many accomplished chefs, among them Tom Bivens, executive director of the Vermont Cheese Council; James Fortier, owner of Hong Kong’s Porterhouse Steakhouse; and talented Good Eats chef/Iron Chef host Alton Brown.

Find Out More: neci.edu

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