CLASSIC CULINARY ARTS - (600 HOURS) - 120 CLASSES
OVERVIEW | CURRICULUM | START DATES+TUITION |
ALUMNI STORIES
SPECIAL PRICING |
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overview
Like all incarnations of modern art and culture, the culinary arts never stop evolving, breaking new boundaries, and unveiling new standards of creativity and excellence. As a student at The FCI you're always at the forefront of this vibrant industry. And our expanded culinary arts curriculum, based on the classic French techniques that form the basis for all western cuisine, will keep you there. Here's how:
In just months, you learn what other schools take years to teach.
With our innovative curriculum and proven Total ImmersionSM
method of training, it takes just 6 months by day, or 9 if
you train at night, to learn what would take years to learn
at other schools. Thousands of students have succeeded using
this method, including many with no prior professional culinary
experience. It's all about personal attention, instant feedback,
hands-on repetition, and inspiring reinforcement so that each
carefully planned lesson becomes an instinctive part of your
permanent repertoire. It works, and it will work for you.
And yes, you do it all in the heart and soul of the culinary
world, on our campus in SoHo, New York City.
It's not just about learning French cooking.
Our Classic Culinary Arts Program doesn't just teach you French
cooking. It immerses you in the classic French techniques
that form the building blocks of all great western cuisine.
Your instructors are passionate, inspiring culinary achievers
and trendsetters who teach you up close and hands-on. Classes
are intimate, averaging just 12 students per teacher. So you
get the personal attention and support that really build your
confidence and skills. Thanks to our Total ImmersionSM
approach, the intensity of our training is matched only by
the speed of your learning. Nothing else compares.
Learn real-world skills working in our award-winning restaurant.
As a student at The FCI, you won't be sent off to externships
at local restaurants where your newly learned skills are wasted
prepping vegetables or separating eggs all day. Instead, the
last third of your training takes you straight to center stage,
into the kitchen of our own award-winning, Zagat®
Guide- and Michelin®-rated restaurant,
L'Ecole. Our expert chefs oversee your work as you prepare
dishes for our discriminating restaurant guests. The quality
of training is so high, this restaurant competes with top
restaurants everywhere. This is the unique, real world experience
you'll only find at The French Culinary Institute.
You'll follow a curriculum designed by legends in the culinary world.
Our curriculum was designed by industry icons who also happen to be our esteemed Deans — Chef Jacques Pépin, "the Zen master of technique," Chef André Soltner, creator of spectacular dishes truly brilliant in their simplicity, and Chef Alain Sailhac, whose experience and reputation are respected worldwide. If you dream of achievement like theirs, you need a culinary school like ours.
curriculum
Level 1
Introduction to Basic Techniques
You'll come in with lots of passion and a little uncertainty.
And on day one you begin the surprisingly fast evolution into
a confident cook, beginning with an orientation to the kitchen
environment, including personal hygiene and dressing. Food
safety training is a major component of Level 1 and begins
with an introduction to the ServSafe® program curriculum
for food protection. This is your first step towards the valuable HACCP certification required in every professional kitchen, learning how various foods should be handled, from harvest or slaughter through production, and onto the dinner plate.
Your training continues as you move on to knife skills and classic cuts. Making stocks and sauces. Understanding seasoning. Studying and preparing various cuts of meat, fowl, seafood, and vegetables. Savory doughs and batters. Food storage and preserving. Learning to work in a brigade (team) to accomplish complex tasks quickly. Creating five classic pâtés, three classic appareils, and five classic crèmes.
Level 2
Techniques, Nutrition, and Kitchen Management
As the basics become second nature, you now start cooking
the chef's meal. Every day, you'll work in one of the five
kitchen departments: garde-manger, fish, meat, pastry, or
catering. You learn the use, maintenance, and care of food
service equipment; preparing classic creams, ice creams, sorbets,
and batters; menu design and presentation; ingredient choice;
pairing tastes and colors; using raw and cooked foods; an
in-depth look at pasta, rice, and grains; and a primer on
cheese making. Nutrition and food safety are stressed through
additional ServSafe® material. You'll learn the function of fats,
proteins, and carbs in the body, and how to intelligently
select and prepare ingredients to create the greatest nutritional
value along with spectacular flavor.
Level 3
Discipline: Skills For Consistency and Their Refinement
The transition begins from beginner-level training to your midterm. At this level, you'll study wine fundamentals, gaining an appreciation of its nuances from grapes to label to bouquet. As you add new skills, you're also eliminating basic mistakes and consistently performing required recipes and techniques to high standards in tight deadlines. Teamwork is key to an efficient kitchen, so you work more closely with peers. You rotate through the stations of the classic French kitchen, creating team dishes for your Chef-Instructor to critique. Every dish is reviewed and discussed with a group to reinforce learning and help everyone prep for the upcoming midterm through consistency in execution.
Level 4
Buffet, Catering, and À la Carte Preparations
As your midterm proved, you're developing into a skilled and more confident cook as you move into the second half of your training. You prepare large volume à la carte preparations and butchery. You conceptualize and produce a top-notch hot and cold buffet with charcuterie items, glazed cold preparations, and arrangements of vegetables and fruit. Everything from its nutritional value to color and arrangement to the traffic flow you create are evaluated. Working with your team you compose a weekly menu of ethnic cuisines, ordering the appropriate ingredients, and making and serving the meals to our staff, cafeteria-style. You rotate through the three production sectors of our main kitchen, helping prepare stocks, savory doughs, terrines/pâtés, butchering and other preparations. You study the technology and maintenance of food service equipment, including new sous-vide vacuum packaging techniques.
Level 5
Reality: Introduction to Restaurant Service
You are now truly on your way to becoming an excellent cook
and transforming yourself into a chef. In this Level, you
produce a regional French menu typical of a fine bistro or
brasserie on a daily basis. As you work more independently
at the stations of Garde Manger, Poissonnier, Saucier, and
Pâtissier, you find yourself preparing dishes that exemplify
traditional French culinary standards for outstanding appearance
and taste. This is when you start putting all your skills
together and really take off—thriving in the exhilarating,
pressure-packed atmosphere of our acclaimed on-campus restaurant,
L'Ecole. Here, you get proficient and comfortable at every
kitchen station, including, when possible, developing the
daily specials, as part of the seasonal prix-fixe menu. L'Ecole
repeatedly earns a 24 rating from Zagat® Survey
and was recently among the elite recognized by the Michelin® Guide — proof that our students can impress the savviest and
most demanding customers in the world.
Level 6
Confidence, Control, and Creativity in Restaurant Reality
Now you prove your total command of all the fundamental cooking methods of Western cuisine, and produce a progressive menu that blends these classic techniques with current styles and emerging trends. You organize and run a station as Chef de Partie at L'Ecole, and are part of the team responsible for the daily menu. You demonstrate adaptability, flexibility, and grace under fire along with your mastery of cooking. You produce a final project menu in a booklet with introduction, recipes, illustrations, and food-costing summary. You will also write and create a complete menu without the support of textbooks or cookbooks. This is your chance to demonstrate your creativity, passion, and the intangibles that elevate truly special chefs above their peers.
For your final exam, you'll focus on two menu items selected at random from the course curriculum. A panel of distinguished professionals, who may include restaurateurs, four-star chefs, and award winning critics thoroughly evaluate every nuance of your finished dishes. At the same time, your Chef-Instructors monitor and grade your performance in the hopes of giving you your wings. They're all intensely demanding, but very fair. And if you can impress this group, you're on your way to success. Upon graduation, you're ready to step seamlessly into the finest commercial kitchens. You join the esteemed network of alumni from The French Culinary Institute. You are a chef.
The French Culinary Institute is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).
start dates + tuition
Learning Mode: Hands-on - 469 hours. Theory - 131 hours.
Please note: Classes are limited to 22-24 students per session and tend to fill quickly. If the class you select is full, we'll enroll you in the next available class with the same schedule.
Check back frequently since we are constantly updating our course schedules. Or contact us at 888-324-CHEF for additional start dates.
Day Schedule
Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 3:00pm (6 Months)
| Start |
End |
Cost |
 |
| April 28, 2010 |
October 15, 2010 |
$ 42,500 |
|
| May 26, 2010 |
November 12, 2010 |
$ 42,600 |
|
| June 24, 2010 |
December 14, 2010 |
$ 42,600 |
|
Evening Schedule
Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, 5:45pm - 10:45pm (9 months)
| Start |
End |
Cost |
|
| April 15, 2010 |
January 27, 2011 |
$ 32,200 |
|
Evening Schedule
Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 5:45pm - 10:45pm (9 Months)
| Start |
End |
Cost |
|
| June 4, 2010 |
March 30, 2011 |
$ 36,200 |
|
 
Tuition includes application fee, uniform, utensil kit, and all books and supplies.
special pricing
The French Culinary Institute offers special tuition pricing for select students enrolling in career programs. View the criteria below to see if you're eligible, or contact your Admission representative for more information.
Recent High School Graduates
If you're between 17 and 20 years old and hold a valid high school diploma dated within two years of your desired start date, you may be eligible for 10% tuition reduction off the cost of our Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, or Art of International Bread Baking programs.
Recent Military Veterans
If you’re a recent military veteran and have been officially discharged within 24 months of your desired start date, you may be eligible for a 15% tuition reduction off the cost of our Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, or Art of International Bread Baking programs.
Paid-In-Full Credit
All students who pay in full the total cost of tuition for Classic Culinary Arts or Classic Pastry Arts (with or without Front of House Training) are eligible for a $500 Paid-In-Full Credit. The entire balance due must be paid in full upon enrollment or no later than one week prior to the start date. Students enrolling in the Art of International Bread Baking program are not eligible to receive this credit.
alumni stories
Think all grads from our Culinary Program go on to become chefs in NYC? Only the ones who want to! Many head to other locales, or blaze new trails in careers as food writers and editors, stylists, tasters, catering and food retail professionals, and countless other lucrative positions in the expanding world of food. In less than a year, you can do the same with an education from The FCI. Click here to read just a few stories from some of these adventurous alums.
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