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- 8 SESSIONS

OVERVIEW | CURRICULUM | CALENDAR+FEES | FACULTY


A program co-founded by Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, The French Culinary Institute, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Learn the fundamentals of the four-season kitchen in just four weekends.
Sustainability and the relationship between food and the environment have become more important than ever in the culinary industry. Now you can gain the tools you need to begin the process of making a sustainable restaurant, institution, or kitchen work financially and practically—from some of the country's leading authorities on culinary education, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable cuisine. You’ll spend one weekend each season—learning at The FCI in SoHo, then spending the day in Westchester County in the fields and greenhouses of The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture as well as in the kitchens of FCI alum Dan Barber’s critically acclaimed restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Designed for chefs, restaurant managers, and other food industry professionals, topics include history, sourcing, cultivation, markets, economics, seasonality, menu development, food system and farm policy, and kitchen technology. Not only will you gain a solid grounding in cooking seasonally and sourcing locally, you’ll actually bring those principles and ingredients together working hands-on at the farm.

Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture

Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture encompasses a non-profit farm, educational center, and restaurant dedicated to demonstrating, teaching, and promoting sustainable, community-based food production. A four-season operation, Stone Barns produces fruits and vegetables even in deep winter in their minimally heated greenhouse, and raises free-ranging livestock, all under the guidance of farmers dedicated to ecologically producing food in a way that reflects the rhythm of the seasons and the land it’s grown on. Stone Barns Creative Director and FCI alum Dan Barber, named one of the country's "Best New Chefs" by Food & Wine, one of "The Next Generation" of great chefs by Bon Appétit and New York’s Best Chef by the James Beard Foundation , works in tandem with the farmers to fully integrate Blue Hill at Stone Barns with the surrounding production fields and pastures. To expand on his philosophy of cooking with sustainably-grown local ingredients, Chef Barber has worked with such organizations as the Kellogg Foundation, Slow Food USA, and Earth Pledge.


 

Part I - Sustainable Fields and Soil (November 2007)

Session 1 - at The FCI (6 hours)

Students will explore biodiversity, the evolution from family farm to factory farm, four season farming techniques, wine production, and how chefs can influence agriculture. Farmers from local greenmarkets will provide the ingredients for this ‘tasting’ lunch.

Session 2 - at The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (5 hours)

Students will tour the farm, then divide into small groups to perform farm chores before enjoying a lunch of sustainable grains and foraged vegetables. Lecture and discussion will focus on how to create and maintain a kitchen garden and ingredient-forward cooking, and will delve further into chefs as farmers/farmers as chefs.

Part II - Sustainable Futurist (March 2008)

Session 3 - at The FCI (6 hours)

Students will explore ways to market the restaurant/farmer relationship, kitchen technology, energy use, creating greener kitchens, composting, seasonal foraging, and wild edibles. Lunch will afford the opportunity to experience the improved flavor, aroma, and texture of foods stored and prepared using sous vide techniques.

Session 4 - at The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (6 hours)

Students will tour the farm to gain an understanding of winter farming and livestock housing, and greenhouse vs. field/greenhouse production. Lecture and discussion will focus on farm technology, sous vide, sustainable menus, developing your diners’ seasonal palates, and a culmination of the theme of chefs as farmers/farmers as chefs.

Part III – Sustainable Foundations (June 2008)

Session 5 - at The FCI (5 hours)

Students will explore the meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy industries both from an historical perspective and from current practices, including animal husbandry, grass-fed/pasture-raised, use of antibiotics, sustainable seafood, and more. Lunch, prepared by The FCI, will provide an opportunity for a forks-on study of eggs.

Session 6 - at The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (5 hours)

Students will tour the farm, then divide into small groups to perform farm chores. This will be followed by kitchen farm activities or a charcuterie workshop. Lecture and discussion will focus on whole animal cuisine, deepen the exploration of chefs as farmers/farmers as chefs, and there will be a chance to further digest the nose-to-tail concept at a pig roast lunch.

Part IV– Sustainable Pastures and Waters (September 2008)

Session 7 - At The FCI (5 hours)

Students will learn the history of farming in America, explore the benefits of organic and seasonal food, current agricultural models, and how to cultivate relationships with farmers and local producers. Everyone will share a seasonal “Sustainable vs. Conventional” lunch, prepared by The FCI.

Session 8 - At The Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (5 hours)

Students will get a practical grounding in farm life—not just by touring the farm, but also dividing into small groups to take part in farm activities (including working in the greenhouse and field, collecting eggs, feeding animals, and composting) and preparing lunch. Lecture and discussion will focus on sustainable kitchen economics, and chefs as farmers/farmers as chefs.



Schedule 1: All Four sessions

Fall - 1st Weekend
   Sunday, 9:30am–4:30pm & Monday, 9:00am–3:00pm
Winter – 2nd Weekend
   Sunday, 9:30am–4:30pm & Monday, 9:00am–4:00pm
Spring – 3rd Weekend
  Sunday, 9:30am–3:30pm & Monday, 9:00am–3:00pm
Summer – 4th Weekend
  Sunday, 9:30am–3:30pm & Monday, 9:00am–3:00pm

Start End Cost
November 4, 2007 November 5, 2007 $ 6,000
March 9, 2008 March 10, 2008  
June 1, 2008 June 2, 2008  
September 14, 2008 September 15, 2008  

Schedule 2: Individual Sessions

Sunday, 9:30am - 4:30pm & Monday 9:00am - 3:00pm
Start End Cost
November 4, 2007 November 5, 2007 $ 1,582
March 9, 2008 March 10, 2008 $ 1,582
June 1, 2008 June 2, 2008 $ 1,582
September 14, 2008 September 15, 2008 $ 1,582




Dorothy Cann Hamilton
Dan Barber
Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director, The Center for Food Safety; Co-Founder of CFS
Jeremiah P. Cosgrove, Deputy Commissioner, NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
Marion Nestle, author and Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Sociology
Rick Bishop, Farmer, Mountain Sweet Berry Farm (Roscoe, NY)
David Barber, Owner, Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Jack Algiere, Four Season Grower, Stone Barns Center
Craig Haney, Livestock Manager, Stone Barns Center
Betty Fussell, Author, Lecturer
Bill Niman, Founder, Niman Ranch Meats
Anne Saxelby, Owner, Saxelby Cheesemongers (New York, NY)
Fergus Henderson Chef/Owner, St. John Restaruant & St. John Bread & Wine, London, UK
Adam Kaye, Chef/Kitchen Director, Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University
Gary Paul Nabhan, Ph.D.
Eliot Coleman, Four Season Farm
Glenn Roberts, Founder, Anson Mills
David Mas Masumoto
David Arnold, Director of Culinary Technology, The French Culinary Institute
Judy Wicks, President, Owner/Founder White Dog Café/White Dog Enterprises (Philadelphia, PA)
Karen Karp, Founder, Karp Resources (Southold,NY)
Barbara Damrosch
Eric Chivian
 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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