International Culinary Center Expands Professional Culinary Arts Program

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- International Culinary Center (ICC), the global expert on culinary and wine education, has announced enhancements to its award-winning Professional Culinary Arts course, including a paid externship program and classes to empower budding entrepreneurs with skills to start their own business.  Founded as The French Culinary Institute (FCI) thirty years ago, ICC grads today include world-renowned chefs and entrepreneurs shaping the industry.

"When we first opened in 1984, about 90% of students wanted to be restaurant chefs," explains founder and CEO Dorothy Cann Hamilton. "With the wide range of culinary careers now possible, 70% of students tell us they want to open their own businesses." Adds Hamilton, herself a recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year award from International Association of Culinary Professionals, "Whatever their desired path, we want to give them a serious competitive advantage and relevant experience."  

New course offerings at the Soho, NYC, campus enrich the school's curriculum, rooted in its signature Total Immersion^SM  teaching method: intensive, hands-on instruction that puts students in the kitchen from the very first day.  Personalized, fast-track education on classic techniques –more than 250 of them—are the fundamentals upon which students build their own unique cooking career.  Students benefit from guidance and cooking demos from ICC's longtime deans, including the legendary Jacques Pepin, Jacques Torres, Andre Soltner and Alain Sailhac.

At the school's commencement at Carnegie Hall in April 2014, graduate Bobby Flay (class of '84) explained, "My basic French technique is in use whether I'm cooking southwestern food at Mesa, American-regional cuisine at Bar Americain, cooking with Mediterranean ingredients at Gato or even flipping burgers and making Parisian-style French fries at Bobby's Burger Palace. Every single day, I put to use something I learned at ICC."

The expanded program now includes:

• Skills Workshops such as knife skills, butchery, baking chemistry, sketching for pastry;
• Culinary Business classes such as concept creation, building a business plan, economics 101 and entrepreneurship, incorporating curriculum by Babson, the #1 college for entrepreneurship education as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Students may take any or all of these during their time at school and for 6 months post-graduation.
• Real-World Experience through a paid externship to match the student's desired career, whether it be working in a restaurant kitchen, catering, food media or another path. The paid externship program has been successful at ICC's Silicon Valley, CA, school.

Students return to the Soho campus for a final exam before becoming an ICC graduate, and have access to the school's placement services and Carnegie Hall commencement.  A partnership with The New School offers students the opportunity to obtain both a culinary diploma and a college degree by applying ICC credits.

Because the culinary program offers a high-caliber education in a short timeframe (6 months by day or 9 months for evening classes), ICC attracts career-changers who appreciate the value of this "total chef training" approach.

"We've always been a school that teaches students how to think about cooking, not just cook," added Hamilton. "Now we're equipping them with more tools to help translate their talent into a booming business. ICC has always been the school for culinary entrepreneurs; it's in the water here."

International Culinary Center

Founded as The French Culinary Institute in 1984, the International Culinary Center (ICC) is the global expert in professional culinary and wine education, with programs in Soho, New York; Silicon Valley, California; and Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The renowned Total Immersion program has produced such talents as Bobby Flay, David Chang, Dan Barber, Christina Tosi and 15,000 more under the guidance of such deans as Jacques Pepin, Andre Soltner, Jacques Torres and Jose Andres. Awarded School of Excellence by accrediting commission ACCSC as well as International Association of Culinary Professionals' "Culinary School of Excellence" for its career programs—the industry's top honor—since 2010, ICC provides students with the credentials, confidence and connections to chart a successful career anywhere in the world. In Fall 2013, the White House announced that ICC, along with the James Beard Foundation, will imagine and build the USA Pavilion at the World's Fair (EXPO) in Milan in 2015.

CONTACT: Meredith Sidman, 212-202-6518, [email protected]

SOURCE International Culinary Center