Ottawa Culinary Schools Train World Class Chefs
Why would you go to school to become a chef in Ottawa? It snows a LOT and it’s cold. But here’s the deal: Ottawa is the Canadian capital city and beyond the snow offers a rich culinary industry and a thriving economy that continues to fuel the hospitality and food industry.
Besides food Ottawa is huge thanks in large part to its industrial history, along with its wealth of tech companies.
Education in the Local Ottawa Food Scene
Complement your academic chef training with a gastronomic foray into the Ottawa food scene. Local chefs, many of whom have earned high industry accolades, are changing the way food is bought, grown and prepared. Emphasis is on sustainable, local, seasonal, and even unique or underutilized ingredients. So dig in and take notes. Some of Ottawa’s executive chefs could one day soon be your mentors, and someday your peers.
Few popular fine Ottawa restaurants and their acclaimed chefs:
- Navarra, chef/owner Rene Rodriguez
- Courtyard Restaurant, executive chef Michael Hey
- Foundation, executive chef Stephan Schuler
Who Goes to Chef School?
If you think you don’t fit with a traditional culinary arts school think again. A typical class of student chefs is culled from multiple backgrounds. Some students pursue culinary school right out of high school, others are finally realizing their career passion and in the midst of critical career changes, and others are already experienced professional cooks and chefs looking to blast their careers to new heights.
Popular Culinary Schools in Ottawa
Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute -- One of the world’s most acclaimed culinary curriculums is available in Ottawa. Le Cordon Bleu of Paris fame is the same chef curriculum delivered to next generation French chefs. The school offers an uncompromising program and earns international respect. This means that you can get a really good job after graduation. Professional chef programs include: Diplomas in Cuisine, Patisserie and Le Grand Diplome (a combination of Cuisine and Patisserie); Certificates in Basic, Intermediate, and Superior Cuisines, and the same for Patisserie. The selection of Short Courses offers intensive workshops that last from 3 hours to 4 days and include: knife skills, French crepes, Spanish Tapas, boulangerie, plate presentations, sushi, etiquette, and an array of international cuisine courses.
Le Cordon Bleu would not be complete without the student-run Academy owned restaurants, Signatures and Bistro Cordon Bleu. As a student chef at Cordon Bleu Ottawa you learn and work alongside French trained chef/instructors in the kitchens, preparing, cooking, presenting food for a discerning cosmopolitan clientele.