Georgia Cooking Schools

Georgia is without a doubt SOUTH, but Atlanta is one of the country’s major metro areas, a top travel destination, an international hub for travelers and the city is home to some of the biggest corporations. When it comes to learning how to work as a pro chef in a leading southern kitchen, here’s a diverse and exciting region of the country.

Culinary Scene in Georgia

Atlanta is a hotbed of innovation and is a top destination for new chefs. Why? A brief glimpse at the downtown restaurants is proof enough. Food experience covers the gamut from down-home comfort food and soul food to Spanish tapas and nouvelle French cuisine.

But Atlanta is not the end-all be-all for hot cuisine. Cities like Athens, Augusta and even Macon test the mettle of many a new chef and pastry chef. You can cut your professional teeth in any of these spots and grow a thriving career as professional cook, sous chef, executive chef, pastry chef, chef/owner and possibly even the faculty chef for a top culinary school.

Popular Local Food Festivals as Learning Experience

Culinary school extends outside the four walls of a cooking school if you know what’s good for you. Soak up the exhibits, flavors and celebs available at the many local and regional food festivals in Georgia. Here are a few of the biggest:

• Taste of Atlanta
• Vidalia Onion Festival
• Celebrity Chef Tour
• International Dairy-Deli-Bake Expo

Professional Associations for Culinary Pros in Georgia

Remember that as a student you may qualify for nice discounts on student memberships to regional professional associations:

• Georgia Chef’s Association
• Georgia Restaurant Association
• Georgia Hotel and Lodging Association

Use these organizations to gain discounted entrance to national and regional conferences where you get in on special seminars and educational programs, even rub elbows with top name and celebrity chefs.

Compete for a Chef Job in Georgia

Going to cooking school is one part training and education in culinary skills, methods and artistry, and another part job-training. Theoretically, culinary school is vocational, career-focused and quite unlike liberal arts college courses. So a job is the final goal. To this end you need to find a school that provides the following:

• Career placement assistance, possibly with a proven track record of job placement
• Internships/externships
• Student-run kitchens in which you can learn while you work
• Chef/instructors with strong ties to the local industry

If you attend either the Atlanta Collaborative Kitchen or Gwinnett Technical College then you may be a candidate for an internship with Publix supermarkets.

Georgia Cooking and Culinary Arts Schools

International Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes of Atlanta is one of the more prestigious programs in the country. The Atlanta campus is just one of 32 other locations strategically placed in convenient metro areas around the U.S. This particular campus also offers a diverse number of degrees. Curriculum emphasizes teaching you international cuisines and all the skills you’d need to hit the ground running in a top kitchen. This program puts you immediately to work in state-of-the-art teaching kitchens plus student run restaurant. Programs include: Bachelors Culinary Arts Management, Bachelors Food and Beverage Management, Associates Culinary Arts, Associates Wine, Spirit and Beverage Management, Diploma Baking and Pastry, and Diploma Culinary Skills.

Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Academy – Atlanta is founded on the same curriculum as the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France—this is world-class culinary training. Learn classic French cuisine and how to crank out haute cuisine in a brigade system kitchen. Degree programs include: Associates Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts and Certificate Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Baking.

The Atlanta Collaborative Kitchen – Atlanta is designed to provide culinary training to financially disadvantaged students eager to become cooks, chefs and pastry chefs. TACK is made possible through its partnership with Open Hand Atlanta and the Atlanta Food Bank.

Georgia State Colleges, Community and Technical Colleges Offering Culinary, Restaurant Management, and/or Hospitality Degrees

Albany Technical Institute – Albany
Berry College - Mt Berry
Chattahoochee Technical College – Marietta
Clark Atlanta University – Atlanta
Coastal Georgia Community College – Brunswick
East Central Technical Institute – Fitzgerald
Floyd College – Rome
Fort Valley State University - Ft Valley
Georgia Southern University – Statesboro
Georgia State University School of Hospitality Administration – Atlanta
Gwinnett Technical Institute - Lawrenceville
Life University – Marietta
Morris Brown College – Atlanta
North Metro Technical Institute – Acworth
University of Georgia – Athens
West Georgia Technical Institute - Lagrange