Minnesota Cooking Schools

Minneapolis is the culinary epicenter and here you’ll find two of the most popular and competitive culinary schools in the country—AI’s International Culinary School of Minnesota and Le Cordon Bleu Academy. But beyond these two you’ll also find a few dozen more excellent culinary schools, restaurant and hospitality management schools, and intensive professional cooking programs—all designed for student chefs, career changers or professional chefs looking for career rocket fuel.

For access to the most vibrant culinary scene, shop for a cooking school in or near the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Immerse yourself in the local food scene: top reviewed restaurants, acquaint yourself with the most celebrated local chefs and their dishes, learn about the key local and seasonal ingredients and how they are best used. This is experiential learning and is a requisite for any serious culinary student.

Why You Should Experience Lutefisk

Minnesota is home to a thriving Norwegian-American heritage that continues to flavor local and regional fare in many locations. One of the more unique culinary happenings is the annual fall Lutefisk dinners offered at many of the rural churches throughout the state. If you’re tackling culinary school in Minnesota don’t miss out on an opportunity like this to really experience the vastness of the state’s food. A traditional lutefisk diner includes lutefisk – a white fish preserved in lye and served with melted butter – and the to-die-for lefse – a flat almost crepe-like bread that many people roll up with butter and brown sugar which accompanies most lutefisk meals. Rare are the dishes you cannot find in a restaurant, but this is it. Both lefse and lutefisk preparation are handed down through families and not available in any Minneapolis restaurant.

You may be dreaming of the day that you’ll develop an award-winning dish or fashion a truly spectacular seasonal menu that draws crowds, but much of a culinary education is founded on traditional and classic recipes and cookery methods, just like what you’ll find at a local lutefisk dinner.

Choosing a Cooking School in Minnesota

The ultimate goal of a culinary school education is JOB. Look for a school in MN that provides you with the following arsenal of career-focused features:

• Professional chef/instructors, even better…. visiting chefs
• On-site student run restaurant that caters to a busy public
• Internship, externship and/or apprenticeship, possibly study abroad options
• Well-equipped professional teaching kitchens and facilities
• Ongoing career guidance
• Job placement

Give yourself a bit more leverage and respectability when you join a regional professional association:

• American Culinary Federation local chapters (Minneapolis, Arrowhead, Marshall, St. Paul, Rochester)
• North Central Region Research Chef’s Association

Groups like these are comprised of large numbers of likeminded professionals and offer valuable networking and educational opportunities.

Minnesota Chef Salaries

Salaries vary across the state and among chefs. The salary for an experienced executive chef working in a popular Minneapolis restaurant will be much higher than that of an entry-level line cook in Mankato. Salaries for a sous chef in Minneapolis range between $30,000 and $37,000. Positions like this require usually 2-3 years experience in a high –volume kitchen with some degree of successful supervisory and management level experience in addition.

Minnesota Cooking Schools

International Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes of Minnesota in Minneapolis delivers a world-class culinary arts and pastry arts education designed for motivated and ambitious chefs. Curriculum emphasizes international cuisines including classic French culinary technique. Degree programs include: Bachelors Culinary Management, Bachelors Hospitality Management, Associates Baking and Pastry, Associates Culinary Arts, Certificate The Art of Cooking, and Certificate Baking and Pastry.

Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis features one of the most sought after culinary curriculums – the famous French Le Cordon Bleu coursework. Modeled on the famous Paris school, here you are steeped in classic French cooking, kitchen skills, brigade system and traditional cooking methods. Programs of study include: Associates Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts, Associates Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie and Baking, and Certificate Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts.

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

Alexandria Technical College - Alexandria
Anoka-Hennepin Technical College - Anoka
Century Community and Technical College - White Bear Lake
College of Saint Benedict – St. Joseph
College of Saint Catherine – St. Paul
College of Saint Scholastica – Duluth
Concordia College - Moorhead
Dakota County Technical College – Rosemount
Hennepin Technical College - Brooklyn Center-Eden Prairie
Hibbing Community College – Hibbing
Minneapolis Business College – Roseville
Minneapolis Community and Technical College – Minneapolis
Minnesota West Community and Technical College - Granite Falls
National American University – St. Paul
Normandale Community College – Bloomington
Northwest Technical College – Bemidji
Rasmussen College - Eagan-Mankato
Riverland Community College – Austin
Saint Cloud Technical College - Saint Cloud
Saint Johns University – Collegeville
South Central Technical College - North Mankato
Southwest State University – Marshall
St. Paul Technical College – St. Paul
University of Minnesota - Crookston -Minneapolis