Choose a New York Cooking School
Take your cooking passion to the ultimate culinary proving ground—New York. Here in one state is collected a sample of nearly all the most prestigious culinary schools. New York City, alone has a crowd of the best of the best. Where there are great schools there are also famous chefs and particularly in Manhattan you’ll have the chance to eat your way through some of the most celebrated chef cuisines today. This is a requisite part of your culinary education, an academic foray into the local food scene, which includes the restaurants and menus of celeb chefs Bobby Flay and Mario Batali among others, as well as dozens of other regionally famous chefs unattached to food TV.
Choosing a Culinary School in New York
The list of schools below has something great for you in store: a respectable career stab in one of THE most competitive markets on the planet. If you want a program that’s affordable, accelerated and job-driven, focus on the technical and community colleges. If your goal is more along the lines of a 4-year business driven degree then stick to the four-year colleges and universities. For prestigious world-class curriculums taught by world-renowned chefs go for the gusto at the French Culinary Institute or the Culinary Institute of America-Hyde Park where the alumni list reads like a Who’s Who in the contemporary food industry.
Choose a school that is armed with the tools to successfully propel you straight from a training kitchen and internship to a solid chef job with lots of career potential. Schools should have:
- Internship/externship requirements/opportunities locally, nationally and/or abroad
- State-of-the-art culinary and baking kitchens
- Professional chef/instructors
- Student run restaurant catering to a discerning public
- Career guidance short-term and long-term
- Job placement track record
Compete for a Chef’s Job in New York
Job opportunities for chefs in New York are endless. Your career could take you to some of the best restaurants, hotels, resorts, spas, hospital kitchens, corporate banquet kitchens, catering jobs and even personal chef appointments. Salaries are generally higher across the board due to higher cost of living, but they still differ widely. Your education, professional experience, location and even reputation may all factor into your salary. Average salary range for a sous chef in Manhattan is between $43,000 and $53,000.
List of New York Cooking Schools
French Culinary Institute in New York City dishes up a consummate classic French curriculum. The school caters to both professional chefs and serious amateurs with programs in Classic Culinary Arts, Classic Pastry Arts, and the Art of International Bread Baking.
The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park is the alma mater of some of today’s best and brightest chef stars. Here is the culinary arts education to beat. Count them: 5 student-run restaurants that let you work and learn in high-volume professional environments. Programs of study include: Bachelors Culinary Arts Management, Associates Culinary Arts, Bachelors Baking and Pastry Arts Management, and Associates Baking and Pastry Arts.
Institute of Culinary Education in New York City delivers top of the line world-class culinary degrees in as little as 6 to 11 months. Curriculums are developed to consistently turn out the best chefs possible able to hit the ground running in any of the best NYC restaurants. Schedules accommodate full-time and part-time students. Programs include: Diplomas in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry, and Culinary Management.
Culinary Academy of Long Island in Syosset is one of a pair of popular culinary programs. Curriculums exist for both professionals as well as amateurs. The Commercial Cooking program is specifically designed for evening students. Career coursework includes: Professional Cooking, Commercial Cooking, Professional Pastry and Baking, and Hotel and Restaurant Management.
Career Academy of New York is the partner school to the Culinary Academy of Long Island. Again you’ll find more career-driven commercial programs: Commercial Cooking and Catering, Commercial Cooking (evening only program), and Hotel and Restaurant Management.
New York State Colleges, Community and Technical Colleges Offering Culinary, Restaurant Management, and/or Hospitality Degrees
Broome Community College – Binghamton
Bryant and Stratton Business Institute - Lackawanna-Rochester-Syracuse-Williamsville
Buffalo State College – Buffalo
Cornell University – Ithaca
Delhi College of Technology – Delhi
D’Youville College – Buffalo
Erie Community College - Buffalo-Orchard Park-Williamsville
Finger Lakes Community College – Canandaigua
Genesee Community College – Batavia
Hunter College - New York
Katharine Gibbs School – Melville
Kingsborough Community College – Brooklyn
Keuka College - Keuka Park
La Guardia Community College/CUNY - Long Island City
Mohawk Valley Community College – Utica
Monroe College – Bronx
Monroe Community College – Rochester
Nassau Community College - Garden City
New York City Technical College – Brooklyn
New York Institute of Technology - Central Islip-New York-Old Westbury
New York University - New York
Niagara County Community College – Sanborn
Niagara University - Niagara University
North Country Community College - Saranac Lake
Onondaga Community College – Syracuse
Orange County Community College – Middletown
Pace University - New York
Paul Smiths College - Paul Smiths
Rochester Institute of Technology – Rochester
Saint Johns University – Jamaica
Schenectady County Community College – Schenectady
Suffolk County Community College – Riverhead
Sullivan County Community College - Loch Sheldrake
Suny College of Agriculture and Technology - Cobleskill-Morrisville
Suny College at Cortland - Cortland
Suny College at Oneonta – Oneonta
Suny Plattsburgh – Plattsburgh
Syracuse University – Syracuse
The New School - New York
Tompkins-Cortland Community College – Dryden
Trocaire College – Buffalo
Villa Maria College - Buffalo
Westchester Community College – Valhalla