Kendall College occupies a renovated, historic eight-story tower on an expansive six-acre riverfront campus
Located in downtown Chicago, the third largest city and second most important hospitality market in the U.S., Kendall College occupies a renovated, historic eight-story tower on an expansive six-acre riverfront campus. Situated on Goose Island in a thriving redevelopment district, our campus offers sweeping views of Chicago’s skyline, access to new development on the Chicago River, and all of the cultural and social resources of this diverse city. Within blocks of some of the world’s finest hotels and restaurants, Kendall’s Riverworks campus puts compelling internship sites and future employers within your reach.
Click here to take a virtual tour of the Kendall College campus.
Conference Rooms and Classrooms
Kendall’s 20 Classrooms (700-1200 square feet) with varying configurations range in seating capacity from 40-80. All classrooms are wireless and have LCD projection and high-tech, fully equipped lecterns with DVD/VCR players for optimizing presentations.
Kendall’s Conference Rooms (200-600 square feet) can accommodate breakout sessions, project work, small receptions, and other organizational activities for 20-40 people.
First Floor:
Kitchens Devos, Lab A, and Lab B. These kitchens are divided into four quadrants, which are designed to increase learning and minimize excess “moving around” in the kitchens, allowing the student to maximize their educational class time. Each of these all-purpose kitchens is loaded with cooking fire power: 16 ranges, 8 grills, 8 deep fryers, a walk-in cooler, a roll-in blast chiller, and a steam kettle.
Meat and Fish Cutting Kitchens. These refrigerated kitchens are lined with stainless steel so that they can be spray-cleaned after usage.
Storeroom. The storeroom is designed as a classroom, so that students learn to receive, store, issue, and take inventory of product, all critical elements of the business side of the foodservice industry.
Third Floor:
CookTek Pastry Kitchens. These kitchens offer individual work stations, each complete with a mixer and induction burner. This means that students do not need to wait for equipment which thereby maximizing the educational experience. These kitchens also feature large steam-injected deck ovens, rotating rack ovens, and proofer retarders, as well as large-batch professional mixers. These larger pieces of equipment simulate the professional baking environment.
Banquet Room. Click for 360º view Kendall's banquet room can comfortably hold 100-120 guests. The combined Banquet Room-Dining Room arrangement can accomodate in excess of 200 guests. This room is used for many special events and private parties for a wide variety of organizations and corporations. Students here learn how to serve and cook for large events.
The Dining Room. Click for 360º view The Dining Room at Kendall College is a Zagat-rated restaurant renowned for its exceptional food and attentive service. It is also an extraordinary "classroom" offering culinary and hospitality students the opportunity to gain experience in a professionally-run fine dining restaurant. Behind the scenes, it is equipped with a large waiter backspace that also serves as a satellite plating area. Students use modern computer systems (Micros and Open Table) to manage reservations and food orders. The Dining Room is open to the public and is a destination for fine dining, themed dinners, and special events. The restaurant seats 90. The Dining Room also has a beautiful functional bar, where students learn bar management.
The Dining Room is the stage for our Grand Buffets. During these buffets, our advanced Garde Manger class presents their final exams to their instructors and other dining patrons. Each class and each buffet has a different theme, but they all offer guests a wide assortment of hors d’oeuvres,pâtés, mousses, terrines, and charcuterie. The Dining Room has a beautiful functional bar.
Dining Room Kitchen. This kitchen is designed in the “piano/European” system where the students cook around a central island of grills and ranges. This allows them easily to communicate with each other and focus on the timing that is necessary for fine dining. The kitchen is organized with meat on one side of the island and fish on the other. Garde Manger and pastry are situated in the two corners, and the chef is positioned centrally to oversee the entire operation.
Sugar and Chocolate Kitchen. This kitchen is temperature-controlled and has the all-new granite counter tops necessary for working with molten sugar and tempered chocolate. Other features include six ice cream machines and all the equipment needed to work with pulled and blown sugar as well as other decorative pastry arts.
Garde Manger Kitchen. Garde Manger is the culinary art of preparing, presenting, and decorating cold food, generally for buffets and banquets. It is considered one of the most demanding and artistic specialties of the culinary world. The kitchen is equipped with a micro-processor controlled smoker, hydraulic sausage stuffer, vacuum tumbler, meat grinders and mixers, and a sausage curing room. This kitchen also has a walk-in cooler large enough to accomodate several students at once.
Kraft Research and Development Kitchen This kitchen is designed for teaching food science and is a location to work on the many R&D projects that the school engages in for the food industry.
The Servery and Servery Kitchen. The Servery kitchen is designed for teaching preparation of food in large quantities. Students are responsible not only for food preparation but also for serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Servery is designed as a food court which has become the norm in large scale corporate and education foodservice operations. In the Servery, you will cook in front of and for your peers for the first time. Technology in the Servery includes double impinger ovens, a rotisserie, induction burners, and a pizza oven. Servery kitchen includes as well as a roll-in blast chiller which is advantageous in adhering to the new FDA guidelines for safe food chilling.
Fourth Floor:
The Geraldson Family Board Room Click for 360º view (400 square feet) is equipped with video and telephone conferencing, LCD projection, and electronic blackout blinds. It is an ideal location for corporate meetings, breakfasts, lunches, or dinners.
The Kendall Computer Laboratories provide students connectivity options and offer research databases as well as industry applications and simulation software used in courses.
Fifth Floor:
The Hyatt Hotels Suite
The Hyatt Hotels Suite ia a living classroom with an adjoining observation room.
Woodmode Demo Kitchen and Auditorium. Click for 360º view This auditorium is used as a demonstration space for culinary classes and for presentations and and lectures. The auditorium seats 172 or features a 22-foot demo stage with varied cooking capacities. There are cameras throughout the auditorium and four large flat screen monitors.
American Tile Demo Kitchen. Click for 360º view This kitchen seats about 40 persons. It offers a more intimate demonstration area than the Woodmode Auditorium.
Franke Kitchen. This small kitchen is outfitted with 12 burners, two dishwashers, and plenty of cooler space and is ideal for small classes.
The Brookhaven Wine Room Click for 360º view (1600 square feet) is home to Kendall’s Wine School and is perfect for a private luncheon, dinner, or business function in a rich, modern elegant setting. A wall of windows dresses the room and offers a stunning view of the heart of Chicago. The attached Food Research Institute features a two-way mirror and private viewing booth (600 square feet) complete with cameras for a multitude of focus group activities. The Brookhaven Wine Room can accommodate 40-75 students or guests.
Sixth Floor:
With the panoramic Chicago skyline as a backdrop, the Tullman Family Gallery Click for 360º view (2400 square feet) is the perfect space for small seminars, cocktail parties, corporate meetings, and receptions. Nestled next to the Kendall College Library Click for 360º view The Tullman Family Gallery can accommodate 80-175 guests.