Academics - School of Culinary Arts - A.A.S. Culinary Arts
Upon graduation, you will have the professional skills, attitude, and knowledge needed to launch a culinary career and grow into a leadership position.
Overview
Kendall’s two-year Associate degree in Culinary Arts uniquely fuses the art and science of cooking with an introduction into critical business management knowledge. This combination prepares you to succeed in today’s competitive culinary job environments. Starting with culinary basics, the program culminates with you cooking in our Zagat-rated fine dining setting overlooking the city of Chicago. After the first and seventh quarters, you will take comprehensive practical exams to demonstrate your mastery of concepts and techniques.
Upon graduation, you will have the professional skills, attitude, and knowledge needed to launch a culinary career and grow into a leadership position. You can also continue on to earn your Bachelor degree in Culinary Arts, a highly recommended next step for students who want to achieve their full potential in the culinary profession.
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Program Description
YEAR ONE
Quarter One- 16 credits
This quarter introduces you to the professional kitchen. The 10 week quarter is broken up into 4 mini-sections. You will be in each section 4 days a week, for 2 1⁄2 weeks in order to manage a multi-day project through to completion. The classes generally start with a lecture and a demonstration followed by 4 hours of hands-on experience in the kitchen. Classes involve hours of practice time designed to let you hone your skills to do everything from mastering specific knife cuts, such as julienne, to deboning a chicken and filleting a fish. You will learn how to season as you become familiar with soups, stocks, and sauces. You will learn cooking methods such as frying, poaching, and braising and why particular methods of cooking are more appropriate for certain ingredients. You will also learn how to optimize the ingredients on hand and begin to think about the way you present the food that you create. You will learn how to identify and successfully purchase products and ensure their quality. Courses include:
- CUL111 Intro to Professional Cookery
- CUL112 Intro to Stocks, Sauces & Soups
- CUL117 Intro to Garde Manger
- CUL118 Methods of Cooking
- CUL119 Product ID
- CIS190 Principles of Computer Apps
Quarter Two- 15 credits
For half of this quarter, you will focus on speed, quality production, and teamwork in our café classroom, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Taking on different roles in the kitchen, you will be responsible for producing meals on time or cooking to order at action stations located around the café. You also will learn to efficiently cook for hundreds of guests. For the second half of this quarter, you will focus on individual speed and food quality and be introduced to the business side of cooking. You will learn how to manage a storeroom, including accepting goods and managing vendors. You will also learn about information systems that can assist you with ordering and tracking. During this quarter, our Career Services team will help you develop professionally; assisting you with resume building and mock interviews to prepare you for the internship you want. Courses include:
- CUL101 Survey of Food Service
- CUL113 Storeroom
- CUL122 Cost Control
- CUL124 Quantity Food Production
- CUL126 Professional Development
- MTH116 Intermediate Algebra
Quarter Three- 13 credits
In Quarter three students build on their café experience by through the Breakfast course. The rest of the coursework is dedicated to communication and science. Students continue their required study of Spanish, and begin practicing the forceful use of language in English Composition. This quarter includes the important study of Human Nutrition. Courses include:
- CULXX Breakfast
- CULXX Elective
- ENG111 Composition I
- SCI123 Human Nutrition
- SPN111 Spanish I
YEAR TWO
Quarter Four- 14 credits
Quarter four introduces students to Baking and Pastry techniques, everything from yeast-based breads to puff pastry, cakes and other sweets. You must also complete a unique, intensive Advanced Skills class that puts you to the test by reproducing the stresses of a professional culinary environment with increasing pressure and ever shorter time frames. We continue to build on the communications curriculum here with more advanced Spanish and English Composition classes. Courses include:
- CUL139 Advanced Skills
- CUL143 Baking & Pastry
- ENG112 Composition II
- SOCXX Social Science
Quarter Five- 12 credits
During the fifth quarter, you will complete an internship, gaining first-hand experience in the industry and honing your skills for the advanced coursework in Quarters 6 and 7. As a student, you might find a placement at a restaurant, hotel, bakery, or food lab, to name a few options. Kendall’s Career Services team will assist you in obtaining a position that aligns with your career objectives, needs, and skills. You will also complete an online course to improve your writing skills.
- CUL200 Culinary Externship
Quarter Six- 13 credits
You will take classes designed to advance your knowledge of meat and fish cookery, sauce preparation, Garde Mange (cold food preparation), and presentation. You will also have the opportunity to showcase your talent for customers when you prepare elaborate meals in our fine dining restaurant. Working with a teammate, you will prepare specialized platters of cold food—terrines, pâtes, sausage, and the like—to be presented and served as part of the Grand Buffet - a festive, themed banquet. Courses include:
- CUL233 Food Service Management
- CUL252 Advanced Garde Manger
- CUL254 Advanced Sauce & Fish
- CUL256 Advanced Sauce & Meat
Quarter Seven- 12 credits
Quarter seven is show time. You will synthesize all that you have learned and put your skills to the test in a fine dining facility. Kendall’s own Zagat rated restaurant serves as the backdrop for this final culinary course in which you prepare meals to order from a full-service menu. Rotating in stations around a European-style kitchen, you will cook and plate everything from appetizers to daily specials to desserts for customers who have come to experience all that Kendall has to offer. Other courses during this quarter expand your knowledge by explaining what it takes to open your own restaurant, run a catering business, or work in a banquet facility. You will work in the front of the house of a fine dining restaurant, learning what it takes to provide good service and satisfy customers. Courses include:
- CUL140 Fine Dining Service
- CUL257 Fine Dining Lunch or Dinner
- CUL255 Catering
- CUL236 Menus
Notes:
- This program represents a minimum of 96 credit hours required for graduation.
- Kendall College is proud of its selection of specialized culinary electives offered each quarter.We emphasize that you should take as many of these elective classes as possible.
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Degree Requirements
- Associate of Applied Sciences general studies core—28 credits
- Culinary Arts major requirements—56 credits
- Internship—12 credits
- Successful completion of all practical and written comprehensive exams.
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