The International Culinary Center in New York

Definitely the best around to improve and develop your culinary skills

Awesome place to learn not only cooking but also to respect different cultures.

Here's the big Forty Thousand Dollar Question - Should you pay for Culinary School?I'm giving the school four stars because of the staff who are beyond wonderful.I can tell you within two weeks I knew that several things bothered me and had I been paying for this myself I would have dropped out without any hesitation.The cooking instruction book is riddled with errors and that to me is unforgivable. Not that anyone reads it after the first three weeks (well I did) because every test that you take the day before the chef will read off every single question to ensure that everyone passes. I had a big problem with that method, because class is wasted when people ask questions that are in the book that they didn't read.Now let's think about this, you just spent $40k or more to learn culinary arts, that loan has to be paid back and if you live in this city you will probably make $15 and hour to begin (that's NYC's minimum wage) but what if you live in another state or city? How the heck can you pay back this loan if you are making minimum wage?OR have you not thought about that? Well you should . And before I say anything else use that phone to look up jobs, in your town, look up how much you need to pay each month to get that debt off your back. Use your phone for research not for hitting likes.The chefs that work in the school are great, however its sad that there is one black chef, three Asians, and a couple of white women but 90% of the chefs are white men. Where is the diversity?This is 2019 and this school is still using nitrates and meat glue. Not only that you learn charcuterie that is so dated (500 BC - 1985)that its a waste of time. In this day and age charcuterie is a balance of taste and texture, not terrines, galantines and seafood in dough. Its grossed me out to spend time making these dishes when I know that if you google charcuterie in Michelin star restaurants you won't see the items they are teaching.Which brings me to another issue I had, nothing is washed, the meat is cooked straight out the box. People didn't even take time to wash the vegetables. The workstations in the morning are dirty, the pots have to be rinsed before you use them, the bathrooms are dirty, as well as the locker room. And most the students weren't clean either.Today you have gluten free restaurants, vegan, vegetarian restaurants, etc, yet this school DOES NOT touch on any of these issues. The meals you make are basically meat or sugary desserts.Now here is my other thing that you should think about before you enroll (not saying that you shouldn't because hey I don't have to pay your loan back). How many times have you eaten in a fine dining establishment? I'm not talking Ruth Chris nor Red Lobster, I'm talking a Michelin starred restaurant? I believe that before you enroll you should spend a week or longer working in a restaurant to see if you even like it.Yes you learn knife skills the first week . Yes you will learn how to cocotte a vegetable, but in all my years of taking clients to fine establishments I have never seen a cocotte.When was the last time you read a cooking blog or even a cooking magazine? Culinary school is nothing like what you see on Instantgratification (because its is instant, how many photos do you have take to get that "perfect" one? Its artificial and so is Fakebook.) If you want to be a chef then follow some of the restaurants on Instagram, follow some of the chefs who you admire, immerse yourself in your PASSION instead of relying on cooking shows (another fake thing, come on guys there is a person off camera holding signs telling the audience how to react. There is another person who writes down what the hosts should say - nothing you see is real) and spectacular plating photos that took dozens of tries to get right.Again, I can't tell you if the school is worth it only you will know the answer to this.

This place is the best! You learn to cook great food, get helpful kitchen tips and enjoy some wine while you do it! Courtney is a great teacher/chef! Thank you, International Culinary Center, for a good time!

Such a wonderful night learning to cook delicious items with Porsche. Definitely felt like a fun dinner party with practical skills and delicious food. Plus, the atmosphere is wonderful. I will definitely return!