One of my biggest questions when considering culinary school had to do with experience. How much kitchen experience is ideal to have before beginning a program?

Like most others, my 20-person class at the FCI is a mix of kitchen novices, seasoned cooks and everything in between. During the first week, it was obvious who had professional cooking experience. The... Read More

So we all know that going to college is expensive, and that can be very difficult to find the money you need to pay for it.  Although I’m sure how most colleges are with helping their students financial, Johnson and Wales University goes out of their way to help its students.

My Empty Wallet
I have to pay for college myself, so get... Read More

Level three has begun and with it comes an anxiety level heretofore unknown. This level is the discipline and consistency level, where we rotate through four stations cooking the exact same 16 dishes over and over again. There are strict time limits with only 20 minutes between each dish presentation and I have never seen my classmates so stressed out! I include mysel... Read More

Another student blogger posed an interesting question on this site, and it’s one that I've been considering myself for awhile. In Shun Slinger's post, "No, I don't watch Top Chef!" he discusses the food media, voicing concern a... Read More

My first lab at Johnson and Wales was Hot and Cold Dessert Preparation, which you can read more about in my recent post ‘Pies to the Eyes’.  Towards the end of the class we had a chance to experiment with desserts prepared table-side.  Our teacher d... Read More

Tomorrow is the final test and practical exam for my Level 2 class. After each level of study (there are 6 at the FCI) students must demonstrate their cumulative knowledge with a written test and their kitchen skills with a practical test. The tests are pretty self explanatory and come straight from the book (with a few exceptions.) The practical, on the other hand te... Read More

If you go to culinary school, you'll probably shape cocotte potatoes. If you go to the FCI, you will definitely shape cocotte potatoes. And while you are cutting whole potatoes into 5 cm-long footballs, you will surely wonder why you are shaping cocotte potatoes.

I've been to many restaurants in my life, and have yet to see the cocotte potato - a tradi... Read More

At Johnson and Wales, the school year is divided up into three trimesters, each one being eleven weeks. For the Culinary Degree, it consists of one academic trimester, and two lab trimesters for your freshman years. Your sophomore year consists of one academic trimester, one lab trimester, and an externship trimester. This is where... Read More

This week me and my wife are in vacation to Illinois to see my little brother. The town he’s staying in is a tiny little town of 200. Well, 201 now that he’s there. We were looking for things to do, and we ended up in a tattoo parlor in Moline, IL. As my wife was getting her tattoo, I looked up and saw a sign that said, "No, I don’t [censor] watch Mi... Read More

After I was accepted at Johnson and Wales Denver I started trying to find as much information about the school that IS NOT on the website and brochures. What there is to do on campus. What the student population is like. What do most people do for fun, etc. I asked around and talked to as many people as I co... Read More