Chef Track Curriculum

The Chef Track curriculum at Culinary School of the Rockies is focused and jam-packed. We take a purposeful approach, teaching a full menu each day. Other cooking schools use a block system. Here, we do not teach sauces as an isolated block. You make sauces nearly every day. The menus increase in complexity as the weeks go by. The Guest Chefs bring immeasurable insight and variety. Your skills and understanding develop quickly and build over time.

Profile of a Typical Evening

• Chef Track begins with a lecture and discussion about the menu.
• When there are Guest Instructors, they share their bios, philosophies, war stories, challenges and successes.
• You work in teams to produce the meal.
• You gain leadership skills through weekly rotating positions as kitchen manager, team chef or bread baker.
• Dining together is an important and unique part of your culinary education. You and your classmates explain, critique and evaluate each menu item. Our Chef Instructors agree this element was missing from their own culinary school educations. It is extremely tough to learn this skill on your own.
• The last job of the evening is thoroughly cleaning the kitchen, a critical component of any restaurant kitchen.

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Techniques and Methods
Chef Track is based on the fundamentals of classic French culinary techniques, methods and terminology. It is essential to hone your knife skills, develop a sauce repertoire, learn soups, stocks, butchery, product identification, and seasoning, and to learn how and when to braise, roast, poach and sauté. Chef Track leads to competency through repetition, repetition, repetition.

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Contemporary Cuisines
Chef Track includes an up-to-date, first-hand view of what is happening in restaurants. Each of the Guest Chefs shares the contemporary, real-world cuisine they create in their restaurants. Many of the Guest Chefs' "palettes" feature Mediterranean, Regional American, Asian and Latin American ingredients, flavors and influences.

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Guest Instructors
During your 15 weeks in the Culinary School of the Rockies' Chef Track program, you have the distinct privilege of meeting, cooking and networking with Colorado's finest chefs. This part of the Chef Track program is flat-out radical.

Each Guest Instructor focuses on a specific culinary curriculum topic. You get to know them, hear their stories, understand their philosophies, and learn about their restaurants, businesses, and career paths. You acquire a competitive edge by learning and networking with these mentors.

Their primary message is "attitude is everything". These top chefs tell us that a positive and respectful attitude and a "can-do" approach to working are critical to achieving success in this business.

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Product Identification and Usage
Parsley and cilantro. They look similar but you need to understand the distinctions of aroma, taste, and usage. A side of beef. You take it apart, analyze it, and learn the difference between the rump and the chuck. Culinary School of the Rockies takes this process seriously across all categories of ingredients and products.

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Palate Development
Culinary School of the Rockies' focus on palate development radically distinguishes us from other culinary schools. Everyone's palate is unique. You need to know your own. You learn the importance of flavor, its subtleties, harmonies and contrasts. Everything we teach - techniques, methods, menu development, and "System of Creation" - begins and ends with tasting. Most cooking schools do not teach this critical art of palate development. Your employers and customers will value this skill and recognize your competitive edge.

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Kitchen Management
Teamwork and management skills, critical components in the hospitality industry, are built into the Chef Track curriculum. Students tackle a different management or teamwork position each week. This allows you to rotate through standard kitchen stations, and experience first hand the responsibilities associated with each job.

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Culinary Vocabulary
Think of the word "sauté". This term is used everywhere from flapjack joints to 3-star restaurants. The word is French for "jump", which perfectly describes what happens in the pan. At Culinary School of the Rockies, we stress the importance of building your culinary vocabulary. You understand and use this vocabulary naturally in the cooking process each day.

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Written and Practical Exams
Culinary School of the Rockies uses quizzes and written and practical exams as educational tools. The Chef Instructors give you detailed feedback on your practical exams to measure your progress. The practical exams also mirror a typical working interview for a job.

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"System of Creation"
When approaching a dish or menu, great chefs always think through the components, variables, techniques and methods before they begin. Our Chef Instructors have taken this time-honored process, have developed their own innovative system, and teach it effectively. Culinary School of the Rockies' "System of Creation" works. You learn it, you own it, you use it, and it's yours forever.

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Graduation Celebration
The Graduation Celebration is an opportunity for you and your classmates to create a fabulous buffet for your friends and family.

The format is buffet-style, an important distinction. You learn how to arrange and plate platters, cook quantities in advance, and style the buffet table. The Graduation Celebration allows time for you to mingle with your friends and family.

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Profile of a Typical Evening
Techniques & Methods
Contemporary Cuisines
Guest Instructors
Product Identification & Usage
Palate Development
Kitchen Management
Culinary Vocabulary
Written & Practical Exams
"System of Creation"
Graduation Celebration