Culinary Arts / Chef Training in Denver, CO

Cook Street School of Culinary Arts, Denver:
Cook Street School of Culinary Arts provides a high-quality 12-week chef-training course, an accelerated program that is intensely focused and offers great bang for your buck so you can get in, get out, and get on with your culinary dreams! Conveniently located in Denver’s historic Lower Downtown district in the epicenter of Denver’s vibrant foodie scene, our rigorous, menu-based approach to the rich culinary traditions of Italy and France will teach you the fundamentals you need to excel in your future career. Our fully accredited course focuses on the whole chef, ensuring that you have the skills to enter the competitive world of professional culinary arts upon graduation.

12-week Chef / Culinary Arts Training Course:
Immerse yourself in the heart-thumping world of our working kitchen. Our rigorous, menu-based approach to the rich culinary traditions of Italy and France will teach you the fundamentals you need to excel in your future career.

Cook Street focuses on the whole chef, ensuring that you have the skills to enter the competitive world of the professional culinary arts upon graduation. At the end of your Cook Street experience, you’ll put our intensive curriculum into practice as you cook with acclaimed chefs in France and Italy during our European Tour. Our rigorous curriculum covers:

- Culinary Arts, from knife skills and vocabulary to history, culture, palate development, and complete cooking competency
- The Art of the Table, from menu planning and recipe development to service and presentational arts.
- Wine, from vocabulary and techniques to pairing, tasting, and serving
- Pastry, from breads to fine pastry and everything in between

Students are taught and expected to gain a fundamental understanding of the following areas of study during their 12-week program at Cook Street:

Pastry:
- Bread
- Cakes & Butter cream
- Chocolate
- Custards & Soufflés
- Dessert Sauces
- Frozen Desserts
- High Altitude Baking
- Laminated Dough
- Meringues
- Mousses
- Pate a Choux
- Sugar Cookery
- Tart Components       

Savory:
- Butchery & Fabrication
- Caviar
- Charcuterie
- Cheeses
- Essentials of Taste/Organoleptic
- Foie Gras
- Fusion
- Herbs & Spices
- Methods of Cooking Meat, Poultry, and Rabbit
- Pasta Eggs
- Round fish, flat fish & shell fish
- Sauces
- Soups
- Stocks
- Variety Meats             

Techniques & Theory:
- Chef History/Brigade System
- Culinary equipment and tools
- Food Costing
- French Culinary Terms
- French Geography
- History of French Cooking
- History of Italian Cooking
- Italian Culinary Terms
- Italian Geography
- Knife Sharpening
- Knife Skills
- Menu Construct
- New-World Wine
- Old-World Wine
- Sanitation
- Table Service
- Weights & Measurements
- Wine Service

Career Options
At Cook Street, we give you the skills to savor the culinary career that’s right for you.  Our alumni work in a variety of culinary careers, from traditional chef roles to positions as caterers, personal chefs, industry associations, even food photography and writing. Our Student Services are designed to help you take the next step toward pursuing your goal, from resume and mock interview assistance to stage opportunities at local restaurants, connections with farmers’ markets, and more.  

We’re here to help you flesh out your culinary career with the help of an extraordinary community of foodie resources.Whether they go on to own their own culinary business or work for the best in the industry, Cook Street students emerge ready to face the culinary world head-on.  Our career offerings include:

- ACF Apprenticeship: Cook Street makes an investment in the future success of its graduates by paying for the second  year of this program with no additional cost to the student. - Each graduate who is accepted to the Apprenticeship Program will receive assistance from the ACF in securing a paid, mentored job.
- ACF Job Board: As full members of the ACF, Cook Street graduates have access to its job board and all networking opportunities.
- Personalized Service: Because of our small class size, Cook Street can personally understand each student’s career goals and offer completely individualized job placement assistance.
- Cook Street Job Board: Restaurants, hotels and resorts in Denver, and around the country, post job opportunities on our website. Only Cook Street graduates can access this site.
- USPCA Personal Chef Referral Service and Online Listing: Cook Street students who enroll in the Personal Chef Course have full membership benefits from the USPCA, including a business website and listing on the Hireachef.com referral website.