Cooking up a Career in Culinary Arts
Fall 2018
A new hybrid program serves up
expert instruction from top chefs.
Is a culinary career a calling or a
livelihood? It's clearly the former for
Ken Rubin, an accomplished chef
who helped revolutionize food
education as chief culinary officer
of the Rouxbe Online Culinary
School. Fascinated by food at a
very young age, Rubin taught
himself to cook when he was six
and catered his own multicourse
bar mitzvah when he turned 13.
But you don't need to have
cooking in your blood to succeed
in the culinary world. Today there's
a wide range of opportunities for
entrepreneurs looking to change
careers as well as those striving to
become Michelin-starred chefs.
Whether the goal is to create
innovative, exotic cuisine in a five star
restaurant or launch a local
foodie start-up, the right education
can open the door to an exciting
new career, Rubin said.
“Believe me, there are always
openings for people who are
passionate about food, willing to
put in the training, show up in the
kitchen every day and work hard,”
said Rubin, instructor for the DCE's
new hybrid Culinary Arts program.
“Passion for cooking can definitely
be a calling, but it can also be a
great choice for career-changers.
And there are so many opportunities
today.”
Maybe you want to focus on the
health and wellness aspect of
vegetarian cuisine, sell artisan
gluten-free cupcakes or cater
special-themed parties. “The
opportunities are out there,”
Rubin said. “You just have to have
imagination and get the right
training.”
A world of opportunities
Rouxbe, the world's leading online
culinary school, has more than
500,000 students worldwide,
providing expert education to
individuals and prestigious institutions
such as Marriott International and
Ritz-Carlton, using an innovative,
experiential method. Now Rubin is
bringing the same concept to the
DCE program, delivered online
and on-campus.
Students learn foundational cooking
techniques from culinary experts
through instructional videos,
interactive quizzes, assessments,
live broadcasts and text. Then they
practice their skills in fully stocked
modern kitchen facilities, participating
in cooking competitions
and catering assignments alongside
their regular lessons.
“The idea is to train students in all
the basic skills they need through
our online program — proper knife
cuts, which pans to use, basic
cooking techniques,” Rubin said.
“Then they bring those skills into the
kitchen to cook and learn alongside
top chefs. We let students learn
hands-on, with no classroom
lectures.”
Administered by Rouxbe and
certified by the American Culinary
Federation Education Foundation,
the DCE program is flexible enough
to accommodate any schedule.
The entire program can be
completed in three months at
a full-time pace, six months for
part-time students. Both options
include 200 hours of externship
in a professional kitchen.
For those with passion and
dedication, the program can lead
to a position in the massive culinary
industry, which provided 137,500
jobs in the U.S. in 2017, with more
than 14% growth projected through
2027.
Innovative culinary training
Rubin sees Rouxbe's approach to
culinary education as the wave of
the future, leveraging technology
with world-class expertise and
an innovative curriculum. It's an
effective way to deliver quality
content in a streamlined package
that's far more affordable and
accessible than traditional culinary
schools.
Consider that acclaimed schools
such as Le Cordon Bleu and Art
Institute of California cost upward
of $50,000 to $75,000, compared to
an average of $7,000 for the DCE
program.
“Our UCI program costs a fraction
of those, and it doesn't take years
to finish like with traditional schools,” said Rubin, formerly a chef instructor
for Le Cordon Bleu Schools North
America. “Don't get me wrong,
traditional schools provide excellent
training, but they're falling out of
favor. Online programs can be
offered on a much wider basis,
bringing culinary education into
communities that wouldn't otherwise
have access.”
The DCE Culinary Arts program is
also more student-based than
traditional schools, he added.
Allowing students to dive in and
learn from experience is the most
effective way to teach cooking —
and it's exactly how Rubin learned
as a child.
“My parents let me cook without
a lot of guidance,” he said. “I was
very curious about food, and I was
able to get into the kitchen and
explore, see what worked and what
didn't, burn things and learn from
my mistakes.”
That's how the DCE program is
designed, only with expert instruction
and great facilities to help
guide students along.
Mastering a professional
kitchen
Through an innovative, hybrid
learning environment, students will
explore basic chef skills at their own
pace online, and then join their
class in a professional kitchen for a
hands-on, practical application of
the lesson. Proper food handling
and sanitation, basic nutrition, frying
and baking techniques are just a
few of the essentials students will
learn.
“Here's how it works,” Rubin said.
“Let's say week six focuses on doing
eggs right. You'd learn online about
different types of eggs, different
cooking methods, how to use them
to thicken and coagulate and so
on. Then the class would meet and
you'd be ready to actually start
practicing.”
That's when students get to start
cooking, developing advanced
culinary skills in a world-class kitchen.
The hybrid approach has proven
to be a highly effective method
for teaching a wide range of
participants.
The Culinary Arts program can be
an excellent entry point for first-time
students as well as midlife career
changers. But it's also a great way
for experienced cooks to brush
up on their techniques and try
something they've never had a
chance to do before, like making
hollandaise sauce by hand.
“Our program attracts a wide
range of students,” Rubin said.
“Some are first-timers who aren't
sure what they want to do, but
they're interested in cooking. I've
found that a lot of our career-changing
students are entrepreneurs
looking to launch their own
culinary business.”
Not incidentally, the DCE program
provides the chance to network
and develop relationships with
fellow students as well as instructors.
Personal contacts are often the key
to opening doors in the culinary
world, Rubin said.
“I'd say about 80% of my career has
resulted from somebody tapping
me on the shoulder, not by looking
at job listings,” he added. “I get
calls all the time from contacts
looking for fresh talent. The culinary
marketplace is crowded, but quality
talent is always in demand. I'm not
saying it's easy, but anyone with
enough skill and passion and
commitment can succeed in the
culinary world.”