You have Questions, We have Answers

What makes the Summer Culinary programs different than any other program? 
Our culture and community is what makes kitchen, and chefs.  Our culture of foodie excellence is amazingly fun and awesome.  And it is our professional teaching kitchens and pro chefs that make the difference while students are in the kitchen all day.  Ask any other program where they cook, what they are using to prepare food, and who are the instructors… we hear stories like ”Jake only got to use a hot plate! A hot plate?!?! Help!”  Don’t make the same mistake Jake’s parents made!!!  We got you.

What is the difference between locations? 
Our proprietary curriculum is the same at each location. What makes each program different are: the host cities, the residence halls, and the kitchen particulars. Each kitchen is pro. Each dorm is awesome. And each host city is amazing… they all have their own vibes. Pick the location that works best for you!

Should I combine and do two sessions? How does that work?
 We often see our students attend multiple sessions. In terms of the kitchen, attending multiple sessions gives students the chance in the second session to sometimes try new recipes, and sometimes try recipes again to deepen their skills. It’s all about taking students from right where they are uniquely to where they want to go, being uniquely extraordinary. Multi-session residential students get to stay in the same room and often get a new roommate for the second session. And they can stay over with us between sessions for free; they can also go home over that Saturday night if they choose.

I love cooking, but I’m not good enough (at all) to think about competing on TV for Chopped Jr.  Is this program too advanced for me? 

No not at all.  Many of our high school cooking students are newbies, fresh, and they aren’t mad experienced in the kitchen.  They just love to cook.  That is all that is required of our students, that they love to cook and love food and all of that.  We have and accept all skill levels.  We divide up into small subsets and groups so each set of students can be challenged and learn at their own ability. We have been scouted by talent scouts for these shows in years past in NYC, and we hope the same for all of our other locations!

How do you keep the kids safe when you travel around town? Are there chaperones? 

Student safety is our number one concern.  Staff chaperone our students every step of the way.   While no one can ever 100% guarantee anything, we 100% do our very best to ensure that safety remain our top top priority! Students have their phones with them at all times while traveling and they have the camp staff contact information saved in their phone during orientation. We train our staff thoroughly, and we work with the students at orientation to cover as many what-ifs as possible.

Who will my roommate be? What is my room like? Is the dorm nice? 

Roommates are matched by age and geography. We mix international students with American students to maximize socialization. Staff live on the same floors as students to provide maximum supervision. In our high school cooking camp, for the dorms we go for luxury, safety and proximity to the best in each host city….

I’m flying to camp, can someone pick me up? 

Yes! we offer airport pickup at all our locations for a small fee. Please see the individual site locations pages for details or just call us. We do this all the time we have it down. We send you a pic of the person doing pickup, we create a text chain with parent, child, pickup person and director, we stay in constant contact, we take a cab or car straight to camp with no stops at pickup; straight to the airport with no stops at drop-off. And we make the counselor wait until the departing flight goes wheels-up before the counselor leaves the airport, in case the flight is delayed or cancelled.

Do international students attend this program? 

Yes! As much as 25% of the program have been international students over the years; less so since the pandemic. Students from Germany, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and other places have all enjoyed a fabulous time with us. You can read about one of our international students from France right HERE.

Can I bring my cell phone or lap-top? 

Phone yes, laptop no. We have a no-cell-phone policy while actively cooking; feel free to take pics of your food creations upon completion of our high school cooking program!

How do I get my welcome pack? 

Welcome pack pdfs are emailed to the family immediately upon registration in our high school cooking camp.  Nothing else is sent to you, and nothing is ever sent through the USPS snail mail. Check for your email and call us if you need anything!

How old are Summer Culinary? 

Our student age range is quite diverse.  We have 12-year old students to 17-year old students, and each age in between.  Our program will have enough of each age represented, so your student will be able to make friends and hang out with similar-aged students.

What if my student is vegetarian, vegan, or has food allergies? 

For our vegetarian or vegan students, we will substitute a different menu item / protein to replace meat or animal by-products for those who do not want to learn to cook, prepare or eat those items.  For food allergies, we have to work with parents. If a student has a deathly, severe food allergy, we do not recommend this program. Of course we will do our best to work with students with minor food allergies, as we expect the student to be situationally aware, and we are in communication with the staff and chefs. Just let us know.