Foundation
Knife Skills & Kitchen Fundamentals
Build the foundational techniques every great chef relies on — from proper knife grip to mise en place.
Summer Culinary 2027
Global Flavors in America's Most Cosmopolitan City
Washington, DC is one of the most diverse and cosmopolitan cities in the world — a place where cuisines from every corner of the globe come together in a thriving, world-class restaurant scene. Our DC campus puts student chefs right at the center of it all, with access to state-of-the-art professional kitchens and an unmatched variety of culinary influences. The amazing cultural vibrance is reflected by the recipes we work on in DC. Our DC program challenges student chefs to think globally and cook boldly — no experience needed, just curiosity and a love of food.
Apply to the DC ProgramOur Kitchen: LOS ANGELES
Nestled in the heart of Pasadena, our Los Angeles campus occupies a dedicated professional teaching kitchen at the Institute of Culinary Education on Green Street — a world-class facility reserved exclusively for our students. ICE Pasadena is the same exact kitchens where working chefs train, outfitted with industry-grade equipment and designed for serious culinary instruction. Enrollment is capped to the kitchen's capacity, which means this location historically fills up first. Students here are surrounded by LA's extraordinary diversity of food cultures: from the taco stands of East LA to the fine dining corridors of Beverly Hills — making every meal outside the kitchen its own education. These evening trips are solely for our residential students, who will live at Loyola Marymount College on the beach. Fabulous... space is very limited in LA.
Explore LA CampusOur Kitchen: SAN FRANCISCO
Our San Francisco campus has a distinct advantage no other location can match: the kitchen sits right on the same grounds where residential students sleep, eat, and spend their evenings. At San Francisco State University, we cook in the same high-capacity commercial kitchens the university's own culinary staff uses throughout the year — professional-grade equipment in a real institutional setting. For our residential students, they can simply walk over to the kitchen, and back to ther dorm at the end of the day. They can make a quick change and go exploring! Zero commute between dorm and kitchen means more time soaking up the Bay Area's legendary food scene: farm-to-table pioneers, world-class dim sum, sourdough traditions, and a farmers' market culture unlike anywhere else in the country. For our commuters, SFSU is located to where the drive will not be too bad, as it is centrally located, safe, and serene.
Explore SF CampusThe Curriculum
Foundation
Build the foundational techniques every great chef relies on — from proper knife grip to mise en place.
Global Cuisine
Explore the world's culinary traditions using DC's incredible diversity of ingredients and cultural influences.
Finishing Skills
Turn your dishes into works of art. Learn the visual language of professional plating used in top restaurants.
Savory Cooking
Build a repertoire of bold, restaurant-quality savory dishes — from perfectly seared proteins and rich sauces to complex flavor profiles that impress.
A Day in the Life AT EACH LOCATION
Morning
The chef demonstrates a skill live — from knife work to rolling sushi — and students follow right along. This is where the real skills are built, one technique at a time.
Afternoon
Afternoons are dedicated to cooking a large variety of recipes. Students are in the kitchen most of the day, working through multiple dishes inspired by DC's globally diverse food scene.
Evening
Commuter students head home after a full day in the kitchen. Residential students venture out into one of the world's most iconic capital cities — monuments, neighborhoods, markets, and more.
2027 Sessions COMING SOON; WE WILL BE GOING MOST OF THE SUMMER
| Session | Dates | Commuter |
|---|---|---|
| Session 1 | July 20 – July 24 | $1,995 |
| Session 2 | July 27 – July 31 | $1,995 |
Washington DC is one of the most internationally diverse cities in the United States — and that diversity lives on every plate. Our DC cooking camp puts teens inside a culinary environment shaped by embassy cultures and global immigrant communities.
Our DC program runs inside a fully equipped commercial kitchen facility where every student has their own professional workstation, industry-grade tools, and chef-led instruction from day one.
For families in the DC metro area looking for a meaningful, skill-building summer experience, our commuter program offers the perfect balance of intensity and accessibility.
Our Washington DC cooking camp was built with one principle at its core: every teen deserves a seat at the table, regardless of what they already know. Whether your student has never held a chef's knife or has been cooking family dinners for years, our DC program meets them exactly where they are.
Cook in the culinary capital of the world. Our NYC campus places teen chefs inside professional kitchens in one of the most iconic food cities on the planet.
ExploreExperience the epicenter of sustainable agriculture, farm-to-table innovation, and diverse culinary fusion in the Bay Area.
ExploreDiscover the Pacific Northwest's premier hub for sustainable food sourcing and world-renowned marketplace traditions.
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