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While there are “tried and true” standards in culinary education like knife skills, sanitation, and fundamental techniques, the field also continues to evolve with the times. Changing consumer trends, advancing technologies, and the needs of today’s students mean schools must respond with new programming and curricula to stay current.
This is what we see as the possible future of culinary education, and how we at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts are evolving to meet these new demands.
Entrepreneurial and Business Education
Many of today’s young people aren’t interested in having a “job” that will pay the bills. They’re often also looking to pursue a passion. While culinary school students share a common enthusiasm for food, many also dream about going down the path of entrepreneurship.
Barriers to culinary entrepreneurship are lower than ever before. New technology and new service methods are putting entrepreneurship within reach without requiring extensive startup capital.
Food trucks, ghost restaurants, home bakeries—all are growing in popularity and are often easier to start than the traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant. And it’s not just physical spaces that are shifting. Remote culinary jobs are growing too, opening up new paths for chefs, educators, content creators, and food entrepreneurs alike.
Culinary grads are launching businesses in wellness, meal prep, and more.
A culinary school education should prepare students for a possible future in entrepreneurship. Even if a student doesn’t have dreams of being the boss, they may still need to understand the fundamentals of operating a business.
With food inflation on the rise, restaurants are paying closer attention than ever to their finances. Diversification of revenue streams will be a major component of the restaurant industry’s future to reduce reliance on in-person dining. As operations grow more complicated, culinary students may need to be prepared to manage labor and product costs and maximize profits.
Depending on the program they’re in, Escoffier students may take a variety of business-focused courses. From topics like foodservice math and accounting to purchasing & cost control, these courses can help students to see where the kitchen fits into the overall success of a foodservice operation, so they can be better prepared to make smart financial choices.
Escoffier also offers a Food Entrepreneurship program that “Instructs students on how to leverage culinary foundations along with core business essentials and specialized emphasis on marketing and promotion.” Its mission is to help students build a skill set in management and small business.
Increased Flexibility
Beyond what students can learn in culinary school, expect to see a shift in how they learn it.
We can do nearly anything online these days—shopping, banking, studying, playing games. Attending culinary school is no different!
Escoffier has been the industry leader in online culinary education. It is the only U.S. accredited institution offering 100% online diplomas and degrees nationwide with culinary classes and hands-on industry externships.** Students can now get the same high-quality education from industry-leading Chef Instructors, right from their own homes.
**Our Boulder, CO campus is the only accredited institution in the United States to offer both fully online diploma and degree programs nationwide with culinary classes and hands-on industry externships. We are accredited by ACCET – A Partnership for Quality. ACCET is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency.
This increased flexibility has opened up culinary education to students from all over the world and all stages of life. Recent high school graduates, parents of small children, people switching careers, and working chefs who want to increase their skills can all fit culinary school into their busy lives with these online programs.
The online culinary curriculum at Escoffier includes live and archive video class sessions, cooking demonstrations, reading assignments, cooking theory lessons, and hands-on cooking assignments. As long as students meet their weekly program deadlines, they can complete this coursework whenever it’s convenient for them in the comfort of their own home kitchens.
The success of this teaching method has proven how important it is to adapt to the changing needs of modern students.
Focus on Sustainability and Local Food Production
Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. It’s an important philosophy to embrace as we move forward toward a greener future.
With limited natural resources on our planet, a focus on sustainability can help protect our biodiversity while still producing enough food for our global population. While chefs usually aren’t growing the food, the ingredients they choose to purchase can have an impact on the planet.
All of our cooking and dining decisions have an impact on the larger food ecosystem. The further that food has to travel to reach us, the more energy is consumed and waste is produced. That doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy foods from around the world. But it does mean that using local alternatives when possible helps us to reduce our overall footprint.
Sustainability starts with understanding where your ingredients come from.
Preventing food waste is another vital piece of this puzzle. In the U.S. alone, 120 billion pounds of food reach landfills each year, where decay creates methane and carbon dioxide. In fact, food waste in landfills accounts for 11% of global greenhouse gases.
Future cooks should be educated on the importance of sustainability and food waste, so they can be part of the solution. While shopping locally and reducing waste on the consumer end also helps, the sheer volume of product purchased and used in a restaurant means that each cook or chef has the chance to make a major impact when they choose to support environmentally-conscious farmers and artisans.
At Escoffier, Culinary Arts students can study these concepts as part of their full program in the six-week Farm to Table® Experience course. This course can help students to understand the relationship between the food producer and the chef, and the environmental impact of farming, ranching, and fishing.
On-campus students can work with local farmers and/or food producers to better understand the nature of the local food economy, and online students may have the opportunity to participate in occasional in-person workshops (optional programming; not included in the curriculum.)
Balance Between Tradition and Innovation
Classical cooking education has a long history. Since much of modern western cuisine is based on French technique, these methods are an important part of the culinarian’s skillset. They create the foundation of many modern cooking styles, even if you’re not cooking French food.
Today’s chefs often use modern technologies and techniques that the French masters never dreamed of, like molecular gastronomy, where science meets food to create edible gasses, liquids spheres, and deconstructed dishes spread across a plate. Others lean into fusion cuisine, blending different cultures and culinary traditions. Even the very nature of a chef’s career has evolved, with many stepping out of the kitchen to take on roles in business, branding, and marketing.
Culinary education needs to walk a fine line between the traditional and the innovative, encouraging students to try new things and experiment in the kitchen.
At Escoffier, students can begin their programs by exploring and practicing important culinary fundamentals like knife skills, proper food storage, and how to select the proper tools. These skills can serve as building blocks as students experiment with new ideas and subsequently move onto more advanced techniques.
And as a pioneer in online culinary education, Escoffier has created an entirely new method of sharing the culinary arts, baking & pastry, plant-based cooking, holistic nutrition & wellness, food entrepreneurship, and hospitality and restaurant operations management with its students.
Wellness, Nutrition, and Work-Life Balance
As the culinary field evolves, so do the aspirations of its students. Many are no longer solely focused on fine dining or fast-paced restaurant kitchens. Instead, they’re defining what personal wellness in the food industry looks like to them and seeking alternative career paths that align with their desired quality of life.
Functional nutrition, gut health, allergen-conscious cooking, and therapeutic meal planning have emerged as key areas of interest. From anti-inflammatory diets to plant-forward menus and wellness retreats, today’s chefs are expected to understand the relationship between food and health.
At Escoffier, students can dive into these topics through programs that emphasize holistic nutrition and wellness, preparing them to work not only in traditional kitchens but also in hospitals, wellness centers, private chef roles, and more.
For many, this shift is also about lifestyle. The rise of food entrepreneurship, flexible online learning, and diverse job opportunities allows students to build careers that are both meaningful and sustainable. Whether it’s launching a cottage bakery, offering nutrition-focused meal prep services, or cooking in retreat settings with set hours, today’s culinarians are crafting careers that support, not compromise, their well-being.
Wellness and balance are becoming essential to modern culinary careers.
The Future Is Now
Auguste Escoffier was an innovator and disruptor of the culinary industry. We continue to live up to his name by constantly seeking to update and improve our programs, so we can better prepare future culinarians.
Culinary education seems to be evolving along with the food service industry. The best culinary schools will likely continue to innovate and work toward teaching the skills that students actually need in their future careers.
Ready to help shape the future of food? Explore how culinary school can help turn your passion into a meaningful career. Contact us today for more information.
IF YOU’D LIKE TO READ MORE ABOUT CULINARY EDUCATION, TRY THESE ARTICLES NEXT:
- Why Older Students Should Consider Culinary School
- What To Look For In a Good Culinary Arts Curriculum
- A Guide to Culinary School for Vegans and Vegetarians
This article was originally published on January, 15 2021, and has since been updated.
*Information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors, such as geographical region or previous experience.
