A registered culinary apprenticeship
Desert Mountain Club · Scottsdale, Arizona
Put your culinary training to work inside Desert Mountain Club’s expansive culinary operation—10 distinctive restaurants led by French Master Chef Bertrand Bouquin—while earning Escoffier’s Online Diploma in Culinary Arts.
Registered through the Arizona Department of Economic Security
Train inside a nationally recognized private club while earning your culinary diploma from the country’s leading culinary school brand.†
*Great Place to Work Certified™, five consecutive years
**14 Best Culinary Schools in the World 2026, Cozymeal
†Based on comparable student population data for Austin and Boulder as currently reported in Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
‡Top 10 Private Club in America — Platinum Clubs® of America, Club Leaders Forum
§Best Colleges for Culinary Arts in America 2026, Niche.com
¶5-star Award: America’s Top Online Learning Schools 2026, Newsweek
Desert Mountain is home to 10 distinctive restaurants and grills within a private-club community spanning seven clubhouses and 8,300 acres of Sonoran Desert.
As an apprentice, you can develop within this sophisticated culinary organization—where craft, thoughtful service and attention to detail come together every day.
Steak and seafood
Signature clubhouse dining
Tuscan Italian
Casual grill after a round of golf
Southwestern flavors
Wellness-focused dining
Modern gastropub
Laid-back comfort fare
Mobile dining around the mountain
Provided by Desert Mountain
A diploma has to lead to something real. At Desert Mountain, here is where it can take you.*
*This pathway and these milestones are provided by Desert Mountain Club, not by Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts (AESCA). For illustration only — not a promise or guarantee of employment, promotion, title, or wages. Advancement decisions are made solely by Desert Mountain Club and depend on many factors, including performance, business needs, and position availability.
Apprenticeship is the oldest path into the culinary profession—and still one of the smartest. You’re paid to train on the job under experienced chefs while having the opportunity to enroll and complete online post-secondary culinary training, following a plan registered with the state of Arizona. Here’s why the model works.
You’re a paid employee in Desert Mountain’s kitchens from day one—a great job with a real future, growing your skills and your career while you study.
Technique is learned at the shoulder of working chefs at Desert Mountain in real service and online with Escoffier’s Chef Instructors.
Escoffier’s Online Diploma in Culinary Arts and Operations program provides the related instruction, so what you study and what you practice in the kitchen can reinforce each other.
Your training follows rigorous standards set by the Arizona Department of Economic Security—approximately 4,000 to 6,000 hours of on-the-job training toward journeyman status, a credential many kitchens understand.
*This information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors such as geographical region or previous experience.
Wondering how culinary school happens online? See how Chef Instructors, structured coursework, and hands-on assignments come together—wherever your kitchen is.
A place like Desert Mountain—where exceptional service and quality are the daily standard—can only work with the best of the best. It asks for commitment, discipline, and belief in your own future.
In return, it offers a rare chance to be part of something exceptional: working under the mentorship of top-tier chefs in remarkable kitchens, surrounded by the natural beauty of the high Sonoran Desert—with a culinary education that reaches well beyond it all.
Putting in the effort on the job—and investing in yourself and your future by going to culinary school—is a signal the hiring team reads clearly: this is an excellent candidate.
Escoffier’s Chef Instructors add perspectives from across the industry to the mentorship you receive at Desert Mountain.
A structured curriculum builds every core technique, not just the dishes on tonight’s menu.
Study alongside a national community of students and graduate into Escoffier’s alumni network.
Paid apprenticeships that pair a club of this caliber with a school of this reach are few. This is one of them.
Yes. The apprenticeship is built around Escoffier’s Online Diploma in Culinary Arts and Operations—you’ll work at Desert Mountain Club and apply to Escoffier as separate steps of the same pathway.
Yes—that’s the design. You’ll train in a paid role in Desert Mountain’s kitchens while completing your related instruction online through Escoffier, so what you study and what you practice can reinforce each other.
You’ll have more support than you might expect. As part of Desert Mountain Club’s tuition benefits program, apprentices receive a scholarship of $1,000 or more from Escoffier. Financial aid may also be available to those who apply and qualify—an Escoffier admissions representative can walk you through those options. For details on the tuition benefits program itself, Desert Mountain is the right contact.
No. This apprenticeship is specifically connected to the Online Diploma in Culinary Arts and Operations.
A typical job gives you hours. This pathway gives you structure: mentorship from accomplished chefs, apprenticeship standards registered with the State of Arizona, and a formal culinary education—so your effort adds up to a career, not just a paycheck.
No. Applying to or enrolling at Escoffier does not guarantee employment or apprenticeship placement with Desert Mountain Club.
Fill out the form or call 1-877-452-5489 to connect with an Escoffier admissions representative.
Tell us you’re interested, and an Escoffier admissions representative will walk you through the education, financial aid options, and what happens next. No commitment—just a conversation.
The pathway, in brief
A registered culinary apprenticeship partnership between Desert Mountain Club and Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.
The following accreditations and associations apply to our Boulder, Colorado, campus, which offers online programs.
Find all the resources you need to begin your culinary journey at Escoffier.
1-877-452-5489