Utah Cooking and Hospitality Schools

Find Culinary Programs

Top Utah culinary schools include one of the most popular cooking and pastry arts programs in the country, but quality Culinary Arts education can also be acquired through on of the dozen or so state colleges, universities, and community and technical colleges throughout the state.

Thanks in part to a bevy of tourist hotspots, including Salt Lake City, Sundance, Provo and Park City, and the associated ski culture; Utah boasts a robust hospitality industry. Logan, Ogden, and St. George are among the state’s other large cities, which require trained kitchen staffers.  National Parks and other tourist attractions make for a steady flow of hungry visitors, to be fed by your creativity and culinary training.

High quality culinary arts schools commit to preparing you for the competitive food service industry by putting the mechanisms in place to move your career along.  An array of facilities for hands-on learning, rigorous course and degree requirements, and a host of student services, work together to advance your chef’s dream.  Make sure the school you choose possesses the following hallmarks of successful culinary institutions:

• Internships, externships and apprenticeships as required curricular components
• Well-equipped teaching kitchens that put you to work with industry-preferred equipment
• Student-run, high-volume restaurants that are open to the public
• Career guidance and continuing education opportunities
• Job boards and placement services that connect you with reputable employers

Advance Your Chef’s Career With a Job in Utah

To add career credibility to your resume, consider a student membership in a leading restaurant and hospitality industry association like,

• The American Culinary Federation – Salt Lake City Chapter
• Rocky Mountain Central Region of the Research Chefs Association.
• Utah Restaurant Association

Academic Eating For Utah Chef Students

A requisite component of your academic culinary studies must include an exploration of the local food scene. Eat your way through the most highly regarded local restaurants.  Sample “best of” local dishes; and whenever possible, make contact with popular local chefs. Develop your own sense of the local market, and identify your place within it.

Annual food festivals serve up exciting concentrations of food and local culinary culture.  Working in a festival kitchen, or participating in a student cooking competition ala Iron Chef America provides an alternate source of education that fosters networking, at the same time.  Valuable chef contacts made while working as a food event staffer are tapped later for collaboration and employment.

Job-hunting in Utah will take you to major metro areas-Salt Lake City or Provo; or to smaller, but popular, markets like Sundance and Park City. You’ll discover small pockets of inventive cuisine across the state, so don’t be afraid to look off the beaten path for culinary employment. Salaries for chefs across the state are highest in Sundance.

Influential factors for earning potential include education, experience, type of restaurant, economic climate, and other market considerations, but average sous chef salaries in the region are around $35,000.

List of Utah Cooking Schools

International Culinary Schools at the Art Institute of Salt Lake City is representative of 30+ other AI culinary programs across the country. This world-class curriculum is now sponsored by The Food Network and teaches you fundamentals of international cuisine and classical cooking methods. Degrees include: Bachelor’s in Culinary Management, Associate’s in Baking and Pastry, Associate’s in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry Diploma, and The Art of Cooking Diploma.

Utah State Colleges, Community and Technical Colleges Offering Culinary, Restaurant Management, and/or Hospitality Degrees

• Bridgerland Applied Technology College – Logan
  
• Brigham Young University – Provo
  
• Davis Applied Technology College – Kaysville
  
• Dixie College - St George
  
• Odgen-Weber Applied Technology Center – Ogden
• Park City Culinary Institute – Park City
  
• Salt Lake Community College - Salt Lake City -  The school’s freestanding Culinary Institute provide a state of the art venue for culinary learning.  The Associate’s in Applied Science in Culinary Arts Degree Program requires a two-year commitment that encompasses 67 hours of classroom credit, combined with 2000 hours of paid internship work experience.  The school is partnered with the Utah Restaurant Association, and advocates the organizations ManageFirst Professors are certified chefs, and credits transfer to four-year universities.
• Snow College – Ephraim
  
• Utah State University – Logan
  
• Utah Valley University – Orem
  
• Utah College of Applied Technology – Eight Locations Statewide – The Culinary Arts Degree at the College takes 11-13 months to complete, and focuses on taste, technique and creativity.  Catering and short order cooking is done in a well-equipped learning kitchen, under the supervision of chef/instructors.  Logan, St George, Cedar City and Roosevelt host UCAT facilities, but campus offerings vary within the system.  Prospective students are encouraged to consult advisors at individual locations for specific program information.

ACF Accredited Programs

Postsecondary

Salt Lake Community College - Miller Campus
9750 S. co. 300 W.,
Sandy, UT 84070-3264

Phone: (801) 957-5348
Fax: (801) 957-4895
Contact: Jeffrey S. Coker, CCC, CCE - Jeffrey.Coker@slcc.edu

Programs

• AAS Degree in Culinary Arts

Certificate & Job Training Programs

Clearfield Job Corps Center
PO Box 160070
20 W. 1700 S.,
Clearfield, UT 84016-0070

Phone: (801) 416-4341
Fax: (801) 416-4649
Contact: Julie Brant - brant.julie@jobcorps.org

Weber Basin Job Corps
7400 Cornia Dr.,
Joliet, IL 60431-8311

Phone: (801) 476-5933
Contact: Laurie Villalpando - villalpando.laurie@jobcorps.org