Chef Training
Are you creative? Do you enjoy cooking? Do you thrive in a team environment? If so, Chef Training might be your recipe for success. The restaurant and foodservice industry is looking for the country's best young people to be its future stars. Restaurant and foodservice, a $500-billion industry, is growing so rapidly that it creates 300,000 new jobs each year and enormous opportunity for advancement and earning potential if you have the right skills and attitude.
The Chef Training program at Polaris Career Center is affiliated with ProStart. ProStart, a program administered by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF), is a nationwide system of high school restaurant and foodservice courses linked with on-the-job experiences. This program opens the door to many opportunities including industry certification, college credit, and college scholarships.
As a ProStart program, Chef Training is a two-year certification course that focuses on basic culinary essentials and foodservice management skills including customer relations, cost controls, basic accounting principles, marketing, purchasing, inventory, teambuilding skills, and communications. All of these skills are developed and refined in the class-managed restaurant, the Culinary Connection, which is open to the public. Also, ProStart gives you the opportunity to compete in culinary and knowledge based events that can lead to additional scholarships and potential employment opportunities.
Skills
Commercial food equipment operation
Food preparation for class-managed restaurant
Proper restaurant serving techniques
Plate presentation
Banquet and catering planning
Basic culinary skills
International cooking
Soup and sauce preparation
Vegetable and fruit preparation
Food garnishes and display
Menu planning/writing
Sanitation and safety
Dining room service
Food and beverage cost control
Equipment
Steamcooker
Grill
Deep fat fryer
Grinder
Slicer
Microwave oven
Scale
Commercial mixer
Steam table
Beverage equipment
Tilt skillet
Convection oven
Steam-jacketed kettle
Induction burner
Cash register/point-of-sale system
Career Options
Chef
Caterer
Cook
Dietary assistant
Institutional kitchen employee
Host/hostess
Waiter/waitress
Future Opportunities with Further Education
Executive chef
Chef/head cook
Sales associate with foodservice company
Banquet manager
Restaurant manager
Product research and development
High School Credit Junior Year
Chef Training 3.0
Technology .5
Potential College Semester Hour Credit
ProStart credit may transfer into college credit depending on which college you choose to attend. The amount of credit awarded depends on the college or university and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF).