The Commis Culinary program represents the culmination of years of research and program development by some of the finest culinary educators in the country. Based upon proven methods of culinary education and incorporating current thinking on how people learn, the Commis Method leads aspiring Chefs through a more logical series of courses. This is an educational strategy that makes more sense. Each course in the series leads naturally to the next and relies inevitably on the preceding.

This is a hands-on program (80% of your studies take place in the kitchen). We believe that culinary students learn more working in a kitchen, with product. At SDCI, every student prepares food every day — no fighting for space or kitchen resources with other students. And again, you learn techniques, not recipes. With a command of foundational techniques, Commis students can execute virtually any recipe from any cookbook, rather than a limited number of dishes taught out of a cookbook.

The Commis Method will first lead you through foundational courses: in flavor, business, and professional concerns (such as safety and sanitation and the history of the profession).

Next students move into the kitchen to train in: knife skills; fundamental techniques — poach, braise, roast, sauté, etc.; stocks; sauces — the mother sauces, classic small sauces. Throughout students apply their earlier theoretical work in flavor and reinforce fundamental business concepts. They learn the delicate art of seasoning.

The Commis Method demands that while in the kitchen, students work in small groups, with limited class sizes. Students first observe the Chef demonstrate each new skill and then practice it under his watchful eye. Students practice culinary theory in the kitchen with product; they don't just read about it in a book or hear about it in a crowded lecture hall.

In the next sequence, students learn to apply fundamental techniques to a wider variety of proteins and classic preparations. They practice with a variety of equipment.