California Culinary Arts Institute

California Culinary Arts Institute is a career-track culinary school in San Diego. It runs two certificate programs, Culinary and Baking and Pastry. Each one is split into six four-week classes that meet five hours a day, Monday through Friday. You can choose a morning session (7:30 am to 12:30 pm) or an afternoon one (12:30 to 5:30 pm). The instructors are professional chefs certified by the American Culinary Federation. Students name Chef Sohrab Zardkoohi often in their testimonials.

Classes cap at 10 students and run in commercial kitchens. Each day you cook or bake that day's menu, plate it and get one-on-one feedback from the instructors. The culinary track covers stocks, sauces, starches, poultry, beef, game and seafood, plus a vegan and molecular gastronomy class. The pastry track moves from bread and rolls to wedding cakes and sugar and chocolate work. There are no prerequisites, so you can join any class on the schedule.

Culinary students finish with an externship at the California Culinary Arts restaurant. The school holds a 4.6 Google rating from 11 reviews.