CASA - The Chef Apprentice School of the Arts

CASA is career training, not a drop-in cooking class. Its Gourmet Chef Program pairs one mentee with a professional chef for private, hands-on workshops in a commercial kitchen, often while the restaurant is closed or slow. Between sessions you cook along with CASA's videos at home, check in with a second mentor remotely, and then work an externship in a real restaurant. Schedules can be part time, full time, nights or weekends.

The course plan has 20 courses. It covers knife skills, the five mother sauces, potato cookery, charcuterie and garde manger, fish and shellfish, and ServSafe food handler training. Near the end you pitch a restaurant or food business idea to investors, and you get career coaching. Chef Nathan Stewart, a private chef in Los Angeles, became a CASA mentor in October 2022. He tailors each lesson to the mentee in front of him.

It suits career changers, culinary grads who want kitchen experience, and serious hobbyists. CASA says it is selective about who it accepts. Cost is set per person with a mentee advisor. CASA lists Los Angeles and Encino among its California cities.