Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management

This is American River College's Hospitality Management program, a for-credit culinary arts track at a community college in suburban Sacramento. It isn't a one-night recreational class. You enroll in college courses that lead to an A.A. degree or a certificate, and the work mixes business theory with hands-on cooking aimed at professional fine dining.

Classes run in the Evangelisti Culinary Arts Center, a 19,000 square-foot facility that opened in 2014. It houses the student-run Oak Café restaurant and the Oak Café Bakery. The program can be finished in 18 months, and that includes a semester cooking in the Oak Café kitchen, which the college calls a 4-star restaurant. Students can also work in the on-campus retail bakery.

Certificates include Culinary Arts/Restaurant Management, Restaurant Management, and a part-time Baking and Pastry track. Most paths have both full-time and part-time road maps. Brian Knirk chairs the department. It holds a 4.6 Google rating from 8 reviews. It suits career changers and serious home cooks who want structured training.