Culinary Arts
CIP Code: 12.0508
Instructors: Chef Lou Sackett , and Chef Claire Dacko
Click the button below to visit the Student-Run restaurant menu and make reservations.
Program Overview
The Culinary Arts program prepares students for careers in today’s foodservice and hospitality industries. Successful graduates are ready for entry-level positions as prep cooks, line cooks, pastry cooks, cake decorators, or fine-dining restaurant servers, and can aspire to positions as chefs, pastry chefs, and restaurant managers.
Students learn safety, sanitation, knife skills, and culinary math. They prepare appetizers, salads, sandwiches, breakfast foods, stocks and soups, vegetables, meats, poultry, seafood, breads, cakes, pastries, and world cuisines. Advanced skills include dining room service, line cooking, menu and recipe development, and nutrition. Senior students operate the Carcajou Corner, our open-to-the-public, student-run restaurant.
DCTS Culinary Arts graduates are ready for immediate employment in restaurants, catering companies, institutional kitchens, or retail foodservice venues. Many choose to further their education through postsecondary training in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, or hospitality management.
Is this Career Right For You?
- Do you have a passion for preparing delicious and attractive dishes that will impress restaurant guests?
- Are you creative?
- Do you like working as part of a team in a fast-paced, detail-oriented environment?
- Do you enjoy trying new foods?
- Do you have good math and measuring skills?
Inside the Industry
| OCCUPATION | LOCAL WAGE |
|---|---|
| Chefs | $52,740 |
| Foodservice Managers | $56,440 |
| Foodservice Supervisors | $32,710 |
| Institution & Cafeteria Cooks | $28,980 |
| Restaurant Cooks | $25,920 |
| Bakers | $25,780 |
| Servers | $20,290 |
Resources:
Culinary Parent/Guardian Information
- Prep Cook
- Line Cook
- Caterer
- Restaurant Chef
- Baker
- Pastry Chef
- Cake Decorator
- Foodservice Retail Salesperson
- Foodservice Purveyor Sales Representative
- Restaurant Server
- Restaurant Manager
- National Restaurant Association ServSafe Manager Sanitation Certification or Food Handler Sanitation Certification
- National Restaurant Association ServSafe Allergens Certification
- American Culinary Federation Certified Fundamentals Cook
- Pennsylvania Skills Certificate
- OSHA 10-Hour General Industry (Culinary) Safety Certification
- CareerSafe Employability and Interviewing Skills Certification
Statewide Articulation Agreements