The hospitality scene in Asia continues to expand, and students are eager to cash in on growing opportunities in the Asian culinary arts scene. For some, this means heading across the Pacific to gain their credentials in a leading North American culinary arts school like The Art Institute of Seattle.

With so many schools on the market, choosing the right fit can be intimidating. These are credentials that you will carry around for the rest of your life, so you’ll want to align yourself with a school that carries as much weight in North America as it does in Asia. With its network of more than 40 campuses and a longstanding reputation for excellence, the Art Institute is a natural first choice.

Course offerings range from basic diploma courses to in-depth bachelor degrees. Students hail from all over the world, and they come from a range of backgrounds. Some have just graduated from high school; others have spent a few years in the industry and are looking to bolster their careers. In every case, the institute’s well-crafted programs open doors to exciting career prospects.

One of the secrets to the institute’s success is its outstanding faculty. These are industry leaders with formidable industry experience. Your instructors will have served as executive chefs in world-class restaurants or managers in production facilities. The passion they bring to the classroom is undeniably contagious.

Pic: The Art Institute of Seattle.

Finally, your academic training and laboratory training will be polished with opportunities for externships in the Seattle area. You’ll begin by honing your skills at the institute’s own Portfolio Restaurant, and the option to follow this up with a real-world industry placement ensures you’ll graduate with all the experience needed for an immediate transition to a career in culinary arts.

Learning the trade at Portfolio
Portfolio Restaurant is owned and operated by The Art Institute of Seattle. It’s open to the public, and students enrolled in culinary arts programs gain real-world experience here on the floor.

The restaurant perches on Elliott Bay and offers affordable dishes. The emphasis here is on fresh, seasonal favorites, and all of the planning and implementation is carried out by students. As with any fine-dining establishment, the menu changes seasonally to reflect what’s fresh and available. This gives students the opportunity to innovate and introduce new dishes on a regular basis.

Anyone graduating from a standard culinary arts institute quickly learns that having the appropriate credentials doesn’t ensure a rapid hiring process. There’s plenty of competition out there, both in North America and Asia, and students who can back their diploma or degree with plenty of on-the-job experience are given preference. With this in mind, the training you receive at Portfolio directly translates into better job prospects.

Academics
For culinary arts students, finding the right educational fit can be daunting. This is especially true for students from Asia who are looking to cross the world and hone their skills in North America.

The payoffs are substantial for those who can see it through, especially when you consider the pay scale of culinary professionals in North America and the unique cultural perspectives that a student from Asia can bring to a modern restaurant. After all, today’s leaders in hospitality are well aware that theirs is a uniquely international industry. This makes a well-trained professional from abroad an especially enticing hiring prospect.

These are the culinary arts course offerings available through the Art Institute of Seattle:

Baking and Pastry – Associate of Applied Arts
This course will provide you with everything you need to excel as a pastry chef. This is a position that requires attention to detail, and the hands-on training students receive is crafted to develop a knack for precision. Graduates are primed to seek positions as line cooks and pantry cooks in North American restaurants.

The coursework covers all aspects of baking, but special emphasis is placed on bread baking techniques. You’ll also learn how to make cookies, tarts, cakes and pies from scratch. Beyond this, coursework in leadership and operations management ensures that graduates are a notch above their competitors at international job fairs.

Culinary Arts – Associate of Applied Arts
Becoming a standout culinary artist requires precision and plenty of practice, which is why this course relies on real-life training in practice kitchens. The emphasis is on classical culinary techniques, and most of the training is accomplished in teams. This means that you’ll also be picking up the social and leadership skills needed to flourish in a fast-paced industrial kitchen.

Graduates go on to take entry-level positions as line cooks, first cooks and prep cooks. You’ll also be armed with a well-crafted resume that you put together during the last quarter.

Culinary Arts Management – Bachelor of Science
This bachelor degree program is for highly ambitious students with a palpable passion for the culinary arts. The coursework is well-rounded and goes far beyond the basic knife skills and prep methods that are taught in certificate courses. This is a comprehensive culinary arts education at its best.

Academic theory and hands-on practice are integrated in this course. Your education will go well beyond basic culinary arts training to include courses in management, finance, service and human resources. Graduates go on to take entry-level management positions with restaurants, catering companies, food service institutions and hotels.

Art of Cooking – Diploma
This diploma course is designed for anyone in the Vancouver area who wants to develop their culinary skills. You’ll learn the basics of baking, cooking and presentation, with an emphasis on the regional cuisine. For an Asian student looking for a primer in North American Culinary arts, there’s no better way to get grounded.

Furthermore, students put together a resume and cover letter in the course of this program. This ensures that they’ll graduate with a professional toolkit that will see them landing highly competitive positions.

Baking and Pastry – Diploma
This diploma narrows the scope of the “Art of Cooking” program to emphasize baking and pastry skills. You’ll learn how to create desserts from scratch and how to bake artisanal breads. Skilled bakers are hard to come by, and employers recognize the potential of diploma from the Art Institute of Seattle. Graduates are primed to assume positions as pastry cooks and assistant bakers.

Pic: The Art Institutes.

Campus life
Students at The Art Institute of Seattle come from all over the world. This multicultural environment is exciting, but adjusting can be difficult. The institute’s international student affairs office makes the transition run more smoothly by offering guidance on immigration issues, school policies and the local events scene.

There are three housing options available at the institute. These include staying in school-sponsored apartments, seeking independent housing with the help of an on-campus advisor or signing up with the home stay program. Home stay is a particularly attractive option for students from Asia. Living with an American family provides outstanding opportunities in terms of engaging and adjusting to the local culture. All participating families are interviewed and monitored by the housing committee, and students are matched based on the application and questionnaires they fill out when enrolling. The insight you’ll gain through this arrangement puts you miles ahead of other international students.

The institute also offers dozens of student-run clubs and organizations. Some of these are career-oriented and deliver advanced networking opportunities. Others are strictly for fun and put likeminded students in contact with each other. In either case, joining a local club is a great way to enhance your experience at The Art Institute of Seattle.

Living in Seattle

There is no question that Seattle is one of the most exciting places to live and study in the US. This is one of the most dynamic and international cities on the continent, and it’s home to one of the world’s funkiest and well-regarded dining scenes. No matter what your plans were when you enrolled, you’ll be faced with a stay-or-go dilemma once you graduate.

Seattle is one of the biggest per-capita coffee consumers in the world, and many of the local cafés serve up exotic beans from Indonesia, Laos and other Southeast Asian coffee producers. Starbucks was born here, but it’s the gamut of offbeat locally owned coffee shops that really grabs visitors’ attention. If coffee factors into your culinary ambitions, then you’d be hard pressed to find a better place than Seattle to build your resume.

The outdoors scene is another enticing facet of life in Seattle. This may be the biggest city in the Pacific Northwest, but a trip to the top of the Space Needle reveals mountains, a craggy coastline and swathes of evergreen forests. Hiking Mt Rainier, kayaking Puget Sound and spotting humpback whales are all on students’ to-do lists.

Afterhours, attention shifts to the Seattle Waterfront, where a string of fine-dining restaurants serve fresh seafood and modern American cuisine. This is also one of the best places in the US for performance arts, be it an indy rock band or a classical opera troupe.

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