P U B L I S H E D
Vancouver Magazine - March 2006
British Columbia, Canada

Creative types may sigh as they think of wiring buildings all day, convinced that all trades are highly technical with little room for imagination. Ironically these thoughts may come while savouring a restaurant meal, an item created by one of the most in-demand trades - chef.

“We've had ballet dancers, we've had musicians, we've had artists in our school,” said Sue Singer, founder of the world class Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. “Cooking is a real avenue for artistic expression.”

According to Go2, the B.C. tourism industry's human resources association, chefs are in great demand as 84,000 new tourism workers will be needed in B.C. by 2015.

One of the top training facilities for chefs is the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts and their six month (five days a week, seven hours a day) program.

Typical of trades, hands-on experience is key. The Pacific Institute was a pioneer in this area, for it was the first private cooking school in Canada to have a student-run on-site restaurant and bakeshop that featured fine dining. The school now also encompasses eight commercial kitchens, including a catering kitchen, a wedding cake kitchen and a chocolate studio.

Students come from around the world to learn from the Pacific Institute's European-trained chefs, all schooled in classic French and International cuisine. The school's Chef Instructors have worked at some of the world's leading hotels and restaurants, and they provide personalized instruction. Ninety percent of each program is hands-on training in classes of no more than 15 students.

“They teach you essential industry skills, the business aspect as well as the culinary,” said Jordan Forester, Chef/owner of Ottawa's West End Station Bistro and graduate of the Pacific Institute's January '98 Culinary Arts program. “It would have been impossible for me to succeed without the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts.”