A Note from Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Founder and President, The French Culinary Institute

Appears in
The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine

By French Culinary Institute

Published 2021

  • About
The French Culinary Institute has been teaching professional cooking for over twenty years. Acknowledged as one of the top cooking schools in the world, The FCI has been extremely successful in turning out some of the best chefs in the country. And the most startling fact is that the course is completed in a brief six to nine months!

Dean André Soltner, the fabled chef-owner of the restaurant Lutèce, once told me when I started the school in 1984 that The FCI couldn’t possibly prepare a student for the professional kitchen in just six months. Now, Chef André teaches at the school and marvels at the results. Alain Ducasse has said that our six-month classical culinary course is equivalent to the knowledge that he acquired in a three-year apprenticeship in France.