Welcome to Culinary School.

Y’all. I survived week one. It’s hard to believe we’re here. With months of anticipation for both a move to NYC and getting back into school mode, the first week of school seemed more like a distant dream than something that would actually happen. But here we are.

Let’s backtrack a little, shall we? This whole culinary school thing may have seemed a little random. If you know me, you know I love food and the kitchen is my happy place, but I credit my basic knowledge to reading cookbooks, the Food Network, and my favorite magazine subscription that I would eagerly check the mail for every month, Cooking Light (RIP). That being said, I’ve never been professional or technically trained. I’m a self-taught cook, not a chef.

Traditional culinary school has always been in the very back of my mind for some time, but the call grew louder at the beginning of the summer. While I’m no longer a 5 or 10-year planner, I’m a gut follower, and my gut (and apparently my stomach) was telling me that the time to sharpen my skills and my kitchen knives at culinary school was now. So, I researched a few schools in Texas and seriously considered a program in Austin, until something told me to check out the options in New York. I definitely wasn’t planning to temporary transplant my life, but I figured if I was going to do this, I needed to do it right.

One Google search result later, I stumbled upon ICE. Not that ICE, but the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. They had a traditional Culinary Arts program, a traditional Pastry Arts program, and new-ish program for Health-Supportive Culinary Arts, which focuses on wellness, nutrition, organic, plant-based foods, and sustainability. Ummmmm, helllooo. That was all of my passions mashed up in one, seven-month program. It felt so right.

The next day, I called the school to ask approximately seven million questions, and within two or three days, I decided I had to do it. The next three and a half months proved to be utterly chaotic- I needed to figure out how to continue Prep part time while in school, the logistics for the move, and get as much work done as humanly possible while I still had access to the studio.

Now that I’m here, feeling settled in and so very excited and grateful for this adventure, I thought I’d document it a la Julie & Julia. I have a feeling it will be a wild seven months, and a time in my life that I do not want to forget.

So, welcome to Prep School, the blog that will serve as a glimpse into the day-to-day happenings of the Health-Supportive Culinary Arts program. Hopefully, it will teach you something about food along the way or at least inspire you to try something new, whether that’s fermented black garlic or going back to school.

Questions and requests are most certainly welcome. Now, I’ll see you in class tomorrow for knife skills.

bon appétite,

julianna