Professional Pastry school in OC

About a year and a half ago, I decided to make a major career change to the culinary industry. I enrolled in CulinaryLab's Professional Culinary School for several reasons: reasonable tuition, small class size and hands on instruction from very knowledgable instructors. For 6ish months, my class spent all of Monday and Tuesday together learning EVERYTHING: wow to prep efficiently and work in a busy kitchen all while gaining a strong foundation of skills. After these 6 months of classes, the school works closely with students to place us in an apprenticeship at amazing restaurants all throughout Orange County. Now that I have completed my apprenticeship (~1000 hours) in a five star fine dining restaurant, I am starting my own business. The school has invested so much time in me, discussing 1:1 my business plans and providing me so many ideas that will allow me to be successful. I can't recommend CuilnaryLab enough as they have made me a confident cook and are now empowering me to be an entrepreneur. Thank you guys!!!!Read Less

Amazing place to learn how to cook. Learning is immersive and very hands-on. Their professional track not only teaches you culinary techniques but also provides great insight into the foodservice industry. Instructors and staff are extremely committed - love the energy every time I walk into the place.Read Less

I recently graduated from the Culinary Lab and man was it worth it! Let me start by just saying what an amazing support system you get when you enroll in the Culinary Lab. Stacy and Chef Ryan, actually all of the staff, is truly your support system from day one. They look out for you and push you to become the best cook you possibly can.

This program is very effective but it is difficult, but if you want to be in the culinary industry this is the place to start! Picking the Culinary Lab was an easy choice after visiting other culinary programs. Just the way they run the program and the order they teach you things is the perfect way to learn how to properly cook. You start off learning all about the tools of the kitchen and then kitchen safety, then how to properly cook vegetables, then after many more steps, you are making full plates of perfectly cooked and plated meals. It's amazing what you can learn in such a short time with the right tools. As I said before the Culinary Lab is a difficult school but for a reason, you come out knowing how to perfectly make full plates of food, how to properly order food for your kitchen, how to keep it a safe environment and most importantly food safety. No where else do you learn all of these things this quickly and effectively. You also get to make a wonderful collection of resources from top chefs in the area to local farmers and suppliers!

Just shortly after finishing this program I was cooking my husband dinner and he goes "Honey, don't take this the wrong way, you've always been a good cook but you're really become a chef! I mean I'd pay for this meal at a restaurant!" I went from not being allowed to bring a dish to a family party to planning and catering it. I've even been able to open my own catering company! The Culinary Lab has taught me so much and is honestly the best decision I could have made. Thank you Culinary Lab you guys rock!!Read Less

My daughter attended CulinaryLab Cooking School and loved it. She is now very knowledgeable and doing all kinds of things. I highly recommend this program; the staff is extremely competent and the program is amazing. We are beyond satisfied!Read Less

The highly trained chefs and instructors at CulinaryLab, are passionate about cooking and instructing future chefs on the skills required to cook professionally. We all know the difference between being inspired in a learning environment and being bored. Ryan and the staff at CulinaryLab do an amazing job of inspiring and training those interested in being in the restaurant profession. Their enthusiasm is based on years of professional cooking experience and professional cooking instruction.Read Less

This school is hands down amazing! I'm from their first graduating class and I can say hands down I'm so glad I came here and not some other cooking school. Price wise it was cheaper than any other school I had looked up. Stacy is very amiable and does whateber she can to help you. The founder Chef Ryan looks put for you and pushes you to be a better person, cook and everything in between. He hand selected the teachers based on his criteria and it shows. The teachers are phenomenal! Each one not only give you lessons in cooking but also in life. They all genuinely want you to suceed in your careeer. Even after graduating they still keep in touch and help whenever they can. Without this school I would have never gotten to where I am now. If you're thinking of coming here just do it! It's worth it and so much more.Read Less

The chefs are great & very passionate about teaching. I was in the previous school they thought at, and if I had known this one was opening I would have gone here instead. The price is much more affordable & it is on Anaheim! I may sign up once they get a baking & pastry course going!Read Less

I recently came out to the school to watch some professional chef instructor demos and must say I was blown away from the moment I walked in! The space itself is gorgeous... super modern and aesthetically impressive. Any student would be excited to show up to study here on a daily basis. The methods and learning modalities used for cooking here were new and cutting edge. I learned so much just from watching a few short demos. The chefs were all articulate, patient experts in their respective crafts and you could tell they were excited about teaching and sharing their knowledge with others. True foodies. AND, one of the most impressive features of this school is their student apprenticeships program! I have never heard of a culinary school that sets their students up to work in top notch restaurants while they are learning... this alone is worth it's weight in gold. I can imagine many of those restaurants wanting to snatch up new and fresh talent after their Culinary Lab experience, talk about a win-win. Chef Wagner has truly outdone himself and created a culinary school like no other that will no doubt rise to the top and be extraordinarily successful!Read Less

CulinaryLab is run by a group of the more talented and passiknate chefs I've ever had the pleasure of learning from. If youre looking for a school that will get you on the right track into starting your culinary career (and not just interested in taking your money) I reccommend this school to anyone! If I would have known about this school when I started I would've definitely enrolled! Dont miss out on this opportunity!Read Less

I recently came out to the school to watch some professional chef instructor demos and must say I was blown away from the moment I walked in! The space itself is gorgeous... super modern and aesthetically impressive. Any student would be excited to show up to study here on a daily basis. The methods and learning modalities used for cooking here were new and cutting edge. I learned so much just from watching a few short demos. The chefs were all articulate, patient experts in their respective crafts and you could tell they were excited about teaching and sharing their knowledge with others. True foodies. AND, one of the most impressive features of this school is their student apprenticeships program! I have never heard of a culinary school that sets their students up to work in top notch restaurants while they are learning... this alone is worth it's weight in gold. I can imagine many of those restaurants wanting to snatch up new and fresh talent after their Culinary Lab experience, talk about a win-win. Chef Wagner has truly outdone himself and created a culinary school like no other that will no doubt rise to the top and be extraordinarily successful!Read Less

The curriculum is tailored to people wanting to enter the field and pursue their dream to be a chef or pastry chef. it provides real world experience and education that is relevant to the workplace. focusing less on theory and more on practical contemporary techniques and procedure.Read Less

I got the chance to attend an open house event at CulinaryLab where each of the instructors did a culinary demo. I got to tour the school and speak to some of the team. I have a background in culinary, and attended a program in New York years ago. My overall impression of CulinaryLab: Very impressive.

First Impressions:
The location is beautiful, not at all what you'd expect from a culinary school. There's a cooking-themed 'secret entrance' that opens up into a very large space with bright white finishes. Looks like a great place to host an event, which apparently they'll be doing as part of their program. The kitchen is brand new, and opens up to the rest of the teaching space.

The Demos:
The demos were different than a typical cooking demonstration. They used some high tech techniques, like sous vide and liquid nitrogen to demonstrate their respective techniques. The instructors were thorough and really knew their stuff.

The Program:
As someone whose been around the foodservice industry for years, I love what they're doing here. The approach is fresh, contemporary, and also very practical. The two things I was most impressed by:- SMALL CLASSES: They only take 9 students per class, compared with the standard 20+. - APPRENTICESHIP: They send their students to a local restaurant to be mentored by a working chef throughout their program. I wish this was around when I was going through school.

CulinaryLab's approach to training chefs seems like the practical and logical approach that we've needed for years. I look forward to seeing this school growRead Less