San Diego Culinary Institute

Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful and delicious end to the week Canapés!

A double cause for celebration as recent SDCI graduate Pietro Gallo debuts highly anticipated Il Dandy and its secret six-seater restaurant-within-the-restaurant, Arama, in Bankers Hill (San Diego) this Spring. Featuring Calabrian cuisine, Il Dandy drops this Friday (May 10), while Arama will open in early June. For this, Pietro and his brother Dario (owners of Civico 1845 in Little Italy) are collaborating with Italian Michelin-star chefs Antonio and Luca Abbruzzino. Sounds like a match made in a culinary heaven! Read on!

Here's a fun Throwback Thursday memory from when everyone was doing the Harlem Shake.

After a two-week break for their Entrepreneurship workshop, our Pastry students are back in the kitchen! They will be starting work on their chocolate sculptures soon! Our Executive Pastry Chef Instructor Bruno Albouze took the lead this week with a showpiece of a pair of nesting birds. Perfect for the first week of Spring! (This piece was auctioned off at the San Diego Youth Services’ 13th Annual Creations in Chocolate charity event on Thursday.)

An inspired interpretation of a lemon meringue tart by one of our Pastry students. Using yuzu and lime. Topped with a ring of dark chocolate and accented with edible flowers and gold leaf. Enjoy!

What a way to end the week! Two of our graduates were featured in today's Union Tribune and we couldn't be prouder! Great job and congratulations on the accolades Chefs Alex Emery and Dana Francisco! https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com//sd-et-dining-the-med

Shout out to SDCI graduate Jojo Ruiz! As Executive Chef, he is heading the opening of new restaurant Sera at the Hotel del Coronado this summer. He opened highly successful Lionfish Modern Coastal Cuisine in the Gaslamp district in 2017. Lionfish was recently recognized as a James Beard Foundation Smart Catch Leader for 2019, for its use of sustainable seafood. Congratulations on both counts, Chef Ruiz! (Photo from Eater San Diego)

For some, coming to SDCI is the next step in their culinary journey. For others, it’s a life game-changer. In 2017, after spending 14 years in a corporate job, Nicole Estrada enrolled in our Cuisine program. Last year, she founded Fresh Creations, a private chef, catering, and meal-delivery company in San Diego. Prior to attending SDCI, I had no restaurant or hospitality experience. Being able to learn hands-on (over 80% of the courses were in the kitchen classroom) provide...d me with the tools and techniques I needed to learn in order to feel confident to launch Fresh Creations, says Nicole. After touring several culinary schools in San Diego, I knew SDCI was the right choice for me. I was looking for a school that offered a program that could be completed in a shorter time frame than a traditional 2- or 4-year college. I also appreciated how intimate the class sizes were. More importantly, I knew I would receive the one-on-one training I needed in order to succeed. Thank you for the interview and congratulations on your new business, Nicole! Fresh Creations focuses on health-conscious food using wholesome, organic, fresh and locally sourced seasonal ingredients. Visit her website at https://www.freshcreationssd.com and check out all the delicious offerings on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/freshcreationssd/

A beautiful yuzu lemon and meringue tart from our Pastry class today!

We are pleased to welcome Executive Pastry Chef Instructor Bruno Albouze to the San Diego Culinary Institute staff. Born in Germany and raised in France, Chef Albouze studied the pastry arts in the legendary Lenotre Culinary Institute and developed his remarkable talent in legendary French kitchens, including the Ritz Place Vendôme, and Plaza Athénée as head baker under the incomparable 3-Michelin-star-chef Alain Ducasse. Since coming to the United States nearly 15 years ago,... he has been a teacher and an occasional guest instructor at SDCI. He is also a well-respected social media influencer, with his website http://www.brunoskitchen.net and YouTube cooking channel https://youtube.com/user/BrunoAlbouze Bruno has always been an unofficial part of the SDCI family, we’re all very proud that SDCI has become the place that Chef Albouze now officially calls home. And we invite you to browse through the photos we have posted here on Facebook of the exceptional work that he and his students produce in our kitchen-classroom every day. (And stay tuned for more...we normally post new pix at least once a week...) If you’ve ever dreamt of becoming a pâtissier, give us a call! With your credential from the San Diego Culinary Institute, you could join the countless professional Pastry Chefs that have graduated from SDCI and now work in some of the most exciting Pastry kitchens in the country. Come see for yourself. Give us a call and arrange for a campus tour. Meet the chef. Meet current students. And sit in on one of Chef Albouze’s classes. Find out whether SDCI and the life of a Pastry Chef is the life for you.