Ohio Culinary Arts Schools, Baking & Pastry Schools, Hospitality Management Schools

Culinary Schools in Ohio

Sure, culinary destinations like New York, Chicago and San Francisco get all the glory, but many of America's iconic foods reside in the Midwest. Ohio offers a diversity of cultural food influences and is, historically, a culinary melting pot, drawing influences from Germany, France and Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Some of Ohio's most notable foods are deceivingly humble: sauerkraut, potato and sausage dishes of the German settlers; baked beans and salt pork from the Revolutionary War times; cheese, canned fruit and jams from the regions Swiss and Amish heritage. On the rise are café bakeries, low and slow barbeque, and wood fired pizza joints. So perhaps surprisingly food and agriculture is Ohio's top industry, contributing $105 billion to Ohio's overall economy. In fact there are 75,700 farms in the state - the average farm being just less than 190 acres, which translates to a total of 14.3 million acres of land in farms. Therefore farm to fork, and vegetarian options are also on the rise. And while not ubiquitous, several Ohio chefs and restaurants have been nominated for James Beard Awards, and a few have even won.

In Ohio, visitors can eat with the best of the rest of the country. The state’s midwestern location including sprawling farmland peppered between cities provides fertile ground for novel startup restaurants and creative approaches to national food trends. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA) in 2016 there are 22,000 eating and drinking establishments, employing nearly 600,000 people with $20 billion in annual revenue. Impressed? Overall in Ohio average salaries look strong too: chefs and head cooks average $44,000; butchers and meat cutters, $32,000; bakers $24,000; food service managers $53,000; and restaurant cooks $23,000. These numbers are above the national averages.

There are 17 accredited culinary schools in Ohio including Columbus Culinary Institute, and the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Ohio in Cincinnati. These and other programs teach future professionals how to follow in the footsteps of the chefs of the Midwest, preparing and reinventing classic Midwest cuisine. Individuals who attend culinary schools in Ohio often graduate not only having mastered basic kitchen skills, but also possess a culinary aptitude that separates them from non-trained chefs. Not all graduates work in kitchens, of course: Culinary degree programs work to prepare students to become employed in hotels, as restaurant managers, butchers (a major industry in Ohio), and even culinary stylists, not to mention caterers and entrepreneurs in the food truck industry.

Ohio’s food industry is continuously evolving. The recent farm-to-table push is an excellent example of how these shifts redefine what Ohio culinary professionals can accomplish. Of course, not all graduates of Ohio culinary colleges move to Cleveland, Cincinnati or Toledo to become chefs, and earnings will vary from one regional job to the next. But as diners place increased importance on supporting local businesses, restaurateurs and chefs have stepped up their game with plenty of culinary options.