"What will I actually learn?"
Every Mise program is built around repetition in real conditions — the same mise en place discipline that separates a nervous prep cook from a calm sous chef who can handle a 200-cover Saturday. You learn by doing, from day one, in a working kitchen that isn't precious about getting flour on the floor.
"On my first day at Mise, we broke down a whole chicken before lunch. I'd worked in kitchens for three years and never actually learned how."
Daniela Reyes
Culinary Arts Diploma '24 · Now Sous Chef, Birch & Stone, Austin TX
First-year skills checklist
- Knife skills & classical cuts
- Stock, sauce, and fond construction
- Protein butchery & fabrication
- Heat & pan control for every protein
- Garde manger & charcuterie basics
- Pastry fundamentals & baking science
- Plating composition & service speed
- 200-hour externship in a working kitchen
"How long does it take — and can I work while enrolled?"
The honest answer is: it depends on how fast you want to move and how much of your current life you can put on hold. We built three tracks because we've seen the career-changer who needs to keep her weekend restaurant job and the 22-year-old who wants to finish and stage in Lyon by spring. Both are valid. Both are possible here.
Full-Time Day
Fastest pathMon – Fri · 7 am – 2 pm
Seven hours of hands-on kitchen time per day. Complete the Culinary Arts Diploma in 12 months. Externship placed by month nine.
Part-Time Evening
Work-compatibleTue / Thu / Sat · 5 pm – 10 pm
Same curriculum, extended over 18 months. Designed for anyone holding a 40-hour-per-week job who still needs to pay rent while they train.
Weekend Intensive
Career-changersFri 5 pm – 9 pm + Sat 8 am – 4 pm
Ten consecutive weekends. Deep immersion without abandoning your current role. Certificate programs only — not available for the full Diploma.
"I kept my bar manager job all the way through the evening track. It was hard. It was also the best decision I've made. I graduated knowing exactly what kind of kitchen I wanted to run."
Marcus Webb
Evening Track '23 · Head Chef, The Larder, Portland OR
"What does it cost?"
Every fee listed below is all-in. Your knives, your uniform, your ingredients — none of that hits you separately. We're also Title IV eligible, which means federal loans, Pell Grants, and most state workforce development funds apply. About 62% of our students receive some form of financial aid.
Culinary Arts Diploma
12 months · Full-time
- All knives, tools & uniform provided
- Ingredient costs covered
- 200-hour externship placement
- Career services for 24 months post-grad
- Alumni network access, lifetime
Pastry & Baking
9 months · Full or part-time
- All pastry tools & uniform provided
- Ingredient costs covered
- 120-hour externship placement
- Career services for 24 months
Plant-Forward Certificate
6 months
- All tools & uniform provided
- Ingredient costs covered
- 80-hour externship option
- Career services for 12 months
Weekend Intensive
10 weekends
- All tools & uniform provided
- Ingredient costs covered
- Certificate of completion
Not ready to visit? Get the full curriculum guide.
A 24-page PDF covering week-by-week curriculum, chef instructor bios, externship partner kitchens, and a transparent breakdown of every fee. No sales call attached.
"Who are the instructors?"
Every Mise instructor left a working kitchen to teach here — not because they couldn't hack it, but because they decided building the next generation of chefs was the more interesting problem. The 16:1 ratio means you'll know their names by the end of week one, and they'll know yours.
Chef Elena Marchetti
Program Director · Classical French
Trained under Alain Ducasse in Paris, then spent eight years as executive chef at a two-Michelin-star restaurant in San Francisco before deciding she'd rather build 200 chefs than cook for 200 covers.
Formerly: Executive Chef, Maison Girard ✦ 2 Michelin Stars
Chef James Okafor
Pastry & Baking Lead
Former pastry chef at two James Beard Award–nominated restaurants. His teaching philosophy: "Sugar work is just physics. Once you understand the physics, the art follows."
Chef Priya Nair
Plant-Forward & Fermentation
Opened three vegetable-forward restaurants across Austin and Nashville before joining Mise. Her fermentation lab is the most-photographed corner of the building.
Chef Thomas Vidal
Butchery & Protein Fabrication
Twelve years in whole-animal butchery and charcuterie production, including five years sourcing and breaking down heritage-breed pork for a acclaimed New York charcuterie program.
Student-to-Instructor Ratio
The industry average is 24:1. We kept it at 16 because that's the number at which a chef instructor can actually watch your knife technique, correct your mise en place, and remember your name at the end of a long Saturday.
"They treat you like a professional from day one — because that's what you're about to become."
— Tomás Rivera, Diploma '25
"Where do graduates end up?"
The short answer: in real kitchens, doing real work, faster than they expected. The longer answer is below — five alumni who represent the range of what's possible when you come in with the right foundation and leave with the right relationships.
Employed within 90 days
Michelin-starred alumni
Median first-year salary
Avg. time to sous chef title
Sofia Chen
Sous Chef · Canlis, Seattle WA
Culinary Arts Diploma '22
"Mise taught me to be calm under pressure. My first night on the line at Canlis, I was the least nervous person in the kitchen."
Kwame Asante
Executive Chef & Owner · Akoko, Chicago IL
Culinary Arts Diploma '21
"I opened my restaurant 18 months after graduating. The business curriculum isn't glamorous, but it's the reason I'm still open."
Ingrid Larsen
Head Pastry Chef · The NoMad, New York NY
Pastry & Baking '23
"Chef Okafor's approach to laminated doughs changed the way I think about patience. I'm a better baker and a better teacher because of it."
Rafi Morales
Line Cook → Sous Chef · Rosewood Inn, Nashville TN
Weekend Intensive '24
"I was already cooking professionally. Ten weekends at Mise gave me the classical foundation that got me promoted six months later."
Amara Diallo
Chef de Partie · Eleven Madison Park, New York NY
Plant-Forward Certificate '25
"The plant-forward track isn't a soft option — it's harder than classical in some ways. It also got me into the kitchen I always dreamed about."
Where our graduates work