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Our extensive, refined living cuisine instruction is based on structured and classic building blocks of culinary arts programs.”
The Training
The core of the curriculum of the 105degrees Chef Certification Program is the 1 month Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine, which offers students comprehensive training in the principles behind the art of raw food. We also offer Advanced Raw Cuisine, which is a 3 month curriculum focusing on the modern, creative approach to living foods. These programs are structured in such a way that students build on the techniques learned, to apply them toward future instruction and eventually into the upscale world of raw and living cuisine.
The training our students receive prepares them for careers in the many areas of the fast-growing field of culinary arts emphasizing health and sustainability, including spas and restaurants, catering outlets, culinary educational centers and media, private homes, and more. We welcome students from around the world into our interactive culinary programs.
Chef Certifications
Level I: Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine
120 contact hours • Maximum Enrollment: 16 • Minimum Enrollment: 4 9am to 3pm | Monday through Friday | 4 weeks each calendar monthView the CalendarCourse Prerequisites
Students are required to have well-developed skills in writing and speaking the English language.
The Curriculum
The curriculum of Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine is defined by its four weekly outlines, each progressing in such a way that the techniques learned are applied. Each daily session features hands-on training and may include lecturing, guest speakers and chefs, tastings and other unique forms of instruction. Each week includes both written and practical testing. Every month in which this course is offered repeats the curriculum, which highlights seasonal produce and dishes of that particular month.
In the third week, Students work with more advanced recipes and learn to incorporate their skills in such a way that a complete meal may be prepared with professional execution. There is an introduction into each meal period and how food preparation should differ for each. This week goes into far greater detail regarding recipe writing, testing and following. Meal planning discussions, balance of flavors, tastes and textures, and seasonality are thoroughly reviewed.
The final week of education in our Fundamentals course focuses on advanced recipes and a number of elements that are required to fully understand and prepare raw food at a higher level. Detailed instruction related to pastry preparation, plating skills, garnishing and finishing a dish are covered. We also delve into recipe costing and business as it relates to raw food. This level puts to use all of the previous instruction and fosters students’ creativity, both in practical and tested exercises. The raw food lifestyle, its benefits, and guidance on how to incorporate it into both a professional and personal setting are reiterated and taught.
Back to TopLevel II: Advanced of Raw Cuisine
420 contact hours • Maximum Enrollment: 4 students per Group • Minimum Enrollment: 2 students per Group Day Group: 7am to 2pm; Night Group: 3pm to 10pm | Monday through Friday for 12 weeksView the CalendarCourse Prerequisites
Satisfactory completion of Level I: Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine is required for enrollment in Level II: Advanced Raw Cuisine.
The Curriculum
For graduates of Level I: Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine, this course focuses on contemporary raw food cuisine, including advanced pastry. In it, we train students in professional raw food preparation skills at the highest level, following the philosophy of 105degrees. This course is available to a limited number of students, who work under the supervision of the Academy Director, and mentor with professionally trained raw food chefs and pastry chefs within our Café. This approach allows them to experience the inner workings of a high-end professional kitchen.
The curriculum of Advanced Raw Cuisine is defined by its twelve weekly outlines, each building upon one another. This course repeats its curriculum each season, highlighting seasonal produce and food preparation methods of that particular time of year.
Week One emphasizes the techniques learned in Fundamentals of Raw Cuisine and sets the foundation for this advanced program. It provides an introduction to advanced equipment, class format, and senior teaching and Café Staff Members. The primary goal of Week One is to reveal to explain the 105degrees philosophy. Taste, Presentation, Method and Style, the elements of our philosophy, incorporate a classical culinary arts approach with an emphasis on health and nutrition. Week One always takes place on the same week that the Café implements its seasonal menu change. It provides a detailed review of the menu, the philosophy behind the menu and its ingredients, as well as the inspiration for its dishes and their inherent character. It is important that students of Week One understand the essence of the cuisine and not only how to prepare it.
Week Two begins the mentoring program, in which students divide their time between the Academy and the Café. Each student is assigned to work with a chef de partie within the Café. The student anchors each day’s training in the Café with classroom instruction; before the training begins, the goals of each day are reviewed, and after the training concludes, the progress of that day is discussed and critiqued. By week’s end, each student is working in a hands-on capacity with his or her mentor, assisting with the mis en place, and at times, with plating, garnishing and learning how to operate, set up and break down the mentor’s station. A special emphasis of Week Two is the focus on professional kitchen organization, expediting standards, equipment usage and main-tenance, food storage, and procurement. A detailed review into seasonality also takes place in Week Two.
Week Three implements practical application of the less complex cuisine of the Café. Students examine the recipes of several current menu items, prepare them on their own in the classroom, and apply their experience in the Café to preparation, plating and seasoning. The emphasis of Week Three is on the requirements of following recipes, working in a professional environment, organizational skills, speed and timing.
Students rotate stations and work with a new mentor every three weeks. Week Four is the first rotation, and students learn the fundamentals of a new station in the kitchen. The kitchen of the Café is divided into four main work areas, and each rotation introduces the students to a different skill set, recipes, equipment and experience. Week Four includes a detailed look into building the ideal raw pantry, designing a raw kitchen, and organizational skills necessary to manage a professional culinary environment from a structural standpoint.
Following a full week with a second mentor, students begin to see the pattern of operational standards that a professional kitchen exhibits. At this stage, students begin to develop their operational skills in the mentoring program, while simultaneously developing their palates in the classroom. Recipe testing, tasting of boutique ingredients, and an in depth look at the foundation of flavor dominate this week. Understanding taste and balance is essential to any chef, professional or otherwise, before going on to establish a creative direction to follow.
The 105degrees philosophy emphasizes presentation as a very important component of cuisine. Raw and living foods are among the most vibrant of all foods available. Week Six explores the foundation of well-presented food with an in depth exploration into food combining, textural diversity, color coordination and how to build a dish.
Week Seven is a rotation week, partially devoted to learning a new series of dishes and methods used to create and produce them. This week also emphasizes costing and budgeting, which are critical elements of every professional or domestic kitchen. We train students how to calculate the amount of yield for specific ingredients, how to manage and minimize waste, and proper financial management of a kitchen and its ingredients.
In order to create a deep understanding of food history, geographical influences in recipe development is necessary. Along with the practical exercises encompassed in each week, this week highlights the major cuisines of the world and explores how they relate to living and raw cuisine today. Examples of both raw and non-raw cuisine at advanced levels throughout the world help train students for the creative exercises in future weeks.
Week Nine introduces students to the skills of recipe creation and development, with an emphasis on learning how to apply classical and proven food combining methods to creative development of new dishes. There are detailed written and practical exercises during this period, which draw on everything students have learned throughout the course thus far.
The final rotation week, Week Ten begins the focus on all of the external elements that are essential to the service of advanced level cuisine. In this week, we begin to focus on wine service, creative tabletop development and an understanding of how proper design is essential to the service of living cuisine. Style and process are very subtle factors which are able to undermine or create success both at home and in a professional culinary environment.
Week Eleven, along with practical training, allows students to experience what takes place during a menu change, which happens one week after the completion of their program. Two weeks prior to the menu change, recipes are tested, adjusted, costed and analyzed. This is a firsthand experience that is invaluable to students, not only from a creative, but also a business standpoint. Although operations as usual are taking place, the additional objective of the upcoming menu’s organization factors into the students’ learning and provides them with an abundant amount of additional culinary information and creativity.
The final week draws on every skill and every experience that students have acquired during their extensive training with 105degrees. The week is devoted to the final project, which is a practical exam, culminating in a series of dinners, designed and prepared by student teams for their fellow students and instructors. This is the opportunity for students to realize the results of all that they have experienced, learned and contemplated.
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