Natural Chef Training Program - 450 hours
Classroom - 5 months - plus a 6-week independent Culinary Externship
The Natural Chef Training Program is committed to the development of nutrition-based, therapeutic chefs who are artists in food preparation and presentation. Coursework emphasizes nutritional and therapeutic cooking as well as a mastery of all necessary kitchen skills, including knife skills and ServSafe® requirements for safety and sanitation. In addition to culinary skills, instruction in business development, marketing, and large scale food production will help prepare students for a wide variety of careers upon graduation.
In-house Culinary Skill Hours further hone students' culinary prowess, while an independent Culinary Externship allows students to have hands-on experience in the area of their choice: as a personal chef or caterer, in a natural food restaurant, for a community kitchen, at a retreat center, in a cooking class, and more.
Career Opportunites
Natural Chefs are in great demand as the need for good nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices becomes more apparent in our fast-paced world. Natural Chefs are trained to provide healthy and ill people with top-quality, satisfying, and beautifully presented meals. The Natural Chef Training Program prepares students for a career in the blossoming natural and whole foods industry with the added benefit of leaving as a ServSafe® Certified Food Manager, should they choose to sit for the exam offered during the program. Graduates work in private homes as personal natural chefs, as well as for catering companies, health spas, health food stores, retreat programs, restaurants, and more.
Class Offerings
Spring and fall classes meet three days per week, totaling 15 class hours each week with a few exceptions where classroom instruction could total up to 18 hours in the week. Students should plan to spend half as much time on homework and individual study as they spend in class.
Natural Chef Classroom Schedules
Natural Chef Curriculum
Click here for a detailed description of each module
- Culinary Nutrition and Kitchen Basics
- Food Foundations
- World Cuisine
- Midterm
- Farm to Table
- Therapeutic Applications
- Client Services
- Culinary Showcase
- Final Presentations
- Culinary In-House Skill Hours
- Culinary Externship
Click here for the Natural Chef Mini-syllabus
CEU Credits
CEU credits for RN’s are available. Bauman College is an approved provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 11401, for 280 contact hours for the Natural Chef Training Program.
Required Computer Skills
Use of a computer is required to participate in the Natural Chef Training Program.
Please review our Technical FAQs before applying.
Dress Code Requirements
- Chef coat, white - provided
- Skull cap to restrain hair - provided
- Waist apron, white - provided
- Chef pants, black, hounds-tooth, or black/white checked - not provided
- Chef shoes, slip-resistant, hard, closed-toe and closed-heel - not provided
- Socks must be worn at all times
- Beards are permitted, but student may be asked to wear a beard snood
- Mustaches must be kept neatly trimmed and may not extend below the corners of the lips
- NO long fingernails, fingernail polish or decoration, or fake fingernails
- NO jewelry, including, earrings, rings, bracelets, or watches. A glove may be used to cover rings, if necessary. Certain facial piercings may be permitted (only small single piece studs with no hoops or rings). Students must be prepared to remove their facial piercing should it not comply with the safety and sanitation standards determined by Bauman College.