School Overview

From the time NECI opened in 1980, the experience we offer is different from any other culinary school. We simply do not believe that the best way to learn to cook is by sitting in front of a blackboard. We throw you right in—our culinary classrooms are not practice kitchens or echoing lecture halls. They’re high-profile restaurants, bakeries, and retail outlets. This model did not exist when we began. We invented it.

Here’s another NECI difference: We are small by design. We have to be. To teach the rigorous, standards-based curriculum in any of our departments requires constant attention to your work and progress. You cannot go to the next level in any program at NECI without mastering the skills and understanding required in the previous level. That means we really get to know you.

Can we talk about Vermont? Not only is it gorgeous and full of exciting things to do in every season. This state is at the forefront of a Farm to Table revolution. Farmers, artisan cheese makers, brewers, wine makers, composters, organic seed producers, managers of CSAs, distributors, resort and restaurant owners—students at NECI become part of a growing community of food activists changing the way food tastes, the way it is grown, produced, and distributed.