Have you always wondered what it would be like to go to culinary school?
The Midwest Culinary Institute’s five-day “Culinary Boot Camp 1” course gives you a taste of a professional culinary program without the lengthy time commitment or heavy financial burden of a degree program.

Culinary Boot Camp explores the fundamental methods of cooking. Each day builds on the previous one – and on the last day you’ll tie everything together to plan and produce a menu with your classmates.
This program is suitable for students of all skill levels. Beginners will learn the basics and come away with the confidence to cook independently. Those with some cooking experience will broaden their culinary knowledge, hone their skills, and acquire valuable tips and insight so they can take their culinary ventures to a new level.
Each day’s session combines the chef’s lecture and demonstration with individual hands-on execution of recipes that feature the essential techniques in modern cooking. At the end of the day, you and your fellow students will serve your finished dishes and enjoy a cooking roundtable, engaging in an informal discussion and review of techniques and culinary topics.
After just five sessions, you’ll go home with a foundation of fine-tuned cooking skills:
Day 1: Fish and Meat Butchery, Protein Fabrication, Stocks, and Knife Skills (Chef Danny Bungenstock)
Day 2: Protein Cookery, Sauces, and Soups (Chef Todd Kelly)
Day 3: Baking and Desserts (Chef Megan Ketover)
Day 4: Eggs, Vegetables, and Grains (Chef Julie Francis)
Day 5: Flavor Dynamics, Plating and Honing Your Skills (Chef Sean Kagy)
You will learn:
Professional knife technique
How to select and cook meats, fish and vegetables
How to sauté, simmer, grill, roast, braise, and fry foods
Proper use of cookware and essential kitchen tools
Recipes and methods for soups, stocks, sauces, appetizers, entrees, salads and more
Use of herbs and spices, understanding basic flavors and complex flavor profiles
Menu and time planning
Tricks of the trade from seasoned professionals
It’s a total immersion experience! You’ll know just what it is like to be a culinary student in our kitchen classrooms.
The chef/instructors for the week:
Danny Bungenstock, CEC, CCA, MS; Chef Instructor, Midwest Culinary Institute; Greater Cincinnati ACF Culinary Educator Award; American Culinary Federation (ACF) gold medal winner (2); MCI World Culinary Olympics team
Todd Kelly, Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza;Hilton Hotel’s #1 Food and Beverage hotel and AAA Five-Diamond; Hilton Signature Chef; ACF Chef of the Year 2011; ACF Award of Excellence (2); guest chef at the James Beard House, NYC
Megan Ketover, Pastry Chef, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza; ACF Pastry Chef of the Year – Northeast Region; competed on Food Network’s Challenge and Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts; guest chef at the James Beard House, NYC
Julie Francis
Chef/Owner, Nectar; Cincinnati Magazine #1 Brunch 2015, recipient Slow Food’s Snail of Approval 2014, member Chef’s Collaborative; guest chef at the James Beard House, NYC
Sean Kagy, Executive Chef, The Summit Restaurant at Midwest Culinary Institute, graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, veteran of the Maisonette, Executive Chef at Cincinnatian Hotel and TPC at River’s Bend, Owner of One Restaurant, and youngest 4 star Chef in the Cincinnati.
The course is five consecutive days, Monday, May 16 through Thursday May 19, 9 am to 2/3:00 pm; Friday, May 20, 2 pm to 8:00 pm. Cost for the week is $1,500. Upon completing Culinary Boot Camp, each student will receive a Certificate of Completion from the Midwest Culinary Institute. The Culinary Institute is located at 3520 Central Parkway in Cincinnati.
For more information contact Donna Schmitt at (513) 569-5800,