Innovative New Culinary School For Youth 10-17 Opens In San Diego

A San Diego chef is opening a new culinary school. After losing his job during the pandemic, Chef Sorhab Zardkoohi is teaching local teens the art of cooking.

"The passion that you have for the people that you are serving that makes itself a great food," Chef Zardkoohi told KGTV. He has been teaching culinary arts for the past 20 years but lost his job during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic like many others.

In November, he decided to open up the California Culinary Arts Institute. At the school, students learn everything they need to be a master in the kitchen. The classes are for students ages 10 to 17.

“The first day of this program for the teens, we teach kitchen safety and knife skills; how they work with knives at the table, how to be safe, and also for the safely of others that they work with.”

The entire culinary program is a French and Italian foundation and Chef Zardkoohi says the numbers one ingredient for all dishes is the passion for serving others. “It is not the love for the food. It is how it’s done for people. It is how you make people feel about that.”

Soon, the California Culinary Arts Institue will turn its patio into a dining hall where students will get to learn how to operate and manage a restaurant.