What is it like to go to Culinary School? Get a taste of culinary student life at the California Culinary Academy.

In the marble lobby of the California Culinary Academy, tropical flowers bloom and clusters of blue dolphins navigate their way through the ocean’s current.

“So, they didn’t use a mold?” I ask the student, Rachel, behind the front desk, who doubles as a receptionist.

“No, they boiled sugar and water and then made them.”

“You mean, they made those with their hands?”

“Uh, yes.”

In front of me there is a miniature desert oasis with swaying palm trees and a pink flamingo; sea otters recline on opaque black rocks. None of these objects are more than eight inches high, and they, soft and sugary, shine like plastic vinyl—a miniature happiness.

At the California Culinary Academy, even kitsch becomes a culinary art. But for all this glucose reverie, most of the students get through their day with hard work and a love of food.

The old saying, “Too many cooks spoil the soup” does not apply here. The prep kitchen is filled with 25 students, two instructors, at least four ovens, and 12 stainless steel tables. While boiling ravioli, a student sings a few bars, but then stops to ask his instructor, “What happens if I overcook them?”

“They’ll break and the filling becomes watery,” the chef replies cheerfully.

This is not the answer anyone wants to hear. Some prepare sauces; others chop and coddle little bits of dough. There are 15 minutes until the “lesson” is over, but I’m hungry the second I smell such enticing culinary creations. A golden-haired student is bemused by the price of cigarettes around the corner: “I don’t buy cigarettes in this neighborhood because the price changes everyday, depending on what they think of you.”

Located in the Tenderloin, the best culinary training in Northern California is located in a neighborhood known for its grit, insanity, vice, and despair. But it’s a freewheeling neighborhood where anything can happen—even filet mignon.

“You have to have the drive and passion to do it,” Rachel says suddenly, “Don’t come to cooking school because you think, ‘Oh, it’s fun!’ Let your creativity come out. Because you have to be bigger, better, and think about the beyond.”

A passing instructor chef stops to mention the unexpected, a student’s “gazpacho sorbet,” and says he likes his job so much, “don’t quote me!” The unquotable chef chatters on, like his sprightly gait, “You have all these young minds collaborating! It makes every day a unique day.” Someone’s mango dessert gets his head spinning, but then he has to dash off to teach a class.

For CCA student Jennifer Harrison, who is reaching the end of her training, the day begins waking up, showering, and heading to CCA for a 10:00 am lecture. The lecture will last 30 minutes, and then students break into groups. They start prepping which includes cutting up fruits and vegetables, preparing stocks, and “portioning the proteins.”

Every day, there are demonstrations of specialty items, like unusual fruits or imported products. After demonstrations, Jennifer finishes preparing the meal for CCA’s main fine dining hall The Carême Room, where patrons come for dinner. By 4:00 pm her face is already rosy from the heat of the kitchen.

With a schedule for the last few weeks running from 2:00 in the afternoon through the late evening, she usually gets home around 10:00 pm and goes to sleep around one. Jennifer says, “The pressure here is great, but having to do things quickly and correctly is really what it’s all about.” Today, she’s working on a pesto rice pilaf for the buffet, and she is preparing enough to feed 300 people. “The class I’m in is intense,” as she puts it. “I love it!”

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