EHL is expanding its academic offer with a new Associate Degree in International Culinary Arts, Fine Dining Experience and Restaurant Management, with the first intake scheduled for September 2027.
The two-year programme is designed to prepare students for professional kitchen, restaurant leadership, and food and beverage entrepreneurship roles, combining craft training with commercial and guest-experience education.
The new degree brings together three strands — culinary arts, fine-dining guest experience, and restaurant management — as EHL moves more directly into gastronomy-focused education. The institution says the programme will include a six-month internship in partner restaurants, international field trips each semester across Europe’s major gastronomic regions, and masterclasses led by visiting chefs. It is aimed primarily at students aged around 18 to 25 who are seeking a shorter, recognised route into the sector.
Patrick Ogheard, dean of EHL School of Practical Arts, said: “The new programme also responds to evolving expectations within the restaurant and hospitality sectors, as well as from future students and consumers. Today’s gastronomy professionals increasingly need to combine culinary expertise with skills in guest experience, beverage culture, sustainability, marketing and business management.”
EHL says the launch reflects wider movement in both hospitality and education. Interest in gastronomy, food culture, and culinary tourism has risen in recent years, while employers are also looking for talent that can understand changing guest expectations and design memorable dining experiences. The school adds that research during the programme’s development showed stronger demand for the associate degree format than for longer academic routes, because it offers a more direct path into employment while preserving future academic options.
Delivery will lean heavily on practical training. EHL says 60% of classes will be hands-on, taught by a faculty that includes internationally recognised chefs, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, world champions across culinary and beverage disciplines, and hospitality specialists. Training will take place across 13 teaching outlets, a Michelin-starred restaurant, demonstration kitchens, and the Institute of Nutrition R&D. Graduates may go on to work as chefs, restaurant managers, sommeliers, or food entrepreneurs, or continue into a bachelor’s degree.
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