Culinary & Restaurant Management Degree: Taste Success

The Restaurant & Culinary Management (AAS) is offered at:

Aspen: Mostly in-person,
Steamboat Springs: Mostly in-person

World Class Locations for Learning and Working

Aspen

Aspen is synonymous with fine dining, and our new, state-of-the-art Morgridge Teaching Kitchen is a stone’s throw from Aspen Food & Wine, X Games Aspen, and some of the best restaurants in the world.

Steamboat Springs

Located in the heart of ski resort country, our new kitchen overlooks beautiful Steamboat Springs. We offer afternoon classes so that you can juggle work and internships with the many fine restaurants in the area.

Program Learning Outcomes are what we expect each student will learn while earning a degree or certificate. Meeting these learning outcomes is how we assess our performance as a college. Our learning outcomes support both important career skills and future success as a student.

Upon completing the Restaurant & Culinary Management (AAS) program, CMC students will be able to:

1. Evaluate current relevant issues in the foodservice industry that may include sustainability, environmental, political, and/or cultural topics.
2. Apply a critical thinking process of identifying, analyzing and developing solutions as they apply to financial and fiscal accountability in the foodservice industry.
3. Evaluate organizational development, human resources, laws and legal codes that have been established within the local, state and federal government with specific application to food and beverage industry.
4. Design and prepare recipes for a menu while balancing nutrition, the use of fresh products, and the final product's texture, color, and flavor.
5. Value the impact and challenges of managing alcoholic beverage sales and service in food service operations.
6. Apply the concepts and techniques of sanitation to a food service environment.
7. Demonstrate the use of proper purchasing, storage and costing techniques to profitably operate a food service establishment.
8. Demonstrate the ability to work in a professional kitchen as a line and pantry cook.
9. Demonstrate the ability to work in a variety of dining room environments as a bus-person, waiter, table captain and sommelier.
10. Demonstrate the relation of food to health and well-being.
11. Demonstrate an understanding of the knowledge needed to be a supervisor in a food service establishment.
12. Develop an understanding of the variety of careers as well as the organization and structure of the hospitality industry as a whole.

The demand for food service managers is expect to grow nationally and in Colorado.

"Give me one million good managers and I will give you one million great restaurants." - Culinary & Restaurant Management Program Advisor

Improve your management qualifications with a broad skill set. Quality service, food and beverage accountability, management of staff and sound culinary knowledge are the foundations of the Restaurant and Culinary Management program at Colorado Mountain College.

Students, upon completing this degree, will have resume-building work experience, business insight and the culinary knowledge to run a restaurant or food service operation from the kitchen, the front podium, or from the owner's seat.

Expected salary range

Chefs and Head Cooks, Colorado
The median annual wage for chefs and head cooks is $50,160
Source: CareerOneStop

Food Service Managers, United States
The median annual wage for food service managers is $59,440
Source: CareerOneStop

Employment Forecast

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Occupational Statistics & Employment Projections

Chefs and Head Cooks, United States
Expected to grow much faster than average, + 25%

Food Service Managers, United States
Expected to grow faster than average, + 15%