MICHAEL LEVITT President, Culinary Academy of Long Island

The economy may go up or down, but one of the few industries that continues to grow is the tourism and hospitality industry. With this growth, comes a growing demand for skilled labor. The Culinary Academy of Long Island has been leading the way by helping students to prepare for a wide variety of positions in restaurants, hotels, resorts, catering and cruise lines. It is my goal as President of CALI to continue to prepare each student and to place them in a rewarding profession of their choosing.

CALI has the training program you need to access these career opportunities, and to do it in nine months.
Upon completion of your internship, our Career Services Office can help you find permanent work that meets your interests and goals. You’ll be taught in modern kitchens by Chef-Instructors who have studied at renowned schools and who have years of leadership positions in the industry. 

Our Hotel and Restaurant Management program begins with six months of intensive classroom and computer training. This will be followed by an internship at a regional hotel, conference center or catering establishment. The school then offers strong prospects for permanent employment in a range of positions. You’ll practice on industry-standard property management software and study with hotel and restaurant management professionals who have many years of experience in leadership positions.

The Greater Metropolitan Area is one of the world’s finest centers for hospitality, tourism and the culinary arts. If your dream is a career in this dynamic and trend-setting world, CALI can give you the tools, the knowledge and the motivation to make that dream come true…in as few as nine months. I look forward to seeing you at orientation and seeing you off at your graduation ceremony!

The school prides itself on the warm, friendly relationship between the student body, the faculty and the administrative staff. The staff is available to all members of the student body for discussions about employment opportunities, continued education and help in meeting personal problems related to education. Our licensed teaching staff is comprised of professionals who relate program material to "how it is" in the real world of food service. Our performance-based training emphasizes the skills you will need in the real world of work. You learn from professionals with years of work experience. You train in facilities with equipment similar to what you will find on the job. And you are graded according to how well you can actually do what you have learned.

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

CALI’s objective is to have facilities and equipment that closely parallel the working world. Kitchens are patterned after working commercial kitchens. The Hotel & Restaurant Management computer laboratory uses professional property management software configured as a mid-sized full-service hotel. Student lounge areas are designed as dining rooms where full-service meals can be served to students and guests.

The CALI facility occupies over 12,000 square feet of space in a suburban setting near major roadways in Syosset, Long Island. Four operating kitchens are equipped with standard equipment for commercial kitchens including professional ranges and ovens, deck ovens, convection ovens, proof-boxes, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, baker’s wood tabletops, low-boy refrigerator with marble top for candy making, as well as commercial equipment such as mixers, blenders, meat slicers, food processors, steam kettle, fryers, and a commercial walk-in box. The kitchen used in the Professional Pastry and Baking program also includes a new Alto Shaam combi-oven, a double convection oven and a 50-gallon capacity Carpigiani ice-cream production machine

Two beautiful dining areas serves as student lounge space as well as a simulated restaurant environment, allowing students to serve other students and guests as part of the training program. Theory/lecture components of the culinary and pastry/baking programs are taught in well-lit, comfortable classrooms.

Library/resource rooms for the culinary and hotel and management programs maintain three Internet-accessible computers, a collection of culinary and hospitality books, texts, videos and periodicals for student use.

OUR HISTORY

The Culinary Academy of Long Island opened its doors in 1996 offering a Professional Cooking with Internship certificate program (900 hours) to Long Islanders interested in training in the culinary arts.  The school was licensed by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and national accreditation was achieved through the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT).

In the summer of 1997, the Culinary Academy introduced the Commercial Cooking with Internship certificate program (600 hours). Offered in the evenings, this program was designed to meet then needs of “non-traditional” students, particularly those seeking to gain basic skills to advance or change careers.

In May 2005, the school was purchased by Quad Partners, an investment firm specializing in schools, curricula, and other educational products. Through the acquisition, CALI has become affiliated with the Culinary Academy of New York (CANY), located in lower Manhattan. Since the acquisition, CALI has added new certificate programs in Professional Pastry and Baking (600 hours) and Hotel and Restaurant Management (900 hours) further responding to the needs of the Long Island culinary and hospitality industries.

APPROVALS & MEMBERSHIPS

ACCREDITATION	Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)
APPROVALS	New York State Department of Education Approval for Veterans Training Approval for I-20 Status Job Training Partnership Act Suffolk County Dept of Labor VESID
MEMBERSHIPS	American Culinary Federation American Hotel and Lodging Association National Restaurant Association International Association of Culinary Professionals Chamber of Commerce