Is Online �� School For You?

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Skyler Bouchard is a woman who knows what she wants. The chef, recipe developer and restaurant reviewer has been hustling in the food industry since she was in college. Her latest endeavor? Online culinary school.

As a student at New York University, Skyler spent her time reviewing restaurants on a whim, documenting every meal. She launched the NYU chapter of Spoon University, a student-run digital food media publication, pursued graduate studies in Hong Kong, and interned at huge media companies like Hearst and Entertainment Tonight.

After graduating, Skyler pursued her blog and recipe development full-time, while also freelancing and doing contract work for outlets including Food Network and the Today Show. As a food blogger, she became known in one of the earliest “waves” of food influencers, making a name for herself as .

When Skyler reached her late 20s, she decided to further pursue culinary education in order to advance her credibility as a recipe developer. She wanted to learn from professionals, so she enrolled in ICE’s �� Arts program in February of 2020.

"I had always wanted to go to culinary school, but the timing unfortunately didn’t work out when I was living in New York," she says. "I actually had always wanted an online program due to my crazy schedule, but at the time, it was unheard of."

Then the COVID-19 pandemic changed her plans. During the pandemic, Skyler and her husband moved out of New York City and settled in Philadelphia, which meant she could no longer attend ICE in person.

Luckily for Skyler, ICE’s online �� Arts & Food Operations program launched in 2021, and her new home state of Pennsylvania was on the list of approved states. Realizing she was in a completely different phase of her life — and knowing she wanted to have children in the near future — Skyler audited the program.

"I run my own business and have very crazy work hours, so when ICE introduced the online program it made a lot of sense for me — I loved the flexibility with how I could divvy up weekly hours spent on schoolwork while also working from my own kitchen," she says. "A lot of people who work in structured corporate jobs have a sense of normalcy when it comes to their hours, so something like night school might make sense for them, but when you are running a business and there’s a lot of unpredictable elements, something like an online program is extremely beneficial."

The 900-hour intensive curriculum of the �� Arts & Food Operations program took Skyler on a journey through the professional culinary landscape. She practiced fabricating whole chickens, played with flavors to elevate her dishes, baked beautiful desserts and experienced cuisines from across the world — all while getting to share what she made with her husband for dinner each night.

The program Skyler audited is one of three online offerings from ICE. ICE’s online programs include:

ICE’s online programs dive into the techniques, theory, science and art involved in working as a professional in the culinary industry. They also include instruction on key culinary business fundamentals like finance, marketing, management and more.

“ICE’s online programs are a great option for anyone who can’t physically come to campus in New York or Los Angeles for the in-person program,” she says. “There’s the �� Arts section and there’s the business, marketing [and] everything else you need to know about this industry sector. They also offer flexibility for those with tight schedules.”

“I had the flexibility to give myself Fridays for school, so I basically worked Monday through Thursday and I worked extra hours to complete my business work, then I took Friday to do my school labs,” Skyler says.

At the time of her audit, the �� Arts & Food Operations program had just launched. Skyler was in one of the first classes of students to take the program, and she got to know her classmates and Chef-Instructors well.

“I met some great people,” she says. “It’s like having online pen pals that you’re constantly talking to.”

Skyler says that butchery has proven to be one of the most unexpectedly useful skills she learned while in school.

“I now know how to fabricate chickens and butcher meats,” she says. “I buy them whole and cut my own filets now, and cut my own steaks and save a lot of money that way. I found that to be so valuable.”

She also says learning how to prepare ingredients for the restaurant simulation module was a particularly fascinating part of the program.

“I know it seems kind of crazy that you’re submitting a culinary assignment to a chef who can’t taste them but they have a really good system in place for your submissions,” she says.

Online ICE students are asked to take a video timelapse of themselves cooking during the entire “kitchen lab” process, which includes starting with a clean station prior to cooking. At the end, students submit photos of the final product along with an assignment form that describes the flavor profile of each component on the plate.

Who would Skyler recommend this program to?

"If the online program is your only option and you really want to go to culinary school but you’re nervous to take the plunge, I highly recommend taking the plunge," she says. "When I was considering [the program], I questioned two things that made this decision easier to make: How will I balance this with my schedule [and] is there a feasible solution there, and what do I hope to learn from this program and does the curriculum address that? For me, I found a solution for balancing school work with my work and life and I also found that the curriculum addressed several things I wanted to learn. And I can confidently say after taking this course, I learned so much more than I even could have imagined!

Heard, Chef.

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Abbe Lewis

Abbe Lewis is a writer, editor, Emmy nominee and extreme nacho enthusiast with over a decade of experience in food and beverage media. Always on the move, Abbe can be found running long distances on the weekends to new restaurants or her favorite hangouts.