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Te Mahi Whakakuku Rikawera

Chef Training

The world of professional cookery offers exciting and challenging job prospects preparing and cooking delicious and nutritious fare in cafés, restaurants, hotels and wineries in New Zealand and overseas. 

If you want to transform your love of food and cooking into a successful career, then this is the place to start.

Working as a chef, you will have the opportunity to;

  • work in an industry that embraces and celebrates creativity
  • prepare and cook a range of dishes that reflect the style of restaurant in which you are employed
  • plan and work on major events and functions
  • design and plan menus to meet customer and business expectations
  • organise and manage kitchen operations
  • travel and expand your culinary knowledge and skills.

At Ara you will enjoy first class chef training facilities including the Visions on Campus licensed training restaurant and the Pantry on Campus café .

Our trainee chefs develop a full range of practical professional cookery skills and knowledge that will allow them to achieve success in the hospitality industry. Our five purpose-built kitchens are designed to enable the best possible training with good quality commercial equipment, machinery and teaching resources. Trainees work alongside highly experienced, award-winning staff who have come from a range of industry positions and continue to excel in the profession.

Our professional cookery programmes incorporate New Zealand National Certificate qualifications and are aimed at identifying Ara graduates as quality employment prospects. We have an excellent employment success rate and our graduates can be found in the kitchens of top restaurants and hotels around the world.