Of course, being rated one of the best chef schools in the world by an acclaimed international body is important.

Of course, winning numerous awards for culinary education excellence and contributions towards this field is important.

Of course, producing award-winning chefs and culinary professionals who are setting benchmarks in the industry is important.

But what is even more significant in choosing the best culinary school for your future studies, is what current and recently graduated students are advocating about their culinary journey.  What are ICA students – those individuals that are actively undergoing the actual education process at the ICA – saying about their experience?

Recent ICA Graduate and recipient of the ICA Merit Award for Best Practical Performance in her class, Marisa Botes, qualified from the ICA 3 Year in Advanced Culinary Arts and Advanced Pâtisserie, specializing in Product Development.  After working in some of SA’s top restaurants in the Western Cape, Marisa is currently continuing her culinary career journey at Île de Païn in Knysna as Chef Pâtissier where, together with her team, they are creating exceptional delicacies!

Marisa wrote a personal message to the ICA to convey her gratitude towards the training she received:

“I realized today that I have never said thank you.  Thank you for everything that the ICA has taught me – all the valuable life lessons and moral standards.  As a student, one doesn’t always realize just what a huge impact the ICA has on your life and career…throughout our studies, we were assigned to mentors in carefully chosen establishments who helped to shape us as individuals and as chefs.  You set us up to succeed and to make us great!  Thank you for placing me at the restaurants and under the guidance of the chefs that you did and for the opportunity to undergo my experiential training there.  They were all amazing people and I was privileged to be able to learn from them.”      – Marisa Botes

As testimony to the unsurpassed level of training that students receive at the ICA, Principal and Founder of the school, Letitia Prinsloo, states:

“As a truly earnest teacher and mentor myself, I realize that students come to the ICA partially formed, but filled with potential and hope. They remain for a season, a phase of their lives. Lecturers shape, chisel, form and mould.  The students receive, they grow, they’re strengthened and filled.  Then they step out – shining, strong, equipped and whole. It is my responsibility to train world-class chefs that can fully stand their ground in a global culinary arena, armed with an internationally recognized qualification.  Our training philosophy influences the calibre of top-rated chefs trained by the ICA, ensuring their legacies are carried forward day after day, far beyond the physical boundaries of the training kitchens and classrooms at the Institute of Culinary Arts.”