Michael Levitt,
Executive Director and
Leanne LaPalme,
Student Services

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!

Culinary Academy of Long Island, Inc. is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology as a vocational school for training in the exciting Culinary Arts field. Call today to discover the rewarding careers open to you in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and catering.

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.

Some of our Advisory Board Members

The CALI facility occupies over 12,000 square feet of space in a suburban setting near major roadways in Syosset, Long Island.  Modern, well lit and climate controlled classrooms provide a comfortable environment for teaching and learning.

CALI’s facilities and equipment closely parallel the working world. Our four kitchens are patterned after working commercial kitchens and stocked with standard heavy equipment for professional use including high BTU ranges, radiant ovens, pizza ovens, convection ovens, proof-boxes, reach-in refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, assorted mixers, blenders, meat slicers, food processors, immersion blenders, steam kettles and fryers, along with three walk-in refrigerators and freezers. The kitchens are also filled with the pots, pans, bowls, utensils, gadgets and small wares that any aspiring chef could ever need.

The new Pro Baking and Pastry kitchen has additional specialized equipment including a Carpigiani ice cream production machine, double deck convection oven, computer controlled steam injector bread oven, assorted silicone flexi-mold and various candy and chocolate making supplies.

The Hotel and Restaurant Management program has a fully equipped computer laboratory with Opera-Fidelio professional property management software configured as a mid-sized, full-service hotel. Students practice front desk and rooms division computer operations with the same software used by thousands of hotels across the country. They also work closely with culinary and pastry students to plan special catered events as part of the events management/food & beverage curriculum component.

Our two student lounges are designed to be flexible. The areas can be tailored to simulate any style of dining room. They can set up for an upscale buffet, a white tablecloth restaurant, a sushi bar, a sports pub, an elegant cocktail party or even a clambake. Whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner, CALI’s students transform the room into something unique, where other students, staff and guests are served as part of the culinary, baking and hotel/restaurant programs.

The library/resource room has three Internet-accessible computers and a collection of culinary, pastry and hospitality books, texts, videos and periodicals for student use. Classroom study is enhanced by TV-DVD players and Computer/LCD projectors with Internet access.

Our History

The Culinary Academy of Long Island opened its doors in Westbury in 1996, offering a Professional Cooking 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 (ACCSC).

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

Due to the continued growth in the industry and the demand for skilled cooks, CALI outgrew its Westbury location and moved to our present location in Syosset in 2004, more than doubling the size of the school.

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 Career 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.

In 2007 Quad Partners implemented a version of CALI’s successful culinary program at our sister school system, the Dorsey Schools in the Detroit area. In September 2008, CALI and CANY acquired four Star Technical Institute campuses in New Jersey and Philadelphia as branches.  Star Tech specializes in allied health training programs adding a new dimension to the CALI educational program offerings.