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Contact Culinary/Brightwater
- Brightwater, 801 SE 8th Street, Bentonville, AR
- (479) 631-8600
- brightwater@nwacc.edu
- M-Th, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Friday, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
About B Workforce
Due to the generosity of the Walton Family Foundation and NWACC Foundation, Brightwater
is able to offer FREE training through its B Workforce program to individuals interested
in beginning a career in the food industry.
Restaurant Readiness Culinary Bootcamp
In Brightwater’s FREE Restaurant Readiness Culinary Bootcamp, you will train to earn
an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)–approved Food Handlers Certificate.
This five-week, 120-hour bootcamp combines four weeks of hands-on classroom education
at Brightwater and one week of paid on-the-job (OTJ) training with a group of pre-selected
employers. Upon completion of the program, you will be prepared for an entry-level
position in a professional kitchen.
CULINARY BOOTCAMP BREAKDOWN
Under the instruction of a Brightwater (NWACC) faculty member, you will be introduced
to foundational culinary skills such as knife skills, kitchen safety, and soups and
stock production.
Classroom training consists of 20 hours of classroom/lab time per week taking place
Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
A typical day consists of:
- 50 minutes of demonstration or classroom time
- 190 minutes of lab time
- 20 minutes of lesson recap
- 40 minutes of cleaning and resetting the lab
- A meal is provided.
After four weeks of classroom training, you will work with a local employer to complete 40 hours of paid on-the-job (OTJ) training. You and the employer will determine your schedule and pay, and the employer will sign a form acknowledging hours worked.
Participating in the Restaurant Readiness Culinary Bootcamp is FREE, and you will receive a $500 stipend to cover travel expenses.
Culinary Bootcamp Schedule
- Day 1: Orientation, review course outcomes
- Food Handlers introduction and certification exam
- Day 2: Kitchen safety, mise en place, knife skills introduction
- Day 3: Knife skills, emulsions
- Day 4: Knife skills, basics of cooking vegetables
- Day 1: Knife skills, introduction to protein-based stock production (chicken, beef, introduction to the mother sauces)
- Day 2: Knife skills, introduction to thickeners—sauce production bechamel, velouté
- Day 3: Knife skills review, tomato sauce, basics of cooking pastas
- Day 4: Knife skills review, hollandaise, poaching eggs
- Day 1: Knife skills, steaming, blanching, sautéing
- Day 2: Knife skills, frying
- Day 3: Knife skills, roasting, grilling
- Day 4:Knife skills, braising, plating
- Day 1: 1-2-3 cookie dough/biscuits
- Day 2: 3-2-1 pie dough, savory and sweet
- Day 3: Breads day one
- Day 4: Breads day two
- 40 hours required
- Paid by employer (rate depends on employer)
For Employers
Become a Partner Employer
Interested in sending your employees to Brightwater for training or looking to hire
Brightwater students? Become a Brightwater partner employer and gain access to sous
chef apprentices, non-credit career trainings, private classes and career fairs.
Contact us to become a Brightwater partner employer. Contact Us