New England Culinary Institute

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Established	June, 1980
Location	Montpelier & Essex Junction Vermont, USA
Homepage	New England Culinary Institute
NECI Restaurants
Montpelier	Chef's Table Main Street Grill & Bar La Brioche Bakery & Café
Essex	Butler's at the Inn at Essex The Tavern at the Inn at Essex

The New England Culinary Institute (NECI) is a culinary school located in Montpelier, Vermont founded in June, 1980 by Fran Voigt and John Dranow. The first NECI class had just seven students. Chef Michel LeBorgne conducted the first class. A second campus, this one in Essex Junction, Vermont, was founded in August, 1989.

New England Culinary Institute's curriculum is based on “learning by doing;” immersing students in real kitchen situations and maintaining a small teacher/chef to student ratio in comparison to other American culinary schools. As a result, the institute runs a number of restaurants in Montpelier and Essex Junction.

Arguably, NECI's most famous alumnus is Alton Brown (class of 1995), creator and host of the television show Good Eats and commentator of Iron Chef America. Both shows can be seen on Food Network. Brown, whose background was in cinematography and film production (he holds a degree in drama from the University of Georgia), was dissatisfied with the quality of most cooking-related shows on television and wanted to create something different. But he lacked the culinary skills necessary and believed that the science of cooking was an important aspect often overlooked by other chefs.