Till recently, students used to go out to Europe to master the art of pastry making. To address this Academy of Pastry Arts focuses on providing an exceptional hands-on and well-designed pastry programs which aim at churning out budding pastry chefs and entrepreneurs who no longer need to look for opportunities to train in baking pastry abroad. The Academy currently has 350+ students in its five centres across Asia and operates from 80,000 sq ft of space with 50 kitchens. The institute is currently based in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore in India, besides having branches in Malaysia and Philippines.
Stoodnt.com got in touch with Major Dinesh Sharma, Co- founder, Academy of Pastry Arts, to know more about the institute its curriculum and placement opportunities.
“Studying in the Academy, students get the training at par with those institutes and also save about 60% of their cost. The students have access to the best of ingredients, the latest technology and equipment under the guidance of skilled chefs from the industry. The academy is committed to the development of a student’s career, from the beginning until long after they leave. Kitchens are dedicated to teaching the skill in hands-on mode rather than a classroom setting, thus enhancing the skill level of the students,” says Major Sharma.
The institute has more than 20 chefs in India spread across three centres added to this are the visiting faculty which includes MOF’s and world champions who come and conduct specialised classes for industry professionals. A six months Diploma in Pastry will cost Rs 4,60,000/- while a 10 months Advanced Diploma is available for Rs 6,85,000/- (which also includes One-month training in Malaysia).
Culinary six months Diploma is for Rs 4,00,000/- and 9 months advanced diploma is for Rs 6,00,000/-. The fees include all applicable taxes, ingredients, uniforms and tools. The Academy also offers a part-time weekend program or as it is called – a hobby program – on pastry/ culinary which costs Rs 1,25,000/-
Eligibility criteria
“Since our field is really creative, we don’t have any eligibility criteria as such as we get students ranging from a 16-year-old teenager to a 50-year-old housewife. We expect the students to have a basic understanding of English and we don’t expect them to have any prior knowledge of pastry/ culinary as we start our courses from the scratch,” notifies Sharma.
Curriculum
At the Academy of Pastry Arts, the curriculum followed complete French; the students have access to the best of ingredients, latest technology, and equipment under the guidance of skilled chefs from the industry. “The academy is committed to the development of a student’s career, from the beginning until long after they leave. Kitchens are dedicated to teaching the skill in hands-on mode rather than a classroom setting, thus enhancing the skill level of the students,” shared the Major.
Internships play an important role in moulding the student chef in a professional set up. While the environment in the academy is very controlled and the students have access to the best of everything, the scenario in the hotels and restaurants is different. There is a pressure of volume, cost, performance, etc. which a student should know how to handle before she/ he works with a star hotel or opens her own bakery/ restaurant.
“To deal with this, we strongly recommend minimum three months of internship with a leading restaurant, bakery in a 5-star hotel. We have a tie-up with some of the best brands for internships and help students gain the requisite exposure,” informed Sharma.
Placement and Job Opportunities
As far as placement or job opportunities are concerned, Chefs of 5 Star Hotels and leading restaurants/bakeries come to the Academy for training. “They appreciate our standards and are keen to hire our students in their properties. You would find most of our alumni working in leading hotels in major cities in the country and international locations,” he enthused.
The institute has a proven track record of student’s placement in leading star hotels and bakeries including Oberoi, Taj, ITC, Novotel, Marriott, Hyatt and bakeries like La Folie in Mumbai, Theos, Bombaykery, Theobroma in Delhi, etc.
“More than half of the students open their own bakeries and have made a mark for themselves in the industry. The academy supports the students in their personal development be it in terms of opening their own bakeries or to find a job in a hotel/bakery,” updated Major Sharma.
Start-ups by alumni of Academy of Pastry Arts –
Nikita Nayak, from Bangalore, has her setup called Sinful Slices which specializes in Wedding cake.
Arjun Gupta from Gurgaon is currently working with Laduree in Dubai. He is a Junior pastry cup winner and represented India in Sigep, Italy in 2017.
Uddita from Gurgaon has opened her venture in Kanpur by the name of Layers and has made a strong brand name in the city.
Shristi Kothari has opened The Batter Box, in Kolkata. She specializes in eggless desserts.
Future plans
Sharma and his co-founders are all set to open a new branch in Indonesia by this year-end followed by Kolkata. Centres in the Middle East and South Africa are planned to be launched by next year. Plans of expanding to other ASEAN countries in the next 1-2 years are also in the pipeline.
About the Institute- Established 8 years back, the Academy of Pastry Arts is one of the best career options in India, today. The Academy has well-equipped facilities and best chefs, who disseminate world-class culinary and pastry education to the budding chefs. Under the Flagship Pastry School, “Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia” has the finest pastry-chefs team in entire Asia and the Middle East. The Academy is one of the top 10 Pastry schools in the world and the chef’s team is composed of National Champions, Asian Pastry Champion 2014 and World Ranking of 4th in “World Pastry Cup 2015” and 6th in “World Pastry Cup 2017” in France. The academy boasts of a skilled team of pastry chefs who represented India at the “World Pastry Cup 2017” in France as well as Bronze medallists in “Asian Pastry Cup 2016” in Singapore. Academy of Pastry Arts also participated in Asia pastry cup 2018 held in Singapore. It is also the only institute to provide maximum hours of hands-on training.
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