Sense of Taste Chef School

Sense of Taste Chef School is a small private culinary training school in Maitland, an industrial suburb of Cape Town in the Western Cape. It runs from a single site at Coronation Court, where the school occupies the first floor of a secure building complex and operates a large industrial training kitchen, with a separate classroom used for theory lessons, tests and examinations. Teaching is face to face, and the school caps each intake at sixteen to twenty students so that instruction stays personal.

The school states on its website that it is accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations, and Highfield International, a United Kingdom awarding organisation. No registration or accreditation numbers are published for any of the three.

Three programmes are advertised. A one year Advanced Certificate in classic cookery, baking and food preparation is the entry route, taught with practical lessons from Tuesday to Friday and theory on Mondays. A two year Diploma for professional chefs builds on that first year, with the second year spent on in service training in working kitchens. A thirteen week part time Kitchen Assistant course runs over thirteen Mondays from 15:30 to 20:00 and is aimed at people already working in the food industry who want a formal qualification.

There is one intake a year. The academic year starts around the middle of February and runs until 22 December, with an orientation week beforehand. Theory runs on Mondays from 10:00 to 14:00 and practicals from Tuesday to Friday, 09:00 to 16:30. Community work is built into the curriculum: students help prepare food for about 1 500 people a week through a feeding programme the school started during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entry requirements and full fees are not published. Applicants make contact, visit the kitchens, sit an interview, and then sign an application form. No application or registration fee is charged. A non refundable deposit of R29 000 secures a place and counts towards fees, 25 percent of the balance falls due at the beginning of January, and the rest can be spread over ten monthly instalments to November. Fees cover ingredients, uniform, knives, textbook, examination fees and graduation, with budget for shoes and cookware. The school assists students who are not South African residents with study visa paperwork.