Student Testimonials

As a "home cook" I have taken many courses in culinary skills including the Culinary Institute of America's basic boot camp and one week Bistro courses, as well as most of the Stella Culinary series on line.

I had reached a point where I was comfortable with most French techniques, Sous Vide, molecular gastronomy, smoking, grilling, etc. However, when Chef Jacob offered an opportunity to spend a week with him one on one in his own professional kitchen I thought it might be a unique experience. I wasn't disappointed.

He took us into the world of the professional chef and in one short week had us thinking like a professional with respect to flavor, technique, execution, and presentation.

Having Chef Jacob at your side as you develop new dishes, learn and apply the techniques of a professional and work side by side with experienced sous chefs gives one skills and confidence one can use daily in the home or professional kitchen.

The way you approach cooking after the Stella Culinary Boot Camp will begin with a thought process not unlike that of a professional chef. You will understand flavor development, how to integrate technique with production and presentation. Other than attending culinary school for two to four yeast I know of no other way to develop these skills. Participating in Chef Jacob's Stella Culinary Boot Camp was a privilege.

Dr. Roger Stambaugh

Dr. Roger Stambaugh, Bellingham, Washington

Boot Camp with Chef Jacob and his team was one of the best cooking experiences I have had. Working in teams, we got to experience all aspects of a working restaurant, and Jacob's F-STEP process is easy to use and makes even complex dishes doable for the amateur chef. My husband is thrilled with my new expertise.

Chris Chew

Chris Chew, Incline Village, Nevada

For the new content and hands-on instruction Chef Jacob and his staff offer, as well as the camaraderie of other chefs and food enthusiasts, I highly recommend the "Boot Camp" program.

Do not expect occasional 'dishes' to prepare, rather a week of an intense mix of classroom theory and commercial kitchen experiences integrated into an approach that a successful, avant-garde restaurant would use. And Chef Jacob's F-STEP methodology breaks down how to 'create' new flavors in ways that the culinary school I attended never came close to (follow the recipe). For the money, this is an incredible value and was a great investment to improve my own skills way beyond my expectations.

Douglas Tabor

Douglas Tabor, Estes Park, Colorado

What sets the boot camp apart from other programs is the focus on moving away from cooking from recipes to thinking about the ingredients you have available and then applying the appropriate cooking technique, flavor profile, and execution to create a dish. The F-STEP curriculum provides you with the tools a chef uses when creating new dishes. I now look at recipe books for concepts and ideas and not how to create a dish.

Thanks to Chef Jacob and his team for making cooking a more creative and enjoyable experience.

Mike Krueger

Mike Krueger, Truckee, California

Chef Jacob Burton's Stella Culinary Boot Camp was an exciting and tremendously empowering experience. It was one of the best weeks we've ever had. His F-STEP process unlocked our cooking creativity by focusing on essential techniques and flavor-building concepts rather than specific recipes or arcane sauces. That, plus the one-on-one coaching and extensive hands-on work, left us thinking and cooking like chefs.

Fred Swan

Fred Swan, California - CS, DWS, CWAS
NorCalWine.com

I'm a busy dad and orthodontist who loves to cook. I'm living out my top three passions. How lucky can one guy be? It follows that 'giving back' should be my fourth passion, and I want to do it right. This is where Stella Culinary comes in. I continue to evolve my cooking abilities in order to qualify for high level volunteerism.

Having attended a long list of cook classes and CIA boot camp type classes, I can say the inaugural F-STEP boot camp with Chef Jacob was what I needed. Not only did I level up in cooking ability, I was able to see the business similarities of a fine dining restaurant and my business. In fact, a few participants were already running successful restaurants, yet were able to benefit as much from the business perspective as from the F-STEP curriculum. Think about that for a minute; business perspective and cooking curriculum, both well worth the price of admission. If you can't go this year, or it is sold out, get on the waiting list.

Dr. Keith King, Alberta Canada

Dr. Keith King

Dr. Keith King, Alberta, Canada

Last fall, I attended Chef Jacob Burton's Stella Culinary Boot Camp.  As a passionate home cook, I was really excited to have an opportunity to learn from a talented chef in a professional kitchen.  And as a regular customer to his fantastic restaurant Stella, in Truckee CA, I can't deny that I was excited to learn some of the secrets to his amazing dishes.  But what I experienced and learned was so much more than a list of ingredients and instructions on what to do with them.

Chef Jacob's F-Step Curriculum gave me a deeper understanding about preparation,technique, flavor and execution.  I was able to build off the skills that I already had and then fill in the gaps of my culinary knowledge.  His explanations are in-depth and answer so many questions about the "whys" of cooking. I improved on my ability to execute the basic techniques I already utilize and got to learn about techniques that were new to me, such as sous vide and confit. Having this knowledge has really changed how I cook in my kitchen at home on a day to day basis.

The first thing I did when I went home was to invest in a sous vide circulator.

At home, I cook with the circulator on a weekly basis and the meats cook to the perfect temperature and are very tender! This inspires me to utilize a delicious sauce to pair with  that meat.  Instead of worrying about a dozen or more different sauce recipes, thru the F-STEP curriculum, I know I will either be making a puree, reduction or emulsion, and I just choose the right technique for the ingredients or flavor profile I am trying to achieve. And in order to make great sauces, I  prepare homemade stocks ahead of time, freeze them in ice cube trays and store the cubes in ziplock baggies which I pull out at the last minute to execute a wonderful sauce.

My experience at the Stella Culinary Boot Camp has given me the knowledge to execute a delicious and confident dinner for two, a family holiday dinner for 12 or a backyard barbecue for 50.  I have Chef Jacob and his F-Step Curriculum to thank for expanding my joy and skill of cooking!

Norma Dove

Norma Dove, California

Chef Jacob and his staff exceeded my expectations. 

Boot camp expanded my basic food knowledge and brought me to a level I never knew I could attain without a culinary degree.

Every aspect of this intensive training took you along a journey. I learned how to prep, prepare and present food that would be found at a 4 star restaurant. The food that we prepared was of the highest quality and very elegant.

The F-Step curriculum was all about balance. Every time I prepare a meal, I remember to use the planning we were taught in boot camp. F-step is a great way of thinking and planning. I have taken Chef Jacobs lessons and amazed my friends and family. The course was timed perfectly and all of the tools we used and techniques introduced, became a Christmas wish list.

I would recommend this training to everyone. I must warn students though, bring oversized clothes. You will prepare and eat the best food in your lives!

Luanne Marek

Luanne Marek, Southern California

This boot camp is 5 days, 12 hours a day, combining 2 meals, hours of lecture, demonstrations, and debriefings following noon and dinner service. You arrive, are warmly greeted, and ready to begin your adventure, and meet some really great classmates. In point form, here are just a few of the positive experiences you'll have:

  • First off, it was the bets culinary experience that I have ever had.
  • You will learn a vast knowledge of food and food science down to molecular interactions with each other, heat, and liquids, and environment as well as how that food came to exist at your station.
  • You use only the finest quality ingredients from local, organic producers; you are encouraged to ask for ingredients that you can't find, which they will source out for your next day's meal prep.
  • There is repeated emphasis on Jacob's F-STEP formula for successful preparation and execution of a meal for both intimate dinners and crowds of people; including how to set up a buffet with visual mastery and practical dishes that work well with a steam-table and large scale service equipment.
  • You will find that your creativity is unleashed in directions that you have never explored.
  • As Chef Jacob talks, your mind actively blends his knowledge into your meal plan, considering all of the main components, sub-components, and preparation of each item. Each dish gets its own F-STEP story board. And food alchemy results.
  • Nightly perfect wine pairings and lectures from Jacob and California wine experts and producers.
  • Incredible staff show how to quickly prep and set up mise en place; constantly willing to share their experience and help you develop your skill set beyond what you could have imagined.
  • There is a Chef's table for eating and discussing each dish, debriefing of what went well and how each chef could put his own spin on things.
  • Jaw-droppingly beautiful, functional open restaurant, exceptionally clean & plent of work space for multiple teams, practical division of labor at each of 5-6 stations, rotating though each one during the entire week.
  • Learn 3-5 course tasting menus, and how to wow your guests by creating "flavor punches," without causing "palate fatigue."
  • Enough time to be introduced to charcuterie and eat your own production within days.
  • Become proficient with all cooking techniques (dry heat roasting, searing, frying, baking, moist heat, poaching, reducing, sous vide, curing, etc).
  • A truly farm to table experience, sourced from the best local producers.
  • Chef Jacob is incredibly competent in his ability to impart a level of wisdom to any level of amateur/professional skill.

After this boot camp, episodes of CHOPPED and Iron Chef no longer seem impossible. They become, in essence, pragmatically possible. You will instantly recall Jacob's lectures on flavor combinations using the Flavor Bible and in your head you can work out the 5 dishes using a mystery ingredient, alongside the "Iron Chefs."

Creating savory marriages of what is pragmatically AND theoretically achievable, Jacob ensures each student tastes what worked and on occasion why something wasn't as good as it could have been.

Worth every dime. Having taken previous courses I can attest that this BOOT CAMP gives an order of magnitude of knowledge that is leaps and bounds over anything outer there yet is the least expensive of any I've taken, and your time with chef is almost 1 on 1.

You will learn how taste is affected by your sense of smell and recognize how to make great choices in ingredient planing and interplay.

All in all, Chef Jacob delivers a culinary experience showing all aspects of restaurant service, complete explanation of food, its components and combinations perfectly composed, seasoned, and executed.

The week goes by in a blink of an eye, and I would do it again and again.

Dr. Darcy Dietz

Dr. Darcy Dietz, Alberta, Canada

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