Culinary and Pastry Arts

Grow your culinary career in the heart of the Okanagan Valley. Programs focus on a farm-to-table approach, exploring fresh local products. Commercial kitchen spaces allow students to learn the latest techniques from Red Seal-certified chef instructors.

Explore our programs

  • Legend:
  • Full program offered
  • Partial program offered
  • Credential
  • International students
Baker Apprenticeship
  • Kelowna
  • Apprenticeship
Culinary Arts Certificate
  • Kelowna
  • Certificate
  • International students
Culinary Management Diploma
  • Kelowna
  • Diploma
  • International students
Pastry Arts Certificate
  • Kelowna
  • Certificate
  • International students

Infusions Restaurant

Infusions Restaurant on the Okanagan College Kelowna campus showcases the exceptional talent of Culinary Arts students. Indulge in dishes like pecan-crusted rack of lamb with minted apple and potato gnocchi, or cornmeal apple cake with warm caramel sauce and mascarpone ice cream. 

Culinary Workshops

These workshops give adults the opportunity to learn new recipes and culinary techniques in a commercial kitchen setting under the guidance of Red Seal Chefs. 

Register online

Culinary Arts student holding a beautifully plated meal

Challenge your skills

Already have years of experience working in the culinary industry? Consider challenging your certification levels with Professional Cook (PC) Practical Re-assessments. PC Practical Re-Assessments are offered at the Kelowna campus for PC-1, PC-2 and PC-3. 

Review dates

Meet our instructors

Brian Alexander

Culinary Arts
Office: F Building 126E
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4412
Culinary Arts Instructor Brian Alexander

James Armstrong

Trades General Interest
Office: F Building 106G
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4591

I have been a culinary arts instructor for 13 years. I started as a permanent Culinary Arts Instructor at Okanagan College in 2008. I taught a dual-credit program at Mount Boucherie High School until 2010 and am currently a Chef Instructor at Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus. An Okanagan College alumnus, I completed the ten-month Cook Training Program at Okanagan College and completed a Red Seal three-year apprenticeship at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver, B.C. My culinary work experience includes; three months of cooking in an international hotel in Auckland, New Zealand; four years at Chateau Whistler Resort, including two years as Sous Chef; two years as Chef at the Black Forest Restaurant, Kelowna, B.C.; ten years as Executive Chef of the Harvest Golf Course Dining Room; and four years as Executive Chef at Illichmann's Gourmet Foods.

Credentials:
Red Seal Chef, Culinary Arts
Instructor's Diploma, Vancouver Community College


Mike Barillaro

Culinary Arts
Office: F Building 126A
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4698
Culinary Arts Instructor Mike Barillaro

 

I am one of the Culinary Arts Instructors at the Culinary centre of Okanagan College. The main area that I teach in is Infusions Restaurant at Okanagan College. I teach the Hot Kitchen Breakfast/Lunch service (CA 103) and night-time Dining Room Service (CA 105). This is the part of the Level 1 Foundation for Culinary Arts in our certificate program. My students learn how to source and use the fresh local bounty of products available. I strive to provide a variety of foods, driven by the required curriculum, that change daily and challenge the students' skills to provide for two food outlets. My goal is to provide students with a solid foundation in culinary techniques and theoretical information to enable them to succeed in their chosen field. My career started in Vancouver in 1984 when I took the 52-week Culinary Arts program at PVI in Burnaby. I then went on to apprentice with Delta Hotels for two years in Richmond, B.C, before moving on to the Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver for three years. I then spent seven years at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre working my way up to Sous Chef Garde Manger. My love of golf led me to various Executive Chef positions at some of B.C.’s best golf resorts for 10 years, before I started teaching at Okanagan College in 2002. While working at the Delta and Pan Pacific hotels, I received numerous awards in cold food competitions, as well as a fat sculpting award as an apprentice. My teaching philosophy is one of inclusiveness for all students. I try to connect with my students to show my enthusiasm for food and my chosen industry, as well as trying to meet the students’ needs at every level of their learning journey.

 

Credentials:
Culinary Arts Certificate, PVI
Certificate of Qualification, Province of British Columbia
Certificate of Apprenticeship, Delta Hotels within the Province of British Columbia
Instructor Diploma Program (BCID), VCC


Daniel Capadouca

Chair - Culinary & Pastry Arts
Office: F Building 126B
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4248
Culinary Arts Instructor Danny Capadouca

I have been working in the hospitality industry for 27 years, having graduated from Vancouver Community College in 2001. I started my apprenticeship in Vitre, France in the Brittany Region then continued it in Vancouver, B.C., at the Westin Bayshore hotel. I have competed in many competitions winning multiple awards including the Grand Gold Award at the Salon du Chocolat in 2005. I then moved on to work at Chocolate Arts to learn more about chocolate. Returning back to France, I attended a short Pastry Class at the Paul Bocuse Institut in Lyon. I moved to the Okanagan in 2007. Having worked for some of the best restaurants and hotels in the valley, I became the Pastry Arts instructor at Okanagan College in 2014. In 2016, I developed an exclusive chocolate line for Okanagan College at the Cacao Barry, Or Noir Lab in Meulan, France, becoming the third learning institution in the world, the first in North America to have their own exclusive chocolate line.

Credentials:
Red Seal Certified, Culinary Arts Program at Vancouver Community College


Geoffrey Couper

Culinary and Pastry Arts
Office: F Building 126D
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4592

Okanagan College Culinary Arts apprenticeship Instructor, past chairman and president of the Okanagan Chefs Association, wine lover and raconteur extraordinaire are just a few of the toques that that I have worn over the years. With four decades of award-winning experience behind me, the obsession for great food, simply prepared with passionately produced local products only burns brighter. Having called the Okanagan home for close to 20 years, I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to provide culinary inspiration for many great wine producers in the valley including Mission Hill, Cedar Creek, Blue Mountain and Andrew Peller, among others. The best advice I could give to all young chefs looking for education and inspiration? Go work on a farm... After a classic apprenticeship, I departed to Europe to do the typical travel, eat and work thing, at the time thinking I knew a fair bit about cooking. Ending up on a small family farm in southern Germany, what I soon came to realize was that I knew nothing about food. And there is a huge difference between the two. To see products destined for the table being raised, weeded, milked and vinified, etc., to witness first-hand the tremendous effort it takes to produce great food, will undoubtedly make a huge impact on the way any young cook views their profession.

Credentials:
Red Seal Endorsed Chef


Reinhard Foerderer

Culinary and Pastry Arts
Office: F Building 126E
Campus: Kelowna
Phone: 250-762-5445 ext. 4549

I have been with Okanagan College for 11 years and am an assessor for the cook trade certification for the Industry Training Authority (ITA). I have taken on the Culinary and Pastry Arts Chair position in June 2019 and am currently full-time chair of the department. My culinary education and work experience spans over 34 years and includes a Diploma in Hospitality Management from Heidelberg Hospitality Management College in Germany, 10 years as Executive Chef at Manteo Resort in Kelowna, Executive Chef with Hy’s Canada at Bigwoods Restaurant and Bar in Whistler, Sous Chef at the Fish House in Stanley Park and working with Hilton International at the Park Hilton Hotel in Munich, Germany. My professional highlights include being an active member of the Okanagan Chefs Association, serving two terms as vice president, two terms as treasurer, and being voted Chef of the Year twice by the Okanagan Chefs Association members in 2008 and 2005, acting as Head Assessor for the trade of cook in Canada federal project, and membership of the Chaine des Rottiseurs Okanagan from 2003 – 2012. I consider food one of life’s greatest joys. My focus when teaching students is to teach them the best up-to-date skills and methods possible, so they will be successful in the industry after graduating from Okanagan College.

Credentials:
Red Seal Cook Certification, ITAC Vancouver
Hospitality Business Management Diploma, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg, Germany
German Red Seal Cook Certification, Hospitality School Bad Ueberkingen, Germany
Provincial Instructor Diploma, Vancouver Community College


In Essence Newsletter

This e-newsletter will give you an insider’s look at what is happening with programs, events and projects in the Culinary and Pastry Arts department.

Read the issues:

Summer 2022

Winter 2022

Fall 2021

Summer 2021

Experience

Join an info session or become a student for a day.

Ask

Have your questions answered by an advisor or recruiter. 

Apply

Take the next step and enrol in a program or course at OC.