O.C. to Get a College of Food

San Francisco-based California Culinary Academy is opening a College of Food in Garden Grove, mainly to serve Orange County. The site was chosen because of its proximity to various tourist destinations such as Disneyland, and surrounding hotels and restaurants.

The prestigious cooking school is the largest culinary institution on the West Coast and the third largest in the country. The new Garden Grove satellite campus, which is expected to open in September, will be the third College of Food in the state. Others are in Salinas and San Diego.

The satellite campuses, which can accommodate 150 full-time students and a number of evening or part-time students, offer an 11-month program aimed at a broad section of the food industry.

“This gives people the opportunity to come to the school, learn a skill and get a job,” said Keith Keogh, president of the academy. “The [satellite campuses] are a piece of our curriculum, like a junior college. They target the skill-based needs for cooking.”

The cooking academy is a fully accredited educational institution and was founded in 1977.

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Greg Hernandez covers the restaurant industry for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5989 and at greg.hernandez@latimes.com.