Georgia's Shular Institute has Vision to Cultivate Generations of Young Chefs

Shular Institute is a restaurant-based culinary education school that is located at the PREP facility in Tucker, GA.

Led by certified Master Chef Daryl Shular, the first minority Certified Master Chef in America, and Milwaukee native Sean Rush, Shular Institute redefines the purpose of food service and business management through a modern global curriculum.

Shular Institute is the first African-American-owned culinary institute in the United States.

Chef Shular has been working with a young chef named Cameron since he was nine years old. At age 15, the apprentice is now working at Chef Shular and Rush’s restaurant Farmed Kitchen and Bar. He works weekly with the staff where he learns about front and back of the house.

“You can’t baby young adults anymore,” said Rush. “You just have to let them go and put them in healthy environments.”

“[Eventually], generation after generation starts to see the bar has raised,” he added.

According to Rush, the institute’s concept was created back in 2016 with plans to bring programming to his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shular Institute has selected Milwaukee as the first satellite location for the institute to expand its award-winning program nationwide with Brigade MKE.

Brigade MKE is a new culinary program coming to Milwaukee in May 2022 where students will get hands-on training in restaurants across Milwaukee. Shular Institute partnered with Prism EDC, a non-profit focused on creating economic growth, to bridge the gap between Milwaukee’s youth and the local workforce.

“I’ve waited years to be impactful,” Rush said about bringing the program home.

The program is aimed towards young adults 14-18 years old and will operate out of Prism EDC facilities at the Parklawn Assembly of God Church in Sherman Park.

Along with changing the trajectory of the food service industry, Chef Shular and Rush made sure that their school is affordable. Shular Institute’s tuition ranges from $2,500 to $15,000 and they’re currently working with corporations to get scholarships. The goal is to eventually be 100% tuition-free within five years so students don’t have to face financial barriers in order to receive top-tier training and education.

To learn more about Shular Institute, click here.