Chicago MICHELIN Guide Restaurants rank Kendall College the #1 Chicago program for preparing students for culinary arts careers
This industry research was designed, supervised, and implemented by one of the most respected market research firms in the industry, ORC International. Interviewing was completed via telephone in April and May, 2011, with restaurants included in the MICHELIN Guide Chicago 2011. To maintain objectivity, the interviewing process did not reveal Kendall College to be the sponsor of the study until the very last question.
Who was interviewed?
In the Chicago area, 338 restaurants are listed in the MICHELIN Guide. Multiple attempts were made to call and interview a qualified representative of all 338 restaurants on the list. In most cases, up to five attempts were made to call a restaurant, and in some cases more than five attempts were made. 71 restaurants were interviewed in this research.
Upon reaching a restaurant, interviewers first attempted to speak to the Executive Chef or Manager of the restaurant. If the Executive Chef or Restaurant Manager's participation could not be obtained, interviewers asked to speak to another individual who was personally involved in hiring decisions for positions that would typically be filled by culinary school graduates.
What was asked?
Respondents were read a randomized list of local, Chicago-area culinary schools and asked to “identify the program you would consider the number one local program in how well it prepared students to succeed in the culinary arts industry.” In addition to the culinary schools listed, respondents were encouraged to rank other local schools they were aware of. All but two respondents were aware of at least three schools on the list.
What were the results?
Of the 71 restaurants interviewed, 42 (59.2%) named Kendall College as the number one Chicago-area program in how well it prepared students to succeed in the culinary arts industry. No other local culinary school was selected number one by more than 6 restaurants (8.5%), a statistically significant finding at the 99% confidence interval.
Additionally, a non-response bias was not noted in this research. Respondents who initially did not respond to ORC’s inquiries and then did (after an increase in the incentive) responded similarly to those who responded initially.
View full details in the ORC International Research Report.
