Skiing, I very much doubt that you will find a school with smaller classes than NECI. All of their lab classes (cooking classes) have a 7:1 student teacher ratio. As for schools more geared towards people wanting to indulge the passion for food as opposed to readying people for a career, I doubt you will find much, as culinary schools tend to be expensive and not many people are willing to pay $30,000 for a degree they never use. There are a few smaller schools, like NECI, that I know of. There is Krump's in NYC, which changed it's name, I just can't remember to what right now. CIA Greystone, in CA, but I am not sure if they offer full programs or are more of a continuing education school.
The other option is to take some culinary vacations. These are becoming more and more popular, with week long classes in places such as Italy, France, Mexico, etc. These classes usually combine, cooking, site-seeing, going to markets, and visiting small producers. They are not cheap, but from what I hear very fun and educational.
The other option is to take some culinary vacations. These are becoming more and more popular, with week long classes in places such as Italy, France, Mexico, etc. These classes usually combine, cooking, site-seeing, going to markets, and visiting small producers. They are not cheap, but from what I hear very fun and educational.
