MAD Academy

About

Think of it as mise en place for your future.

If you’re a chef, cook, sommelier, server, bartender, manager, entrepreneur, or anyone else working in hospitality, MAD Academy is for you. Our courses in environmental sustainability and leadership and business offer the tools and inspiration you need to bring about positive change in your business and the world at large.

MAD Academy takes full advantage of its location in Copenhagen (itself a leader in the fields of cuisine and the green transition) and is taught by luminaries in the fields of gastronomy, science, business, and the arts. The program builds on a decade of experience in envisioning and shaping a better food future and offers an immersive and hands-on experience, inspiring students with radical hope while providing practical tools for impact.

Today, MAD’s alumni network includes over 1,000 Academy graduates in 60 countries who are doing bold, creative work to shape the hospitality industry of tomorrow.

Our Courses

Leadership & Business

The important stuff you didn’t learn in culinary school

Preparation for a career in hospitality usually focuses on creativity and deep training in a craft. Less targeted are the skills needed to successfully lead a team and build a resilient business. Our Leadership & Business course fosters a new paradigm where caring for people and financial health are valued alongside passion and craft. You’ll level up your leadership skills, learn sound financial habits, and walk away with a toolbox for creating a workplace environment where all staff can thrive.

View Leadership & Business Course

Environment & Sustainability

Satisfying your hunger for planet-positive change

From reducing food waste to making conscious choices about what we serve, hospitality can change the way the world eats. Our Environment & Sustainability course helps shape the hospitality of tomorrow by teaching businesses how to reduce their environmental impact and regenerate the natural world that feeds us. You’ll leave equipped to critically evaluate and reduce the carbon footprint of your business, and fueled with inspiration from innovators in the field to make a meaningful difference.

View Environment & Sustainability Course

Custom Programs

Bespoke programs for teams and businesses

Our custom programs leverage our unique knowledge and experience in hospitality to help businesses address today’s most pressing challenges, from carbon footprints to workplace cultures. Our courses empower businesses to make real positive change with expert knowledge, practical tools and inspiration from some of the industry’s leading chefs, entrepreneurs, academics and activists.

Designed to inspire creative thinking, cultivate better leadership, and strengthen environmental stewardship, we offer a range of tried and tested courses, such as single lectures, half-day workshops and two-day events. Or we can curate a bespoke program to meet your specific organizational needs.

View Custom Program Details

Our alum

MAD Academy alum changing the world (just to name a few!)

*One or more Michelin stars

Europe
Tian am Spittelberg (Austria)
*Nobelhart og Schmutzig (Germany)
Fotografiska Tallinn (Estonia)
Rome Sustainable Food Project (Italy)
*Elbulli 1845 (Spain)
Miri Mary (Netherlands)
*Alchemist (Denmark)
Coffee Collective (Denmark)
*Noma (Denmark)
Mirali (Ukraine)
*Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenée (France)
*Le Doyenne (France)
Timberyard (Scotland)
*Oaxen Krog (Sweden)
SEM Restaurant and Wine Bar (Portugal)
Mariage Frères (France)
*Brat (England)
*Kol (England)
Spring (England)
Silo (England)
Tayēr + Elementary (England)
Sputnik Cocktail Bar (Bulgaria)

North America
*Tatiana (US)
*World Central Kitchen (US)
Hiyu Wine Farm (US)
*Eleven Madison Park (US)
*Benu (US)
Emmer and Rye (US)
Avling (Canada)
*Pujol (Mexico)
Mexic Amanera (Dominican Republic)

Central and South America
Viento Verde (Argentina)
Maré de Sabores (Brazil)
*Restaurante Leo (Colombia)
La Guaguaseria (Ecuador)
Cocina de Jardin (El Salvador)
Panito Bakery (Guatemala)

Asia and Australia
*Room4Dessert (Indonesia)
Dewakan (Malaysia)
Preludio (Singapore)
Onijum (South Korea)
Restaurant Ark (Taiwan)
Out (Japan)
Centro Hotels (India)
Manzé (Australia)
Market Lane Coffee (Australia)
Tanaman Restaurant (Australia)

Middle East and Africa
Hakasan Dubai (UAE)
Happy Rabbit (Egypt)
Veld and Sea (South Africa)

Stories from our alum

long reads, MAD Digest

Starting from Zero-Zero by Eilia Attar

When you ask most people why they became chefs, they will tell you it has to do with love: a love for food, or for the people who cooked for them when they were small, or for the way that food itself expresses love. But what if love isn’t enough?
MAD Digest, Q&A

Q&A with Esther Merino

MAD Alum Esther Marino is splitting her time between teaching at the Basque Culinary Center and diving deep into the intersections of anthropology, gastronomy, and innovation to rethink what exceptional service—and a great drink—can really be.
MAD Digest, Q&A

Q&A with Dimitris Afentakis

Chef, restauranter, and MAD alum Dimitris Afentakis has dedicated himself to bringing authentic Mexican cuisine to Greece. This month, Dimitris shares how his yearly pilgrimage to Copenhagen keeps him inspired, including by learning from MAD hall-of-famer Rosio Sanchez, and an exciting offer on the horizon.
MAD Digest, Q&A

Q&A with Rose Wilde

n the wake of January’s devastating wildfires, Los Angeles is struggling to rebuild. Stepping up to help her city bounce back is local chef, author, and social justice advocate Rose Wilde.
digest, MAD Alumni, Q&A

5(ish) Questions with Harriet Tomlinson

This month, Harriet Tomlinson shares how MAD Academy helped fix her “wobbly compass” and talks about finding a renewed sense of purpose as the caretaker of 180 acres of pristine Victorian farmland and forest.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Julia Soria

Julia Soria, a chef and MAD alum with an impressive culinary career, has recently taken on a new challenge: launching her own bilingual magazine, Figo. We caught up with Julia to chat about going from chef to publisher, and where you might just see a wee bit of MAD in Figo’s pages.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Alejandra Espinoza

Ecuadorian Chef Alejandra Espinoza had already hit her stride before arriving at MAD Academy in 2021. She was an experienced, well-traveled chef, trained by some of France’s best, and was already leading a thriving business. But in meeting fellow alums Karyn Tomlinson and Jae Bang, Alejandra got something she didn’t expect; friends. Friends who truly…
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Jon Polley

Jon Polley felt like a sell-out when, in need of a better salary and a saner schedule, he left his job at a hip Italian bakery to work in one of Pittsburg’s largest hospital canteens. But what initially seemed like a decidedly uncool career move soon proved to be the best thing he could have…
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Kirsten Kirby Shoote

Kirsten Kirby Shoote doesn’t feel like an activist, but they are all about changing the status quo, whether it’s pushing for cultural responsibility or bending farming laws in the name of sustainability
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Sean Gabbiani

Chef and two-time MAD Academy alum Sean Gabbiani talks to us about his long and not-always-pleasant stint in fine dining, and his current pursuit of creating a restaurant that’s about a lot more than just great food.
MAD Academy, MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Laura Cabrera

This month, MAD Academy alum Laura Cabrera shares her views on what it means to lead and collaborate well, and why we need to ditch old-school mentalities so the next generation of chefs can thrive.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Jack Feeny

British chef Jack Feeny arrived at MAD Academy in 2021 with a good deal of knowledge about sustainability under his belt: in fact, he had already published a manual, produced with the help of other chefs and called No Mise En Plastic (get it?) that offered tested advice on reducing single-use plastics in restaurants.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Garima Arora

Last year was Garima Arora’s best ever: not only did Gaa make it onto the World’s 50 Best List, but also received its second Michelin star. An all this while giving birth to her first child.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Shiv Menon

After country-hopping since he was 16, from the Seychelles to France, India to the Maldives, two things were important to Shiv Menon: diving and biodynamic wine. So, naturally, when asked to join the MICHELIN Green-starred BOCA in Dubai —leaders in sustainable gastronomy— he was on the next flight to the City of Gold. Now as…
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Sarah Knight

Sarah Knight’s resume would read like the title of a John Le Carré novel, if Le Carré wrote about food: Waiter, Chef, Butcher, Rancher. But in that list of jobs is a far more interesting story of an aimless American teenager who fell into restaurant work.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with César Garduño

We check in with César Garduño, whose career has taken some unusual turns in the last few years — first Dill in Iceland, now Credo in Norway.
MAD Alumni, Q&A

5 Questions with Karyn Tomlinson

Each month, Digest interviews one of MAD Academy’s alumni. First up, chef Karyn Tomlinson, who worked at TK in Minneapolis and Fäviken in Sweden before opening her first restaurant, Myriel.
MAD Academy, MAD Alumni

Interview with Ayesha Abdullah

A lifelong passion for learning and a commitment to building community has fueled Ayesha Abdullah’s culinary entrepreneurship. Her pop-up series, ‘Round Midnight Dinner, showcases the vibrant settings and ingredients of Northern California while also paying homage to the family meals lovingly remembered from her childhood. On Instagram, her video content is warm and intimate, allowing…
MAD Digest, Q&A

Interview with Joshua Kagenski

“The biggest thing that MAD did was open my mind to what I was missing—and where I need to improve.” —Joshua Kagenski