According to OregonLive, The Oregon Culinary Institute along with some of the Pioneer Pacific college facilities are closing permanently.

Many in the Portland restaurant industry are graduates of the program, which has been criticized over the years as a high expense, low payback option for education, with suggestions that one could learn more at a lower cost by simply going to work at the bottom of the restaurant hierarchy and working their way up.

At times the classes were taught by well-known food personalities such as Brian Polcyn (a Michael Ruhlman collaborator, and Shannon Preble. Over the years the institute was a beneficiary of the James Beard Foundation scholarship program.

The most recent post on the Pioneer Pacific webpage states,

Pioneer Pacific College and the Oregon Culinary Institute is committed to state, national and global efforts to reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19, while appropriately continuing the necessary activities to provide students with high-quality, college level career education.

Pioneer Pacific College and Oregon Culinary Institute will resume services on July 13, 2020. The institution will monitor state and federal guidelines on Covid-19 restrictions and update this page as necessary.

In 2018, instructor Daniel Brophy was found dead at OCI. His wife was later charged with the crime.

I’ve had friends who enjoyed going to OCI’s restaurant on SW Jefferson which was manned by students. You could get a four-course meal for less than $18. I’m sure that will be closing too.

note: OCI was an advertiser on this website for many years.

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