April 29, 2011
Written By: Travis Brown
SNOW HILL -- After spending more than a month working with local elementary school cafeterias as part of a Team Nutrition Grant program, Chef Paul Suplee called the effort to improve school nutrition a success. He did admit, however, that it was a small step but expressed hope that it would lead to similar efforts in the future.
Suplee, culinary arts instructor for the Worcester County Technical High School, and his students teamed up with cafeteria workers at five local elementary schools to design sets of easy-to-make yet nutritious meals that could then become part of the school’s regular menu. Suplee and his students spent one week cooking and planning with each school. At the end of the five-week period, the schools will share all of the meal ideas that had been generated with their counterparts, resulting in a widely expanded cafeteria menu for all of Worcester County.
“We’re just trying to educate the kids,” said Suplee. “So far we’ve had good results.”
He stressed the fact that the perceived worry over lack of nutrition in schools isn’t as dramatic as many believe and praised the cafeteria employees his team worked with as having done an incredible job, especially since they are always working with limited resources.
In response to that scarcity of funds and resources, Suplee used a portion of the $30,000 Team Nutrition Grant to outfit some of the more underequipped kitchens with new chef’s knives and other small-ware.
“They need to have the tools to do their jobs,” said Suplee of the cafeteria workers.
Read the complete story here.
Showing posts with label cooking schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking schools. Show all posts
Friday, April 29, 2011
Monday, May 24, 2010
TV's Top Chefs Star in Online University
By MICHELLE LOCKE (AP) – You've watched them whip up delectable dishes, and a soupcon of drama, in the Top Chef kitchen. Now, stars of the hit Bravo TV series are ready to school their fans: Pack your knives and go... online.
Top Chef University.com, formally launching this week, is designed to give users the experience of culinary school at their own pace, with 12 courses covering about 60 hours of content.
"It's so unique because it's truly a comprehensive program and it's really the first of its kind," says Nikki Cascone, Season 4 contestant and one of the instructors.
The site was created by Jeff Goldenberg, founder of Post Oaks Productions, a leading provider of live and virtual consumer training. He approached Bravo with the concept after getting hooked on the show. Given the green light, he hired trained chef Anthony Hoy Fong and Top Chef judge and culinary expert Gail Simmons to write the curriculum.
Both Simmons and Fong are culinary school graduates and they wanted to develop a program that felt was professional but also would resonate with home cooks.
While graduates won't come out professional chefs, "if you take this program to the end you will have, I believe, a really strong knowledge of the kitchen," says Simmons.
Read the rest of the story here
Top Chef University.com, formally launching this week, is designed to give users the experience of culinary school at their own pace, with 12 courses covering about 60 hours of content.
"It's so unique because it's truly a comprehensive program and it's really the first of its kind," says Nikki Cascone, Season 4 contestant and one of the instructors.
The site was created by Jeff Goldenberg, founder of Post Oaks Productions, a leading provider of live and virtual consumer training. He approached Bravo with the concept after getting hooked on the show. Given the green light, he hired trained chef Anthony Hoy Fong and Top Chef judge and culinary expert Gail Simmons to write the curriculum.
Both Simmons and Fong are culinary school graduates and they wanted to develop a program that felt was professional but also would resonate with home cooks.
While graduates won't come out professional chefs, "if you take this program to the end you will have, I believe, a really strong knowledge of the kitchen," says Simmons.
Read the rest of the story here
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Career Options Expand for Culinarians
Into the frying pan
By DAN AVERY
Jerome Darby was a successful fashion designer whose clothing sold in
Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. But he never gave up his dream of working in a restaurant.
So he enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in SoHo, and after graduating last June, he went to work as a pastry chef at Mario Batali’s trattoria Lupa.
So how does he feel about trading in a six-figure salary for toiling in a kitchen?
“It’s been awesome,” he says.
As America’s interest in food continues to rise like a well-timed soufflé, more and more people are setting their sights on culinary careers.
“There’s been a huge, huge interest in cooking schools,” says Irena Chalmers, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in upstate Hyde Park, and author of “Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers.”
In the past six years, applications spiked nearly 50 percent at CIA, which added a satellite campus to cope with the demand. At the Institute for Culinary Education in Chelsea, the surge in interest has been “staggering,” says admissions director Brian Aronowitz. Meanwhile, after a decade when enrollment doubled, the French Culinary Institute just had “our best year ever,” says founder Dorothy Hamilton.
The weak economy has actually boosted interest, in part because people often return to school during slowdowns, and in part because food careers are popular with career changers — including those motivated by a layoff. And to some extent, the food business is recession-proof.
“There will always be jobs in the culinary field,” says Hamilton, who’s written a new book, “Love What You Do: Building a Career in the Culinary Industry.”
One big change, however, is the sheer range of jobs falling under that umbrella. That range has grown a lot wider in recent years, notes Chalmers, who was inspired to write her book by all her students who “had no idea there were so many jobs outside of working in a restaurant.”
From food historian to recipe tester, “There are so many things you can do,” she says.
With that in mind, here’s a look at a few of the food world’s growing niches.
Click here to read the rest of the story.
By DAN AVERY
Jerome Darby was a successful fashion designer whose clothing sold in
Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. But he never gave up his dream of working in a restaurant.
So he enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in SoHo, and after graduating last June, he went to work as a pastry chef at Mario Batali’s trattoria Lupa.
So how does he feel about trading in a six-figure salary for toiling in a kitchen?
“It’s been awesome,” he says.
As America’s interest in food continues to rise like a well-timed soufflé, more and more people are setting their sights on culinary careers.
“There’s been a huge, huge interest in cooking schools,” says Irena Chalmers, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in upstate Hyde Park, and author of “Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers.”
In the past six years, applications spiked nearly 50 percent at CIA, which added a satellite campus to cope with the demand. At the Institute for Culinary Education in Chelsea, the surge in interest has been “staggering,” says admissions director Brian Aronowitz. Meanwhile, after a decade when enrollment doubled, the French Culinary Institute just had “our best year ever,” says founder Dorothy Hamilton.
The weak economy has actually boosted interest, in part because people often return to school during slowdowns, and in part because food careers are popular with career changers — including those motivated by a layoff. And to some extent, the food business is recession-proof.
“There will always be jobs in the culinary field,” says Hamilton, who’s written a new book, “Love What You Do: Building a Career in the Culinary Industry.”
One big change, however, is the sheer range of jobs falling under that umbrella. That range has grown a lot wider in recent years, notes Chalmers, who was inspired to write her book by all her students who “had no idea there were so many jobs outside of working in a restaurant.”
From food historian to recipe tester, “There are so many things you can do,” she says.
With that in mind, here’s a look at a few of the food world’s growing niches.
Click here to read the rest of the story.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Should You Attend a Cooking Academy?
When a new culinary school springs up (and there are currently about 750 in the U.S. alone), hundreds of prospective students flock to the campus, hoping they will become the next celebrity chef. But are these aspiring chefs making a wise career move or would they be better off forgoing school and getting a kitchen job in a real-world restaurant? Unfortunately, the answer is not a simple one and depends on the chef's level of experience.
The Novice Chef
With the surging popularity of restaurants helmed by celebrity chefs, high school students are enrolling in culinary schools at record rates. In fact, 38 percent of San Francisco's California Cooking Academy (CCA) applicants in 2004 were recent high school graduates, up from 22 percent in 1997.
Advantages
Most schools offer programs that range from a few weeks to several years and cover all aspects of the culinary arts: baking and pastry arts, hospitality and restaurant management, and wine studies. These schools also provide students with internships in culinary hot spots and the opportunity to operate all aspects of their on-campus restaurants. Needless to say, attending one of these cooking academies can be a valuable experience for a budding chef.
Students lacking either kitchen experience or culinary expertise will get the most out of classes from the second tier of cooking academies. Why the second tier? These often require little prior experience and cover all the fundamentals.
If and when students decide to attend one of these schools, they should steer clear of the common misconception that once you have a diploma, your restaurant career will take off. Therein lies the greatest disadvantage of any academy: unrealistic expectations.
Disadvantages
Many novices don't stop to think about the commitment necessary to succeed in the food-service industry. Even with training, it takes decades for a chef to master his craft. Plus, students who only have school experience will have trouble understanding how strenuous the day-to-day operations of a restaurant can be. Many chefs work 17 to 18 hours per day, 6 to 7 days per week, and finish each night doing the dishes, according to John Foley, a restaurant expert in Northern California and AllBusiness.com's restaurant advisor.
A second big disadvantage is cost. The CCA, for example, charges about $45,000 for just 15 months of instruction, and that's just for an associate's degree. In fact, a prospective student at a first-tier academy can expect tuition prices to be similar to that of a top university.
In some cases, students may amass a mountain of debt from a school that does not have a good reputation. Many cooking schools are built to make money and operate like a business, says Dan Watts, a former purchasing agent with the CCA. Students, he says, should realize that quality often takes a backseat to quantity in such schools, degrading the cooking academy into merely a diploma factory. Moreover, with the arrival of more schools and higher enrollment across the country, the weight a cooking academy diploma once held has been somewhat devalued.
To learn of a school's reputation, students should ask restaurant professionals if they would hire a graduate from the school they are considering, trying to find a consensus. There's also plenty of useful information on the Internet.
The Experienced Chef
A prospective student with an abundance of cooking experience can benefit from a first-tier school, where they will be able to sharpen kitchen skills as well as learn the financial side of the restaurant business.
Advantages
Experienced chefs are more likely to be accepted into a top school such as the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), which, in turn, may help them get a job at a top-tier restaurant. Part of the reason the CIA has maintained its reputation despite the proliferation of cooking academies is its nonprofit status. The school, with campuses in both New York and California, continuously reinvests its profits, building elite facilities and hiring only the best instructors. Also, the CIA and other comparable institutions offer their students the ability to pursue a bachelor's degree as well as an associate's degree.
With years of experience hiring and firing staff, John Foley swears by the graduates he's hired from the CIA. In 1991, Foley hired a Wisconsin dairy farmer turned CIA graduate to be his new chef. "He taught me so much about food, the procedures, the workings of a line, and how to serve 450 people on any given night," he says.
Foley, however, isn't nearly as confident in the CCA graduates he's dealt with. Ten years after that very successful hire, Foley interviewed a CCA graduate and asked, "Where did you learn to cook?" The interviewee answered, "I went to school at the CCA." Foley sighed and said, "Yes, but where did you learn to cook?" The difference in the quality of schools, according to Foley, is that the first-tier schools like the CIA give students incomparable instruction along with a realistic picture of the restaurant business.
While experienced chefs may already have excellent kitchen skills, they may not have the necessary business know-how. Schools such as the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College teach students how to start a small business. Classes focus on the financial side (accounting, marketing, purchasing) as well as management (human resources, supervision).
Disadvantages
There are few downsides to attending a top-tier school, but the financial burden can be significant. In addition, there's always the trade-off of spending a year or so in school versus continuing to gain valuable experience in the real world. Poor instruction is also a risk, though the more elite schools are almost always staffed by experienced and capable instructors.
Attending a cooking academy can be a smart career move for both the experienced and the novice if the student is realistic about the hard work that follows graduation.
A student's dedication will make or break the journey; a cooking academy degree won't.
The Novice Chef
With the surging popularity of restaurants helmed by celebrity chefs, high school students are enrolling in culinary schools at record rates. In fact, 38 percent of San Francisco's California Cooking Academy (CCA) applicants in 2004 were recent high school graduates, up from 22 percent in 1997.
Advantages
Most schools offer programs that range from a few weeks to several years and cover all aspects of the culinary arts: baking and pastry arts, hospitality and restaurant management, and wine studies. These schools also provide students with internships in culinary hot spots and the opportunity to operate all aspects of their on-campus restaurants. Needless to say, attending one of these cooking academies can be a valuable experience for a budding chef.
Students lacking either kitchen experience or culinary expertise will get the most out of classes from the second tier of cooking academies. Why the second tier? These often require little prior experience and cover all the fundamentals.
If and when students decide to attend one of these schools, they should steer clear of the common misconception that once you have a diploma, your restaurant career will take off. Therein lies the greatest disadvantage of any academy: unrealistic expectations.
Disadvantages
Many novices don't stop to think about the commitment necessary to succeed in the food-service industry. Even with training, it takes decades for a chef to master his craft. Plus, students who only have school experience will have trouble understanding how strenuous the day-to-day operations of a restaurant can be. Many chefs work 17 to 18 hours per day, 6 to 7 days per week, and finish each night doing the dishes, according to John Foley, a restaurant expert in Northern California and AllBusiness.com's restaurant advisor.
A second big disadvantage is cost. The CCA, for example, charges about $45,000 for just 15 months of instruction, and that's just for an associate's degree. In fact, a prospective student at a first-tier academy can expect tuition prices to be similar to that of a top university.
In some cases, students may amass a mountain of debt from a school that does not have a good reputation. Many cooking schools are built to make money and operate like a business, says Dan Watts, a former purchasing agent with the CCA. Students, he says, should realize that quality often takes a backseat to quantity in such schools, degrading the cooking academy into merely a diploma factory. Moreover, with the arrival of more schools and higher enrollment across the country, the weight a cooking academy diploma once held has been somewhat devalued.
To learn of a school's reputation, students should ask restaurant professionals if they would hire a graduate from the school they are considering, trying to find a consensus. There's also plenty of useful information on the Internet.
The Experienced Chef
A prospective student with an abundance of cooking experience can benefit from a first-tier school, where they will be able to sharpen kitchen skills as well as learn the financial side of the restaurant business.
Advantages
Experienced chefs are more likely to be accepted into a top school such as the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), which, in turn, may help them get a job at a top-tier restaurant. Part of the reason the CIA has maintained its reputation despite the proliferation of cooking academies is its nonprofit status. The school, with campuses in both New York and California, continuously reinvests its profits, building elite facilities and hiring only the best instructors. Also, the CIA and other comparable institutions offer their students the ability to pursue a bachelor's degree as well as an associate's degree.
With years of experience hiring and firing staff, John Foley swears by the graduates he's hired from the CIA. In 1991, Foley hired a Wisconsin dairy farmer turned CIA graduate to be his new chef. "He taught me so much about food, the procedures, the workings of a line, and how to serve 450 people on any given night," he says.
Foley, however, isn't nearly as confident in the CCA graduates he's dealt with. Ten years after that very successful hire, Foley interviewed a CCA graduate and asked, "Where did you learn to cook?" The interviewee answered, "I went to school at the CCA." Foley sighed and said, "Yes, but where did you learn to cook?" The difference in the quality of schools, according to Foley, is that the first-tier schools like the CIA give students incomparable instruction along with a realistic picture of the restaurant business.
While experienced chefs may already have excellent kitchen skills, they may not have the necessary business know-how. Schools such as the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College teach students how to start a small business. Classes focus on the financial side (accounting, marketing, purchasing) as well as management (human resources, supervision).
Disadvantages
There are few downsides to attending a top-tier school, but the financial burden can be significant. In addition, there's always the trade-off of spending a year or so in school versus continuing to gain valuable experience in the real world. Poor instruction is also a risk, though the more elite schools are almost always staffed by experienced and capable instructors.
Attending a cooking academy can be a smart career move for both the experienced and the novice if the student is realistic about the hard work that follows graduation.
A student's dedication will make or break the journey; a cooking academy degree won't.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Student Chefs Dig Into Their Field
Marty Meitus, Rocky Mountain News
Joan Brett has no interest in buying raspberries out of season. The cost is too high - and she's not talking about the price at the store. She's referring to the environmental impact of bringing in those berries from places like Chile.
"The fact that we're screwing up our planet, I don't need those raspberries," she says. "It's only six to eight months of the year (when you don't have them) and it makes them special."
Brett is doing more than paying lip service to the cause. Owner of the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder, she has added what may be the first outside-the-classroom program to incorporate the concept of farm-to-table training for would-be chefs. Students will spend five weeks outside the classroom, first in the North Fork Valley, then working at Leroux Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast and Winery near Hotchkiss, then going to Sustainable Settings, a 250-acre nonprofit center and ranch in Carbondale that teaches sustainability.
When Brett took an exploratory trip to the North Fork Valley, "I was met with such excitement and enthusiasm about moving the farmers' vision into the restaurants."
Students will help with winemaking, cheesemaking, learning about soil and composting, harvesting and preparing menus from what they've gathered.
"We're a cooking school, not a farming school, but the experience is going to make these students aware of where the food comes from. (They'll gain) an in-depth knowledge of soil and what it takes to put those ingredients on the plate."
Back in Boulder County, they'll "get steeped in where food comes from" at various farms, with a community dinner at the end. Brett says the program will have lasting benefits.
"It's multilayered because it's going to affect consumers and the community, and I think these students will wind up being ambassadors for dealing respectfully with food."
The local push helps farmers who at one time might have had to abandon their livelihood because they weren't able to produce enough for the wholesale market. But, she says, "by selling to restaurants and the public, a lot of them have turned around."
Not so many years ago, "eating local" meant heading out for McDonald's up the street. But now consumers are tuning in. "It's not going to be overnight, but it's exciting to be part of it."
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Joan Brett has no interest in buying raspberries out of season. The cost is too high - and she's not talking about the price at the store. She's referring to the environmental impact of bringing in those berries from places like Chile.
"The fact that we're screwing up our planet, I don't need those raspberries," she says. "It's only six to eight months of the year (when you don't have them) and it makes them special."
Brett is doing more than paying lip service to the cause. Owner of the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder, she has added what may be the first outside-the-classroom program to incorporate the concept of farm-to-table training for would-be chefs. Students will spend five weeks outside the classroom, first in the North Fork Valley, then working at Leroux Creek Inn Bed and Breakfast and Winery near Hotchkiss, then going to Sustainable Settings, a 250-acre nonprofit center and ranch in Carbondale that teaches sustainability.
When Brett took an exploratory trip to the North Fork Valley, "I was met with such excitement and enthusiasm about moving the farmers' vision into the restaurants."
Students will help with winemaking, cheesemaking, learning about soil and composting, harvesting and preparing menus from what they've gathered.
"We're a cooking school, not a farming school, but the experience is going to make these students aware of where the food comes from. (They'll gain) an in-depth knowledge of soil and what it takes to put those ingredients on the plate."
Back in Boulder County, they'll "get steeped in where food comes from" at various farms, with a community dinner at the end. Brett says the program will have lasting benefits.
"It's multilayered because it's going to affect consumers and the community, and I think these students will wind up being ambassadors for dealing respectfully with food."
The local push helps farmers who at one time might have had to abandon their livelihood because they weren't able to produce enough for the wholesale market. But, she says, "by selling to restaurants and the public, a lot of them have turned around."
Not so many years ago, "eating local" meant heading out for McDonald's up the street. But now consumers are tuning in. "It's not going to be overnight, but it's exciting to be part of it."
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
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