The Culinary Institute at Carolina Big Trouble at The Culinary

Of course it is the kind of trouble everyone in foodservice wants to have: too many customers. We began a new class in January with 20 students, with more on the waiting list then we have ever had. When you have that many students and one Chef/ instructor all in a kitchen designed for 12, you can imagine the kind of territorial battle for working space that will happen. Even with the redesigned kitchen classroom and the new stainless steel from floor to ceiling we have out grown our space. The silver lining in all this, even with all the uncertainty in the finance world, the culinary arts are as strong as ever. As a side note, the next class beginning in July is already full and the next class beginning January 2010 is filling quickly.

We welcome Chef Dave Grillo as a new instructor in the Soup, Stocks, and Sauce class. Dave stirred things right in with rewriting the syllabus with more focus on classic sauces and knife skills. I notice some students already complaining about the cooks’ callous from holding their Chef’s knife correctly, go figure. We also have the pleasure of welcoming back Chef Ed Chinners CEC, CCA. He has just finished taking the students on an around the world trip in International Cuisine featuring dishes from every region of the world. Chef Chinner’s practical was a two-hour, on your own, culinary test topped off with wine parings from 7 different countries, I wonder how the wine from Romania tasted? I wish to thank US Foodservice for allowing some of our students to help with their recent food show, as well as the ACF Midlands Chapter for allowing 6 students to help with the culinary competition. The Culinary looks forward to many partnering opportunities in the future.

I wish to welcome in advance all alumni of The Culinary Institute at Carolina to an alumni reception hosted by McCutcheon house and The ACF Midlands Chapter on May 4th. I hope you all will be able to visit the new kitchen classroom and hear of all the future improvements planned for the program. Information will be mailed to you in the next coming weeks.

by
John Lindower Interim Director
The Culinary Institute at Carolina