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You’ve been watching over a new generation of culinary professionals, young chefs in the making, here in Charlotte for the past few years. Are you seeing any signs of their impact on the area’s dining scene, and what should we look for from them in the near future?
Students and graduates are having a tremendous impact on the Charlotte dining scene. New restaurants of different cuisines are popping up all over the area, bringing in the opportunity for the students, graduates and new culinary professionals to excel in many different areas in the kitchen.
With time, I look for this new generation of professionals to develop their own philosophy on food and their individual style of cooking. Using their ability to take food to a new level and with their new found knowledge, to pass that on to the generations following them.
What are some of the new food trends you see heading our way, both in restaurants and also in the markets? What should our readers be looking for if they want to expand their food and palate awareness?
New trends in food? WOW! I am constantly surprised by the innovation of both young and experienced chefs. The availability of foods today from all over the world is almost infinite, allowing creativity of the chef to search for new ideas.
Right now the new buzzword is “organic,” which to me isn’t new but rather going back to the old days of farming with a sort of monitoring system. Food trends? The population is better educated on food than ever before. Some want foods that are organically grown and low fat, yet I see steakhouses selling a lot of USDA Prime steaks too!
Food trends constantly change; what’s hot today is gone tomorrow but could be back again soon. I see comfort foods as a constant trend but served at new levels with a twist. More and more chefs today are working hard to find the freshest food possible and cooking it to maintain its natural flavor without changing its integrity. In other words, “keeping it simple”.
People with a love for food have so much available to them with which to continue their passion, including weekend courses offered by our schools, the internet food channels, magazines and a couple of books I have read recently; “The Gospel of Food” and “Omivore’s Dilemma.”
We can read, we can watch food being prepared, but to expand your palate, you need to eat it! Be curious; try new foods and cooking techniques along with the foods you are comfortable with.
There is a great deal of talk now about the ethical implications of food and eating, including how it is grown and raised, where we buy it, and the role and social responsibilities of the chef or culinary professional. How are you dealing with these issues with your students, and what kind of impact is realistic on the individual, local, and global stages?
There is not just one class in the CPCC curriculum that addresses the current food safety and economic issues; instead, the issue is brought up in the context of the many phases of kitchen operations. The issue of farm-to-fork safety is addressed within our Safety and Sanitation classes, and in part and parcel in our kitchen labs. The economic, ethical, and environmental issues are addressed within the context of our purchasing, costing and food science classes.
Within the framework of the program students are exposed not only to the nuts and bolts of cooking, they’re also encouraged to use critical thinking skills. They read about the history of foods, where and how foods arrive for final kitchen preparations and what type of economic impact those purchasing decisions have not only within their operation, but for their local and regional areas as well.
Charlotte suddenly has three good-sized, excellent culinary schools (and many high schools are also offering culinary education courses and vocational training). Is this career option something that is growing? Are there enough students to go around, and where will all the teachers come from?
Charlotte is growing by leaps and bounds in the food service industry. From restaurants, caterers, corporate and private chefs and large institutions, the food service industry is second for career opportunities behind the U.S. government. People eat out more than they eat at home.
I am very excited to see how many high schools have included and expanded their culinary curriculum. In particular, I am amazed at how the Community Culinary School of Charlotte (formally Charlotte Community Kitchen) has grown since its inception in 1998. They have developed into a full-scale culinary training facility offering a certificate program for those unemployed and underemployed.
I’ve been teaching at CPCC in Charlotte for 20 years. People are constantly calling looking for students to work. Since Johnson & Wales and the Art Institute have come to Charlotte, the restaurant scene has just exploded here. All the schools provide a well-trained student not only to provide them with jobs but also to allow the employers to hire a pool of better-trained staff, which is a jump-start for the rate of success of their business! Charlotte is growing so fast that I suspect all of our culinary schools graduates will have no problem finding employment.
I am very proud to say that recently we have hired two full time chef instructors; one a CPCC graduate and one a graduate of the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Both chefs have worked many years in the industry, are extremely talented and are looking forwarded to sharing their knowledge with the students. Culinary school graduates that have spent time in the industry learning from other chefs and developing their own style who want to come back and pass that knowledge on are a great pool for excellent instructors. (Not to mention how proud you are to see that once “the student” has now become “the teacher”.
Another great resource for instructors would be the tremendous networking system through the American Culinary Federation. The ACF is the only association that provides chef certifications (on 14 levels). Currently they have 18,000 members in 240 chapters across the nation and are members of WACS (The World Association of Chefs Societies), which consists of 72 chefs associations globally; now that’s a network to pull from!
This is a cheesy question, but people always want to know this: where do you like to go out to eat—and why (you can name names or just generalities—it’s up to you)? What do you look for in a restaurant and what do you think makes a place, whether inexpensive or high end, the kind of place you’d return to and recommend to others?
I can’t tell you how many times I get asked that question. Charlotte is so spread out, with so many great places to eat. There are so many things that come into mind, like what am I in the mood for or how much money I have in my pocket, which determines the mood I can afford. I can tell you this much, some of the best food I’ve had has come from our school’s kitchen. Made-from-scratch bread, piping hot right-out-of-the-oven fresh rolls, or a sauce that’s just been finished to perfection; that’s tough to beat!
If I am looking for a good hot dog, I may check out Matt’s Chicago Dog or the Double Door or Green’s [Lunch for a] chilidog. For a good burger, I’d cruise over to the Penguin and add a side of fried pickles or maybe go to Five Guys. Pizza? Definitely Portofino’s or Anzi. Where’s the beef, you ask? I’ve found a great Pittsburgh Black and Blue Ribeye at the Palm, but Sullivan’s comes in a close second; I love my beef done right! Occasionally, I’ll take the missus on the town for a fine dining experience and it’s usually Zebra or Noble’s, but we really are more grazing kinda people, so Thomas Street Tavern or Kristopher’s would be a more casual choice. Shun Lee [Palace] would be the Chinese cuisine of choice, and for breakfast it would be a toss-up between Courtney’s and Eddie’s Place. It’s really hard to say because there are so many choices.
My favorite place to eat is my own back yard. Our friends bring over their dishes and I might throw something on the BBQ and sip a cold beer--life is good!
When I look at a restaurant, I start with the parking lot and the building. Is it clean? Have the owners made the effort to make, my first impression impressive? SERVICE! SERVICE! SERVICE! You can have great food but if the service is bad the success of that restaurant is in serious trouble. A lot of potentially good restaurants have failed simply because they put very little effort into service.
I like food that is simple and direct. No long descriptions where I feel like I am reading a novel instead of a menu. HOT FOOD HOT - - COLD FOOD COLD. Give me good, non-pretentious service, good food in a clean environment at a fair price, have some fun, and I’ll be back.
~ Peter Reinhart |
