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The Culinary Arts Academy of Glencliff High School Gathers Promising Student-Chefs Under the Guidance of Chef Mary Campbell CCC - CCE
Nashville, TN, Feb 28, 2006– The syllabus is 25 pages long, and is as comprehensive a guide to training chefs as is possible. Its a three year program, which if followed, will graduate a student as a certified ACF Cook with over 200 hours of on the job training. The first paragraph of the syllabus starts out:
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Chef Campbell has been a member of the MTC-ACF for as long as anyone can remember, and for all that time, she has been training up and coming students at the Glencliff Culinary Arts Program. Now is an exciting time in our profession. Interest in food and cooking has never been stronger, and the growth in career opportunities and earning potential has followed suit. Who is leading the way? Who are the future chefs, pastry chefs, restaurateurs, cookbook authors, food journalists, educators, and media professionals? We think Glencliff students figure prominently among them. They will build their success on the foundation of skills and knowledge they acquired at the Culinary Arts Academy at Glencliff .Chef Campbell has brought together an Advisory Committee which include numerous members from the Middle Tennessee Chapter in order to expedite the interest in her Academy. She is asking this committee to help her refine the program and most importantly of all, help her reach into the 8th and 9th graders and recruit any who want to explore this profession. Mary identifies her biggest problem as that of the school guidance programs to consider the culinary program as a catch-all for students that havn't chosen a direction or interest in their life. Her point is well taken, but there is a tremendous pressure on guidance councilors to direct students into a college prep track. So, there is an image problem... students need to learn that the culinary profession is as honorable, lucrative and esteemable as any college program. That is where her Advisory Board wants to help. To present this profession as a viable life path which will support a family, create a comfortable living and bring dreams to fruit.The Academy at Glencliff is in partnership with local businesses, professional culinary organizations, and the Metro Nashville Board of Education in order to provide excellence in training. Students are given state-of-the-art instruction and hands-on training in pursuit of their career. Recently, the Glencliff kitchen was outfitted with all new cooking equipment, and the preparation areas and classroom areas are very well suited as an educational kitchen. Glencliff was the first High School program in the Southeastern region to be validated by the ACF, and is proud of that fact. The program is created with contributions from the National Restaurant Association, Tennessee Hospitality Education Center, SkillsUSA-VICA, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Hospitality Business Alliance.
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How Much Do Chefs Really Make?
Celebrities Aside, The Short Answer Is: Less Than You Might Think. By Judith Weinraub
When 20-year-old Jacques Van Staden left his native South Africa for Washington in 1990 to become a chef, he had to sell his car to pay the airfare. Sixteen years later, he is making $140,000 plus a percentage of the profits of a restaurant group and is executive chef at its award-winning Alize restaurant in Las Vegas. His success is a result of talent and hard work -- and his move to Nevada didn't hurt, either. Higher salaries, more opportunities, and in some cases union benefits are luring top chefs to the casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Average salaries there -- $85,000 a year for a chef and $14 an hour for line cooks, the people who make the food that gets sent out to diners -- are the highest in the country, according to a recent salary survey by StarChefs.com. Even the prestige of the White House pastry kitchen wasn't enough to keep Thaddeus Dubois in Washington. Although Dubois said money wasn't the only reason, he recently left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and a $120,000 salary to return to his former employer and the prospect of working at a luxury hotel and casino being built in Las Vegas. Although Washington restaurants are among some of the finest and priciest in the nation, chefs' salaries here are actually below national norms. The average salary for an executive chef here is $71,666, according to a recent salary survey by StarChefs.com. The national average is $75,596, according to estimates by the online industry magazine. Locally, the range for line cooks is somewhere between $12 to $15 an hour, chefs and restaurateurs say. "I have some cooks who have to work two jobs," says Ann Cashion, the chef and co-owner of Cashion's Eat Place in Adams Morgan and Johnnie's Half Shell on P Street. "It's very common." When Van Staden started out, he wasn't even making that much. He manned the overnight guard station at the South African Embassy, helped out in the kitchen and mowed suburban lawns to afford tuition to culinary school. Over time he became chef at several posh Washington restaurants and hotels. But he wanted his own restaurant, and eventually became the chef and co-owner of Cafe Ole, a thriving but modest mezze place on Wisconsin Avenue NW. He paid himself $30,000 a year. Almost overnight, he tripled that salary in 2000 when he became executive chef at the Aladdin Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. Since then, his stature has continued to rise -- and with it, his income. Washington's $71,666 average isn't enough to keep sought-after chefs where they are or to lure hot young chefs either, local restaurateurs say. "It takes more than that to get good talent," says Ashok Bajaj, who runs a small empire of restaurants in Washington. "There are certainly chefs in this area in the six-figure range," says Dan Mesches, president of the Star Restaurant Group. The group, with Guest Services Inc., recently hired Bryan Moscatello, one of Food & Wine Magazine's 2003 Best New Chefs in America, to be executive chef at the new Indigo Landing restaurant on Daingerfield Island. Even so, owners say, salaries are limited by the revenue of a restaurant -- about 3.2 percent profit on checks that exceed $25, according to the National Restaurant Association. Hotel restaurants tend to have more financial leeway: "We pay whatever it takes," says Michel Morauw, general manager of the Park Hyatt Washington. The Park Hyatt has kept its top chef, Brian McBride, on the payroll since closing its Melrose restaurant last July. It also paid all of McBride's expenses while he conducted research in Europe and Asia for the Park Hyatt's new restaurant, Blue Duck Tavern, which is scheduled to open May 22. But even with its better pay, many cooks and chefs don't like the corporate world. They prefer the closer relationships they have with the food and the customers in more traditional restaurant settings. - MORE COOKS THAN CHEFS Not everybody in a restaurant kitchen is entitled to be called "chef." Most people there are cooks who are paid by the hour: the ones just starting out; the ones with experience and more skills; and those in charge of specific areas (or stations) of the kitchen. In this area, line cooks make $12 to $15 in freestanding restaurants, and up to $18.50 in some hotels. Next are the sous-chefs -- a management level just under the chefs de cuisine (the creative boss) and the executive chef (the boss's boss). Sous-chefs are paid an annual salary. What sous-chefs and chefs de cuisine earn varies, depending on the level of responsibility and the size and popularity of the restaurant. Full-time pastry chefs are sometimes paid on this basis as well -- and those who do average $50,581 nationally, according to the StarChefs.Com survey. Pastry chefs in Las Vegas make about $70,000 -- the highest in the country. - PAY LEVELS Executive chefs' salaries vary tremendously and are closely held. The StarChef survey of 2,000 chefs found that 12 percent of all executive chefs were paid more than $100,000 last year. After many years in the business, Susan McCreight Lindeborg was making $60,000 as executive chef at Majestic Cafe in Old Town Alexandria when it opened in May 2001 (she also had a small percentage of the partnership). Like other chef-owners, Jeff Tunks, the corporate chef of Passion Food Restaurants, and his two partners are paid a management fee based on the financial health of the restaurants. At Bob Kinkead's restaurants (Kinkead's in downtown D.C. and Colvin Run Tavern in Vienna), his chefs de cuisine are paid $60,000 to $70,000. But most cooks and chefs say the pay is hardly commensurate with their skill levels, the hours on their feet and the cost of living -- let alone the amount of stress. The help-wanted board at the professional culinary school, L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, last month listed a country club in Baltimore that was looking for an experienced executive sous-chef. The salary: $60,000. An inn in Talbot County was looking for a recent graduate to work side by side with the chef for $30,000. - PROFIT LEVELS Most restaurants have small profit margins: in 2004-05, table-service restaurants where the average check per person is $15 to $24.99 made 4 cents on the dollar, and the margin was less for more expensive restaurants, according to the National Restaurant Association. "It costs more money to produce higher-end food," explains Tracy O'Grady, chef and co-owner of Willow in Arlington. A chef's star power is a factor. Jose Andres (Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, Cafe Atlantico) is an officer in his company, Proximo Restaurants. He's also its executive chef, its public face and its chief creative officer -- and he has ownership in the business. In addition, he has his own program on Spanish national television. "We're in the process of renegotiating" his compensation, says Rob Wilder, Proximo's chief executive. - THE LURE OF LAS VEGAS Superstar chefs who have flocked to Las Vegas get much more, chefs say. "Las Vegas numbers are way above the ones here," says Fabio Trabocchi, executive chef at Maestro in the Ritz-Carlton at Tysons Corner. As for the executive chefs, "I think it would be safe for me to say that every chef out there is making more than any chef in this city -- probably several times more," says Kinkead, who was contacted about running one of the restaurants in the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City when the property was being developed. "Those restaurants essentially have a captive audience. . . . Butts in the seats are what anybody in the restaurant business really cares about." - LIFESTYLE BENEFITS Some cooks and chefs get benefits such as 401(k) retirement savings plans. But the really big issue is health care insurance. More established places do offer it -- in some cases to salaried employees and in others to their hourly workers as well. "Restaurants that are under 100 seats have a hard time coming up with the money," says Cashion, whose employees get health care coverage after one year. "It has nothing to do with whether they'd like to or not." What's particularly valued are lifestyle benefits, such as two days off a week. Another prized benefit is having a Friday or Saturday night off. Passion Food Hospitality provides a stipend to encourage each member of its culinary management team to sample food in other restaurants and to buy cookbooks or food magazines. - THE VALUE OF CULINARY SCHOOL There is little evidence that a culinary degree immediately pays off in higher salaries or better benefits, but some restaurateurs see a diploma as a sign of seriousness about the profession, Bajaj says. Culinary schools do what they can to present a realistic view of the industry. "I don't want anyone thinking they'll make Emeril Lagasse money on the way in," says Barbara Cullen, director of admissions of L'Academie de Cuisine. Most accredited culinary schools require an externship in a restaurant kitchen, which often leads to an entry-level job upon graduation. - JOB SATISFACTION As the number of restaurants in downtown Washington dramatically increased in the past few years, wages have crept up for cooks. One way of measuring that, says Lynn Breaux, president of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, is the increase in D.C. restaurant sales tax: from about $179 million in 2000 to $233 million in 2005. The growing number of restaurants has led to greater demand for cooks and chefs, and that, in turn, has boosted wages. "In the last couple of years, that's gone up considerably for a competent line cook," says Kinkead. "Five years ago they might have been paid $10 an hour. Now it's $12 to $15." Salaries have never been the big attraction for chefs. People who are going to stay in the industry for the long term are not doing it for the money, says Cashion. What keeps you at it, she says, is loving to do it and the satisfaction you get from preparing food for other people's enjoyment and your own. "I feel like I always have had a really high degree of satisfaction, day in and day out," Cashion adds. "We all know people who don't feel that way about their jobs."
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| 2006 AWARDS BANQUET
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What a spectacular night it was, as the chefs and business associates came together for our 28th annual Awards banquet at the Union Station Hotel on Jan 29th.
Chef Tom Cook and his staff hotel staff did a impressive job of impressing a room full of chefs, restauranteurs, and food service associates.
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The menu was spectacular, and the business of celebration and awards was transacted between courses.
Smoked Duck Breast with Foie Gras Ravioli and 25 yr Balsamic.
Lomi Lomi Salmon
with Pickled Lotus Root and Mizuma
Hoisin Glazed Short Ribs accompanied with Pureed Parsnips
Smores - a haut cuisine presentation
Our Award Winners:
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Chef of the Year 2005 - Rick Kahre |
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Nancy Campbell-
Elaine Taubin-
Hunters Lane High School Hospitality Award - 
Chef Debra Pacquette entertained the Chapter with her rendition of "wearing different hats as the chef/owner of your own restaurant".While Deb was entertaining, she was insightful as well, on the heights and pitfalls of this hospitality business we all believe in |
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Our Piano Player for Sunday was Bill Rankin.
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The evening ended with a great feeling of satisfaction, and everyone looking forward to next years event.
A Special Thanks to Union Station - General Manager Richard Marks and
Exec Chef Tom Cook
A word about Chef Tom Cook - coming to Nashville from Chicago origionally. Tom graduated from the American Culinary Academy in Lakeland Florida and spent time honing his skills at the Boca Raton Resort & Beach Club. Chef Cook spent time in Los Angeles with Mark Peel of Campanile Restaurant, then to Gaylord Opryland at the Old Hickory Steak House.
Tom tells us that Union Station is in the process of redecorating the Hotel, building new kitchens, and outfitting their new upscale casual restaurant. Expected to open the first part of June this year, it will seat 80 people and have a price point in the $20-30 per person. Of course Chef Tom won't divulge more details, but he does guarentee great food and excellence in culinary experiences.
CULINARY TOURISM
This article is a general overview of culinary tourism and why food, beverage and travel industry professionals need to pay attention to it. The content of the article is in two sections. The first section are the ideas of Culinary Tourism as presented by Erik Wolf and the International Culinary Tourism Association (ICTA).
The second section is a brief discussion of Nashville's Culinary Tourism as the editor of this newsletter percieves it.
Section 1
Culinary tourism is a new trend that unites the food, beverage and travel industries. While culinary tourism can be looked at as a tool for economic and community development, it's a sexy new concept that celebrates food and drink as the newest tourist attractions. Businesses stand to benefit as well. Today’s stark economic realities have beset the food, beverage and travel industries with unprecedented competition. Every aspect of a guest’s visit has been dissected in a desperate grasp at anything that will bring a competitive advantage. Cuisine has emerged as the sole component of the visitor experience that still holds potential for further development. Food and drink have the ability to positively impact a tourist’s experience and add to a company’s bottom line.
Why Culinary Tourism Matters…
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Culinary tourism as a niche is like where ecotourism was 20 years ago. Given the enormous interest, it’s poised to mushroom.
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Food seems like such a simple, insignificant part of the travel experience. Yet it involves all 5 senses and is the one thing that has the greatest chance to make a long lasting impact, influential or detrimental, on visitors.
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Nearly 100% of tourists dine out when traveling. Each dining opportunity is a chance to get to know local food and people.
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Unlike other travel activities and attractions, cuisine is available year-round, any time of day and in any weather.
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Think about it … culinary art is the only art form that speaks to all five human senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch).
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Cuisine is "experiential" as it satisfies new traveler demands for hands-on, interactive experiences.
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Dining is consistently one of the top 3 favorite tourist activities.
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Interest in cuisine in travel is not exclusive to a particular age, sex or ethnic group.
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The higher the dinner bill, the more likely the patrons are tourists.
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Culinary tourists are “explorers”. Cuisine offers a new discovery with every meal.
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Cuisine is an attraction that is available at any time of day, in any weather, even on holidays
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Culinary tourism can be a tool for economic and community development.
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Culinary Tourism is not pretentious or exclusive. It’s not just about restaurants that have earned 4 stars or better or exclusive wineries. Culinary Tourism is inclusive and represents any type of food, beverage and travel experience that is unique and memorable, no matter where it takes place.
Academician Lucy Long first coined the term “culinary tourism” in 1998 to express the idea of experiencing other cultures through food. Long is a professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Since then, food-beverage-hospitality professionals and the International Culinary Tourism Association have adopted the term and brought it into the mainstream. It is now part of the tourism industry.
Beyond Fine and Fancy
For many people, the first items that come to mind when they hear culinary tourism are wine and fancy restaurants. They think about connoisseurs and experts tasting and critiquing.
Wine and fancy restaurants are two of culinary tourism’s many facets, but that’s not typically to what we are referring. By definition, culinary tourism is not pretentious or exclusive. It includes any unique and memorable gastronomic experience—not just restaurants rated four stars or better—including both food and all types of beverages. For example, a unique and memorable culinary experience can be enjoying Coney Island hot dogs in New York, Cuban coffee in Miami, or a Rogue Ale in Newport, Oregon. Wine falls into wine tourism, and frequenting fancy restaurants would be gourmet tourism, two smaller subsets of culinary tourism.
Culinary tourism is important for many reasons. According to the U.S. National Restaurant Association, the Travel Industry Association of America and the Canadian TourismCommission, dining out is one of the most popular tourist activities. Consider that nearly 100% of tourists dine out while traveling and the message starts to sink in. Even culinary tourists cannot eat constantly. Tourists who are interested in wine/cuisine also show an affinity for museums, theater, shopping, music, film festivals and outdoor recreation. Business owners will appreciate the fact that the higher the total dinner bill, the more likely the patrons are tourists.
The concept of culinary tourism is as old as time. Thousands of years ago, merchants traveled the Seven Seas, looking for foodstuffs to trade. Spices, wine, fruits and olive oil were the currencies of yore. Today, we unwittingly do much the same. However, modern travelers tend to prefer restaurants and wineries in place of battered ships traversing pirate-infested trade routes.
Section II
When you think of Culinary Tourism, the Culinary Identity of New Orleans, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Miami are immediately obvious. A little less obvious are Albuquerque, Seattle, San Antonio, St. Louis, Memphis, Quebec, Baltimore, or Denver. But to "Foodies", these less obvious cities have a very distinct and appealing culinary tourism attraction. But what is the attraction of Nashville- do we have a culinary identity.
In the story of the World of Flavor Conference held at Greystone (above), it mentioned that they identified 12 hot spots of culinary interest and #12 was the American South- thats us folks. But still, does Nashville have an identity? Does it hold any facination for a Foodie? What is unique about the Nashville culinary landscape?
At first glance, Nashville is abundant in Chains. It is place after place of first generation chains like Fridays, Shoneys, Pizza Hut and IHOPS, second generation chains like Chilis, Applebees, Cracker Barrels, Outbacks, and Longhorns; third generation chains like P.F. Changs, Mortons, Romanos and Starbucks. Now the Fourth wave starts with Panera, Maggianos, Cheesecake Factory and on and on. Of course, this does not even consider the fast food industry. This is not a jab at Nashville alone. This unfortunately, has become the culinary identity of every medium or large metropolitan area.
Culinary Tourism starts in the independent restaurant sector - nobody ever flew to New Orleans to eat at Outback Steakhouse. It is the independent restauranteurs who attempt to take advantage of regional and local uniqueness, who try to buy local products and serve local tastes, they make up culinary identity. It is the independent restaurants that foster chefs and new ideas in the food world. Please know that this is not a backhanded slap at kitchen managers and chain chefs, because they can embody every bit of pride involved with the culinarian's code. Every cook and chef and kitchen manager and steward has my utmost respect. The job is hard and the people who do it are my people. I am one of them. I am just pointing out that the independent restaurants in a city are what define it's Culinary Identity and thus become the source of Culinary Tourism.
My dissapointment in Nashville stems from the fact that Nashvillians "like" the chain food so much, that they neglect the independent "culinary identity" restaurants, making survival a difficult fight. One could say that the independents just don't do as good a job as the chains, but that criticism sounds like a hollow justification for mediocre tastes of our populace. Truth is that independents have to work twice as hard as chains, just to keep their doors open.
One of the most successful independents I know swears that they run a non-profit corporation. This does not occur because of bad management, rather because they put every bit of pride and energy into buying the best raw materials, using the best preparation methods, and training and paying the best employees. Their chain competition are not constrained by those standards, thus the profit margin gets to the bottom line.
Nashvillians have an inferiority complex. They have always felt that the great food and good restaurants were someplace else, some other city. You have to fly to Chicago or New York or Frisco to find good restaurants. In a very consistant manner, Nashvillians have neglected the great gems in their own back yards while chasing someone else's idea of good food. Likewise, if your business comes from New York or New Orleans and opens a chain restaurant in Nashville, then you must know what good food is, so we will patronize them as well.
The answer to the question of Nashville's culinary tourism appeal is none, no, does not exist. If you see this as an insult, then you have missed the point. We are a city of great Music appeal. We live in a forest in some of the most beautiful country landscape in America. Our cultural heritage is genteel Southern. We live in an agricultural setting with a market for fresh produce. Our leading commodities are corn, pork, chicken, beef, wheat, tobacco, tomato and goats. What is the cuisine that we are known for? A better question, what should we known for?
Personally, I was very proud of Loveless Cafe, Macks, and Sweat's and Jimmy Kelly's restaurant as possible starting points for a culinary identity for Nashville.
This rambling has gone on to long, and a small book could be written on this subject, so I will end it now. Just one last thought.
It ticks me off that TGI Friday's is capitalizing on Jack Daniels Tennessee Sippin Whiskey, when Tennessee culinary traditions should have been building on that product. But hey, they thought of it and they used it for their promotion, so now, if Tennessee restaurants use Jack Daniels in their cooking, they can be just like TGI Fridays.
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