Manitoba Chamber of Commerce
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/141831
paterson globalfoods The kitchen is the classroom for student chefs at Paterson GlobalFoods Institute. Photos courtesy of Red River College The Culinary Exchange is a cafeteria-style restaurant that serves RRC students and the general public seven days a week. Students in their final semester work at the more exclusive Jane's, an upscale restaurant that's already earned a reputation for sumptuous fare and excellent service. With its ornate ceilings, original marble and air of Old World opulence, the 90-seat restaurant – named for Paterson GlobalFoods owner Andrew Paterson's mother — is a worthy setting for its mouthwatering menu options. Think smoked bison carpaccio with celery-root rémoulade and black-raisin coulis, or panseared, wild-caught walleye on zucchini risotto with tomato confit. Diners can watch students prepare meals in the open kitchen and even interact with them as they cook. "The students get to practise the skills they're learning in a real-world environment, with the instructor there to make sure the product they're putting out to the public is as good as it can be," Müller says. "They're cooking live all the time – it's not just somewhere where it's on your own time and if you mess it up, you mess it up. Every day, it's, 'I've got a customer waiting and they can see what I am doing.' " Jane's daily specials are developed by the student chef of the day. He or she creates the recipes, requisitions ingredients, teaches fellow students how to cook the dish and handles the presentation. "That's their exam for the day. The testing happens on a daily basis here," Müller says. Besides working in the open restaurant kitchens, learning kitchens and classrooms, the budding chefs provide meals for the 92-bed student residence on the institute's upper floors. Culinary arts student Graham Blom, whose firstyear classes include business communications and menu development, says the hands-on experience is invaluable preparation for a career in the food and hospitality business. "It gives us all the foundation that we'll need in the industry — not just cooking but also management skills and all the personal skills you might not realize you need," he says. And since Blom wants a career that will let him travel, it's a bonus that those skills are portable. "Culinary is very universal – you can go anywhere in the world and find good food, so it's a really transferable skill set." Müller says the school's state-of-the-art facilities give students the best of everything a chef could want in a kitchen. "We have all the equipment that's new and exciting, everything that opens and shuts – all of the things that they might never actually see in a real restaurant," he says. "We might be spoiling them, but they also leave here very well prepared for the industry." RRC is embarking on a full renewal of the program, working with experts in the industry to make sure the curriculum covers skills that reflect new and emerging trends. "I always say industry is my primary customer," Müller says. "I'm really preparing a commodity for the industry. We need to prepare the students for what they're going to meet once they're out there." www.rrc.mb.ca "CULINARY IS VERY UNIVERSAL – YOU CAN GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AND FIND GOOD FOOD, SO IT'S A REALLY TRANSFERABLE SKILL SET." SUMMER 2013 MBiz June 2013_final.indd Sec2:o 'peg BIZ | 15 6/21/13 4:48:42 PM