181 Palmer Makes the 50 Foodie Faves List in Charleston Magazine!

In its December Food & Wine issue, Charleston Magazine selected 50 categories for the city's "Foodie Faves." Only in operation for two years, 181 Palmer has already made its mark, taking a spot on the list as "Best Bang for the Buck:"

"A three-course lunch served by a well-trained staff in a modern dining room—all for just $15? That earns an “A” in our book. Under chef/instructor Scott Stefanelli, the student-run restaurant at the Culinary Institute of Charleston’s downtown campus gives diners an opportunity to “splurge” on smart American cuisine while allowing students hands-on experience. Dates fluctuate with the semester, and reservations are required. Culinary Institute of Charleston, 66 Columbus St., (843) 820-5087, 181palmer@tridenttech.edu "

www.http://www.charlestonmag.com/charleston_magazine/feature/181_palmer

CIC at Palmer Wins Architectural Woodworking Institute’s Award of Excellence

LS3P ASSOCIATES LTD., architects for both The Culinary Institute of Charleston's Main and Palmer Campuses, reports that the Palmer Campus won the Architectural Woodworking Institute’s Award of Excellence and was featured on the cover of its magazine. To see the online copy, go to:
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sheridan/designsolutions_2010summer/#/0
“Flip” the pages to page 10. Click on the page to zoom in and out.

Retail Bakeshop Final Projects

Chef Vagasky's Retail Bakeshop class created their final projects: Yum Yum's Cakes and Cones, Divine Decadents, and Rolling Dough: A Bagel Moment.

CIC Alumni Party

Mrs. Buzzelli's Catering Management Class hosted a party for CIC alums on Nov. 17th at 181 Palmer. There was a nice turnout for heavy hors d'ouevers, wine, beer, and a cocktail created especially for the event.

All grads are requested to contact us so that we can place you on our grads' map:
http://www.tridenttech.edu/culinary_institute_of_charleston_grads.htm. We need your name, place where you work, position, work address and work phone number. Send to: marion.sullivan@tridenttech.edu

CIC's Eli Battle Selected as One of the New TTC Student Ambassadors

TTC has selected 10 students who will represent the college as student ambassadors for the 2010-2011 academic school year. (See CIC student Eli Battle top row, right end.) These students will assist the Recruiting department by giving campus tours, making presentations to prospective students, visiting high schools and helping with special events.

Ambassadors offer prospective students information from another student’s viewpoint and must meet certain qualifications to represent the college. The selection process included meeting academic criteria, submitting an application with an essay and undergoing an interview process.

Asheville Farm To Plate Class Field Trip 2010

We love all of Asheville, but it is our hosts really make our Asheville field trip great. We select them because of their committment to local products and sustability. We'd like to give them a special thanks, taking it from the top:

The Biltmore Estate: Touring the magnificent home, grounds, and winery is a special treat.

The Corner Kitchen restaurant: Chef/co-owner Joe Scully not only cooked marvelous local-sourced dishes for us, he walked us through the domain of everything he serves us.

Jamie Adger showed us the ins and outs of raising pastured pork and chickens on his Hickory Gap Farm, which supplies Asheville's best restaurants.

Jennifer Thomas welcomed us into her Montford Walk-In Bakery for a warm lesson on her special multi-grain sourdough made completely with wild yeast.
Chef/owner William Dissen, a long-ago Magnolias alum, gave us a great supper at The Market Place, Asheville's original farm-to-plate restaurant.

Jael and Dan Rattigan showed us local sourcing in their fine art of chocolate making and pastries at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge.

And Justus Orchards in Hendersonville sent us home with a van full of mountain apples.

Thanks to Dodie Stephens at the Asheville Chamber and Peter Marks at the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project for helping us meet all of these fine folks. We can't wait to come back!

German Chocolate Cakes Galore!

CIC's Baking and Pastry Co-Ordinator Chef Berndt Gronert's Thursday afternoon Cake Decorating and Finishing Techniques had an afternoon of German chocolate cakes yesterday. Lucky Bake Sale attendees may be able to snag one of these towering marvels!

Chef Morgan Demonstrates Pumpkin Carving for Post & Courier Video

Chef Instructor Ward Morgan set up in the Patrick Ringwald Memorial Garden Monday to make a video for the Post & Courier on pumpkin carving. The newspaper is featuring readers' pictures of their carved pumpkins and wanted a how-to to accompany them.

To see the video:

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/food/

Happy Halloween!

Chef Gronert's Cake Decorating Class Makes Lutetia Tortes

CIC's Baking and Pastry Co-Ordinator Chef Berndt Gronert's Thursday afternoon Cake Decorating and Finishing Techniques class presented five perfect Lutetia Tortes at class end today.

The Lutetia is constructed from three layers of walnut genoise. There is one filling of Crème Chantilly and one of raspberry purée and soft chocolate ganache. The torte is covered with finishing chocolate ganache, which gives it its shine.



Look for the Lutetia Tortes in the Friday Bake Sale!

Students Get Ready for HCSA Booths at Taste of Charleston

CIC students in Chef Alexander's bakeshop are making pretzels for the HCSA booth at this Sunday's Taste of Charleston at Boone Hall Plantation. In addition, Chef Vagasky will be making Chef William Stacks' signaiture shrimp and grits. The weather is looking good, so don't miss it!
http://www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com/taste_of_charleston.php

CIC Students Assist Chef Sean Brock at Outstanding in The Field

On Sunday, September 26th, CIC Culinary Chair Michael Carmel, Adjunct Instructor John Evans, students Joann Cooke and Ashlee Washington joined Chef Sean Brock and the team from McCrady's restaurant at Thornhill Farm for an afternoon with the Outstanding in the Field organization.

"Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls. Since 1999 we have set the long table at farms or gardens, on mountain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occasionally the table is set indoors: a beautiful refurbished barn, a cool greenhouse or a stately museum. Wherever the location, the consistent theme of each dinner is to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table.

"Ingredients for the meal are almost all local (sometimes sourced within inches of your seat at the table!) and generally prepared by a celebrated chef of the region. After a tour of the site, we all settle in: farmers, producers, culinary artisans, and diners sharing the long table. Our mission is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it."
http://outstandinginthefield.com/

The Hospitality and Culinary Student Association Site is now up and running on my.tridenttech.edu

Go to the HCSA Group page under Clubs and Organizations. If you have joined HCSA, you will have access to the Group Site. If you have not joined, you will need to click on Request to Join before you will be able to access the site.
The HCSA home page has a list of all the events upcoming for HCSA under Announcements. You can sign up to volunteer or participate in any of the Club’s events by clicking on the Event Announcement. At the bottom of the home page is the HCSA Semester Calendar. You can see the date & time for all semester activities, and you can click on each event in the calendar to get more information. Right now we are taking nominations for 2011 President and Vice President, volunteers for the Taste of Charleston and Iron Chef, and applications for the Farm to Plate field trip.

Mr. Hallman and Chef Alexander Featured in Fall "Sizzle"

In the fall 2010 ACF magazine"Sizzle," an article on mentoring titled "Learning from Experience" features two CIC instructors, Hospitality Instructor Blake Hallman and Culinary Chef Instructor Jeff Alexander.
"According to Mr. Hallman, the whole idea of mentoring is to put somebody new with someone with experience. 'A smart person learns from another person's successes and failures. I think a mentor is responsible for making sure students recognize what will be required of them in the real world.'" ... '"We try to let students know what the industry is like and what to expect, and not just the skill set they need to learn in class,'" says Hallman. "I tell students 'I do not plan to train you to be a manager, but rather as a leader.'"
For quotes from Chef Alexander and other industry leaders, see: http://www.sizzle-digital.com/sizzle/fall2010#pg12

Beautiful lemon meringue tarts and raspberry cupcakes were just two of the divine items that were offered in today's Bake Sale. CIC Chef Instructor David Vagasky and his Retail Bakeshop class put these on weekly - and always sell out! For the Bake Sale schedule, see the "Coming Soon" column on the left.

Chef Mitchell Works on Chef Brock's Team at The Charleston Wine + Food Festival's Ultimate Critics Dinner

According to Charleston Magazine's Social Columnist, Reese Moore: "Gourmands who attended the Ultimate Critics Dinner at the Cottages on the Charleston Harbor truly experienced a night to remember. The event featured capanés and a five-course tasting menu prepared by seven local chefs, selected by Charleston food critics as the best culinarians of 2010, and was hosted by Mickey Bakst of the Charleston Grill." The event raised almost $20,000 for the Festival's 2011 charity, Lowcountry Local First.
For more, go to: http://www.charlestonmag.com/party_scene/blog/ultimate_critics_dinner