CIC Chef Instructor Ward Morgan and CIC Adjunct Instructor Simon Andrews Attend Wisconsin Dairy and Cheese Making Symposium

Chefs Morgan and Andrews recently participated in the Wisconsin Dairy and Cheese Making Symposium put on by the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. Their educational trip was very similar to the one that Chef Stefanelli was privileged to take in May. 

Above left: robot that removes each plank of washed rind cheese, washes it, and puts it back in a new spot. Right: bars of Limburger cheese. This is the only place that it is made in the United States.



Above left and right: Rounds of Swiss, Gruyère, and Appenzeller cheese in the aging cheese at Emi-Roth Cheese Company, a Swiss-owned cheese maker in Monroe, Wisconsin. The CIC uses their Gruyère.

To the left: the silos hold dairy ingredients for the Mystic Valley Dairy Farm in Sauk City, Wisconsin.

Celebrate the Heritage of the Eastside Community and the 50th Anniversary of the Former C.A. Brown High School at Palmer Campus

Palmer Campus will celebrate the heritage of the Eastside Community and the 50th anniversary of the former C.A. Brown High School as part of Spirit Week, Oct. 22-26. Highlighting the week will be a parade and special presentation from the Preservation Society of Charleston to the former C.A. Brown High School on the campus’s Eastside Day on Thursday, Oct. 25.

The week will kick off with the campus’s safety awareness campaign, followed by the Begin with Books Kickoff on Monday, Oct. 22. On Tuesday, Oct. 23, scholars and community leaders will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the book “Between the Tracks: Charleston’s East Side” and talk about new ways to look at the history and heritage of the Eastside Community. The campus’s green initiative will be introduced on Wednesday, Oct. 24, followed by a C.A. Brown High vs. Burke High Alumni basketball game in the evening at Mall Park.

On Thursday, Oct. 25, Eastside Day will start with a parade beginning on Nassau Street, near Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, traveling to South Street, America Street and ending on Columbus Street in front of the Palmer Campus. Immediately following the parade, the Preservation Society of Charleston will unveil a Civil Rights Historical Marker for the former C.A. Brown High School, now the home of TTC’s Palmer Campus. The unveiling ceremony will be followed by the Hampstead Park Celebration.

Friday will conclude all activities with a walking tour of the Eastside Neighborhood, including a visit to the Eastside Neighborhood Association headquarters. Artwork by students, faculty, staff and members of the community will also be on display all week in various locations at the Palmer Campus.

CIC Chef Instructor Kevin Mitchell a Return Guest Chef at Jacksonville Black Expo

Thomas Media Group, LLC, publishers of the Black Pages USA directories, has successfully promoted minority business expositions for the past thirteen years. Known as “Black Expo,” the one-day event has been held in Columbia, S.C. (thirteen years),Charleston, S.C. (eleven years), Jacksonville, FL (nine years) attracting over 800 exhibitors and 85,000 visitors. The year 2011 marked the inaugural year for the Upstate Black Expo targeting Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C. This concept was taken from Black Expo USA which was a national event that traveled the country and no longer exists. Black Expo is the largest event of its kind directly targeting the African-American community.

The purpose of the Black Expo is to promote economic development through increased exposure for minority-owned businesses. African-American owned businesses have the opportunity to showcase their products and services to the public and procurement officers from major corporations and government entities. It is also an opportunity for major corporations and government entities to develop viable working relationships with minority-owned businesses while marketing their products and services to a growing consumer market. The Expo is also a forum to educate, enlighten and inspire the entire community and the African-American community in particular. Aside from economic development, exposure to cultural resources is a part of the focus for this event.

Blake Hallman, instructor in CIC's Department of Hospitality and Tourism, featured in TTC's Career Spotlight

We found out that the piece in TTC 's Career Spotlight was part of The Post and Courier's weekly Career Center page. It also featured a picture of Stephen Reyes (below), a CIC student working for the Hotel Operations Certificate and an interview by Hospitality and Tourism Department Chair Patricia Agnew. Congrats, team!

These are some of the questions that were asked of Mr. Hallman.

Q. What is a hotel manager? What does a hotel manager do?

A. A hotel manager is the person responsible for the final decision making for all aspects of the hotel: operations, financial and marketing. He or she is responsible for measuring the success of the property's policies and procedures through financial reports, room occupancy, revenue per available room and guest comments. The hotel manager leads and motivates the management team, typically through daily meetings. He or she also helps set the tone for the hotel's operations.

Q. How do you get started in a career as a hotel manager?

A. The path to the hotel manager's position may vary: some attain the position without an education after working for a hotel for multiple years and having mastered most if not all of the department positions. Those managers who show a strong understanding of the financial side of the operation may be able to speed up the climb to the hotel manager's office. Education can also expedite the process. Hospitality schools, such as the Culinary Institute of Charleston, offer specific career paths that focus on hotel management. There is even a six-class hotel management certificate option that allows those currently in the industry to focus on key hotel concepts while working full time at a hotel. With the hotel industry's focus upon technology, the more education a hotel manager can get on the subject, the better prepared he or she will be.

Q. What advice would you give to someone considering a career in this field?

A. The first step should be to work in a hotel to confirm that you love the industry, then add to that with a two- or four-year degree, preferably in hospitality or business. Tons of baby boomers will soon be retiring, opening up more job positions than ever. Those jobs will go to those best suited for the position. Education and experience are the key to success.

For more information about this program, call 843.820.5090, or visit the Culinary Institute of Charleston online.

CIC Grad Benjamin Dennis IV Featured in City Paper

Chef BJ Dennis Delves into His People's Gullah Geechee Past to Inspire His Future

October 10, 2012  By Stephanie Barna

"As a kid growing up near West Ashley's historic Maryville neighborhood, BJ Dennis (that is, Benjamin Dennis IV) had no idea there was anything special about the area. He was clueless to the fact that it was a historic place where local blacks established a town in 1886, named after an educator and leader named Mary Mathews Just. Maryville was the first model of black self government in South Carolina.

"He didn't know much about Gullah Geechee either, the nation of West Africans that grew a unique culture on American soil. As far as he knew, he was just a regular Charleston kid growing up in a neighborhood that, he says, wasn't ghetto but was definitely hood."

Read the rest of Ben's story of his life through the trenches, as he gets his culinary degree at CIC, and the journey that eventually takes him back to his roots. "At his Sunday pop-up dinners at the Butcher & Bee he's found an eager audience for his purloos and okra soup, including food critic Jeffrey Steingarten, who gave him a mention in his big Vogue story on Sean Brock. 'He called my food "exceedingly savory",' says Dennis, obviously stunned and thrilled by the unexpected attention. Right now, he says, 'I'm just riding the wave to see where it takes me.' Ultimately, he thinks his future is turning diners on to the true Lowcountry cuisine that people, particularly the Gullah Geechee, eat at home. 'That's my biggest challenge," he says, "bringing it back.'" http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/chef-bj-dennis-delves-into-his-peoples-gullah-geechee-past-to-inspire-his-future/Content?oid=4202012 photo credit: Jonathan Boncek.

What Happens When Two CIC Alums Go Face to Face in an Iron Chef!

 

L - R: Chefs Karut and Ondo

Chef Eric Huff



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On September 28th, two CIC alums were pitted against each other in the Southern Living Taste of Charleston Iron Chef Competition. On one side, Lana Restaurant Chef John Ondo (CIC) and Graze restaurant Chef Michael Karkut. On the other, Burwell's Stone Fire Grill Chef Eric Huff (CIC) and Poogan's Porch Chef Daniel Doyle. Ondo and Karkut took the title, but we're told it was a great battle! For the deets, read the Post and Courier account below.

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20120929/PC16/120929134/iron-chef-competition-showcases-local-kitchen-creativity