Passion Fuels Growth in Culinary Arts and Business Management

As a teenager, I never made the connection that I could to pursue something like cooking as a career choice, let alone, go to school to become a chef. It was complete happenstance that I stumbled into the kitchens at New York City College of Technology, City University of New York (CUNY), in May of 1983.

Accompanying a friend who was planning to attend the school that fall, I fell in love with the kitchens and signed up that day for the program.

Far and away the most important ingredient for success is Passion. Being an educator has been a blessing for me. I love the challenge of taking students who have limited skill sets and developing them into award-winning culinarians.

The most important misconception about being a chef is it is all about culinary skill. Yes, we call it culinary arts but what we do is commerce — it is business, and you need a management degree for this. I love to observe the growth of students. I teach the freshman culinary lecture class and then the senior capstone class, so I see their growth over four semesters.

I inspire my students to embark on a journey of self-improvement; aspiring to be bigger, stronger and faster everyday in their professional and personal lives. As a young culinarian, I did not journal my experiences so I lost the ability to reflect back on the knowledge I learned, the challenges I overcame and the positives I developed. I routinely assign all of my students a journaling assignment now.

During the pandemic I was asked over and over again if this industry would recover. There were those that said it would take years. I believed it would not only be among the first industry to re-establish and thrive, but that it would do so at historic levels. We are seeing that now — tremendous growth and opportunity. Tons of great jobs, with higher pay.

It has never been a better time to be a chef, pastry chef or hospitality professional!