Happy (Belated) New Year, Culinarians!

Oof, this has been a busy year! We cannot believe that we are already two-thirds of the way through the school year! We have crammed so much into this short time and are having a blast doing it. In January, we got together as a department to celebrate the semester at our All Department meeting. This event brings all four classes together to bond, network, and learn about how Saint Paul College can help them as they spend their time here. We have a friendly competition between teams (this year, it was Culinary Scatergories!) and conduct our very moving Pinning Ceremony. This ceremony celebrates our students’ accomplishments as they move through our program by awarding a pin for each semester of classes completed, and we honor that with a lapel pin for their chef coats. Getting one pin is easy. Getting two pins is no small feat – that is a whole year of hard work done! Getting all three represents a major accomplishment and signifies that these students are in the upper class of the program. We are honored to celebrate with them. Now they have some hard-earned bling for their graduation gowns!

A Visit from Industry Partners – Rational USA:

We were thrilled to have our industry partners in the kitchen with us again. Rational USA’s corporate chef training team was on hand to hang out with students and offer guidance on how to use some of the more advanced features of our iCombi Cooking Centers. Students watched a fantastic breakfast cookery demonstration – one chef, making a breakfast buffet for 50 people in under 10 minutes with iProduction Manager. This is the future of our industry, and students at Saint Paul College get up close and personal with cutting edge kitchen technology. We know that these students will be the next generation of leaders in the foodservice industry. Arming them with experience in solving business problems with technology will make them capable, solution-driven food service operators.

Our chef partners from Rational USA also demonstrated their fantastic new banqueting system – another game changer for chefs in the catering industry. This system allows the seamless execution of banquets for hundreds of guests with minimal stress and heavily reduced labor requirements. The system increases efficiency and food safety as well, offering detailed data tracking that is downloadable for record keeping. Students “catered” a meal for themselves as part of our enrichment day – three different menu choices, 82 plates of food, all at the same time, all from the same iCombi unit, in 30 minutes. Impressive and delicious!

Pastry and Baking – Making Life Delicious:

Chef Ryan is taking the evening Pastry and Baking class by storm. Over the last month, he has been flexing BIG TIME by showing off his skills with laminated doughs, and classical French desserts. Some of our customers at the City View Grille have been lucky enough to join us on a day when these beauties are for sale. If they are offered, it is usually Thursdays, from 11:30am – 12:30pm, and depends on the schedule of the class. We try hard to share the pastry love with our customers, but students need to “educate their palates” too! Sometimes being a Pastry and Baking student is SO hard…

Soon, students will move into their specialty cakes unit. This is the time of year when we see gorgeous cakes, chocolate confiserie products, and sugar sculpture work coming out of our kitchen labs, as students move through their advanced pastry curriculum. These cakes are made available at our annual Cake Walk, a beloved feature at our Saint Paul College’s All-School Open House.

Visit Culinary Arts at Saint Paul College!

This year, the college wide Open House will be held on April 17th from 5pm – 7pm. This is your opportunity to see the whole college, learn about the admissions process, financial aid and more. PLUS – you could leave with a fabulous cake, designed by one of our evening Pastry and Baking students!

Can’t wait until April? Join us on February 25^th at 5pm for the Culinary Arts info session. This session is just for us – it is a little more personal, easier to navigate, and ask questions. It is never a bad idea to get organized early – new student registration opens on March 17^th! If your goal is to be part of our Fall 2025 Culinary Arts cohort, we suggest you get registered as soon as possible. Last year, this class was full by mid-May, so do not wait to get the ball rolling!

And don’t forget that we are offering a new certificate this fall – Culinary Entrepreneurship! This program is two semesters long and helps you get ready to tackle the business side of the foodservice industry. Want to dive deeper into the business skills

you will need for corporate foodservice management? This program is for you. Want to start your own food-based business one day? This program is for you. Most classes are offered online, and this program can be attended part-time. Want to know more about it? Attend one of our info sessions, or email sara.johannes@castingmoldingmachine.com.

We are looking forward to spring – warmer weather and longer days mean we are thinking about our Sean Jones Memorial Culinary Garden. We have already received permission to expand the garden this year. It was a smashing success this last summer, and everyone loved pitching in to grow beautiful food at Saint Paul College. Do you want to help fund the Culinary Garden at Saint Paul College? You can donate here. Please choose “General Support” and put “Please add my donation to the Werthman Fund” in the comments.

Happy Spring, all! Thanks for joining us!