From Barnaby’s to Spago with Wolfgang Puck
In 1995, Aram Mardigian ’94 was a young chef gazing down on the lights of Los Angeles from the windows of a worldrenowned restaurant, picturesquely set on a hill in West Hollywood. He was 25 years old and working in one of the hottest restaurants in California, Wolfgang Puck’s original Spago, and asking himself one question, “How did I get here, all the way from Latham, New York?” The literal answer is that after graduating from SCCC with a degree in Culinary Arts, Aram packed what he could fit into his 1989 Chevy Blazer and drove crosscountry to make a name for himself in the culinary industry. He had a close friend who lived in a beach town just outside of Los Angeles and during a visit before he graduated from SCCC, he heard the West Coast calling him. His first job was working as a line cook at Schatzi (German for “sweetheart”) on Main, an Austrian beerhaus in Santa Monica owned by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though he liked the job, he was making connections with employees at Spago, the flagship restaurant opened by Puck and Barbara Lazaroff on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood in 1982. Everyone knew about Spago and Puck, the Austrian-born chef whose restaurant was a hit with celebrities and the gourmet elite, and Aram wanted to be part of the action. “I would knock on the back door of the kitchen once a week, just to get to know people,” Aram explained. “I didn’t have a long résumé. I hadn’t worked in Europe for a number of years, but they saw my persistence and they finally gave me a chance.”
SCCC Foundation’s 21st Annual
Food for Thought and All That Jazz
On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 250 guests came together as the SCCC Foundation hosted its 21st annual Food for Thought and All That Jazz celebration and raised more than $55,000 in support of the Foundation’s programs. The event highlighted two of SCCC’s premier academic programs: Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism and Music. The evening featured a concert by the award-winning SCCC Student Jazz Ensemble, followed by gourmet food stations with cuisine prepared and served by students in the Culinary Arts program. The SCCC Foundation is grateful for the support of SCCC President Quintin B. Bullock, the SCCC Foundation Board, the SCCC Board of Trustees, Honorary Chairs Yono, Donna and Dominick Purnomo, corporate sponsors, Honorary Committee members and guests. Mark your calendars for the next fantastic Food for Thought and All That Jazz, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Above: Honorary Chair Chef-Sommelier Dominick Purnomo kicks off the evening’s festivities. Above, inset: Honorable Margaret C. (Peggy) King, Schenectady City Council Member and SCCC Emeritus, and Frank Casler, former SCCC Foundation Board Member, peruse the Silent Auction items.
Thank you to our corporate sponsors! Count Basie Sponsors Mazzone Hospitality Times Union Louis Armstrong Sponsors Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation LeChase Construction Marshall & Sterling Upstate, Inc. Stewart’s Shops Ella Fitzgerald Sponsors 1st National Bank of Scotia BBL Construction Services, LLC CAP COM Federal Credit Union Capital District Transportation Authority CDPHP Daily Gazette Deily, Mooney & Glastetter, LLP EYP Architecture & Engineering First Niagara Galesi Group GE KeyBank Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, LLP M/E Engineering, P.C. National Grid Re4orm Architecture
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