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Culinary school gets interns experience

BY KRISTINE CANNON

Progress Staff Writer

ust three years ago when Le Cordon

Bleu Culinary Institute of Scottsdale, the largest culinary school in the area, shut its doors, the Valley’s restaurant industry experienced a unique challenge: too many restaurants and not enough culinary school graduates to fill positions.

Now, the industry’s facing the exact opposite problem: too many students and not enough open positions.

So, where exactly do these recent culinary school grads go to gain crucial handson experience with paid internships?

At Arizona Culinary Institute, a boutique culinary school in Scottsdale that offers a single comprehensive diploma, they’re reabsorbed into the program.

“When the restaurants were forced to close, we developed a new curriculum that was advanced beyond what they were doing in a standard program in order to compensate for the fact that they weren’t having this real-world experience,” said Erin Coopey, director of education and chef instructor.

ACI used to have three to four recruiters visit each week.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, however, they had their first visitor two weeks ago: Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning chef Alex Stratta.

Stratta hired four students: three to work in the kitchen and one to work service at his new fast-casual restaurant, Stratta Kitchen, slated to open Aug. 3.

“It’s crucial,” Stratta said of paid internships. “I think going to culinary school is the equivalent of going to high school: You learn the real basics and then you go work with somebody that actually can mentor you. And I want to provide that kind of MBA-type education for chefs.”

Peoria resident and Army veteran Anthony Bowdrie is a student at Arizona Culinary Institute in Scottsdale. His original post-graduation plan was to complete an internship overseas, pos sibly in Italy or Spain, but the pandemic would soon change that.

(Pablo Robles/

Progress Staff Photographer)

Stratta’s own mentors were impressive.

He was invited by Alain Ducasse to join his team at the three Michelin-starred Louis XV in Monaco and worked under Daniel Boulud, who led him at Le Cirque in New York.

“I was trained by the best, and it was my duty to pass that on. At least, that’s what I was told: that it was my responsibility to show the next generation what I was taught, so we can keep a tradition alive,” Stratta said. ACI also understands this.

When ACI canceled classes on March 27 for one month and then resumed them on May 4, they were already brainstorming ways to rearrange policy and refocus their curriculum.

When students began having entry

Erin Coopey is the director of education and chef instructor at the Arizona Culinary Institute, a boutique culinary school in Scottsdale that reopened in May after closing at the end of March due to COVID-19 and has gone through many changes since. (ACI)

level job offers rescinded, leaving students with nowhere to go, ACI absorbed them back into its program.

“We really do work hard to make sure that we are trying to dial in on what that student really wants because, ultimately, their placement and their successes are a plus for us as well,” Coopey said. “We’re not in the grinder business of ‘let’s just stick them wherever.’”

The Arizona Biltmore, the Phoenician, Gertrude’s Restaurant at Desert Botanical Garden, Rusconi’s American Kitchen, and resorts such as Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, are among ACI’s partners.

After six months of the eight-month in-house program, the students are required to complete an internship — typically a paid internship.

“We have a placement director who works with many local restauranteurs and resorts and casinos to find the right position for our students,” Coopey said. “We try to always make sure that we were working very closely with the students to get a sense of where they want to be and how we can facilitate that happening.”

Stratta’s visit is a hopeful sign of increased recruitments and off-site internships.

However, while “things have begun to loosen up,” Coopey said that “it’s up and down each week.” “We’re just finding our way through the best we can in terms of the program changing here,” she said. ACI hosts five professional kitchens in their custom-built, 18,000 square-foot facility.

Here, they teach courses like basic culinary arts, baking, meat fabrication and saucier and advanced baking and showpieces.

In response to the pandemic, ACI not only implemented full-time use of masks and gloves, decreased their already small class sizes to less than 10 to promote social distancing, and began taking all staff and students’ temperatures upon entry, among other precautions.

The school also brainstormed ways to supplement their very hands-on, tactile program with possible online classes and resources.

“We practice a very classic approach to the culinary world. Everything is grounded in French technique, but it is a very hands-on program with a really great student to instructor ratio. So, that remains the same,” Coopey said.

“However,” she continued, “with the fear of not knowing if we could have to be forced into lockdown, we have explored a partnership with an online culi

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SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | AUGUST 2, 2020 ACI ���� page 29 such a shift in hiring was post-Sept. 11, 2001. nary program called Rouxbe.” “I was working in a casino environ

Rouxbe is a leading online culinary ment. We scaled back tremendously on school that has offered high-definition hiring, but that only lasted about a year videos, world-class instructors, peer and things normalized,” he recalled. support, and interactive assignments “This is a new normal that, I believe, is since 2005. going to take a huge impact.”

According to Rouxbe’s website, they Stratta said grads might see large train “hundreds of thousands” of cooks companies hiring people to prepare in 180 countries. goods they plan to sell.

The online culinary school has even “I think there’s an opportunity there received praise from award-winning for this market to really wake up and chefs such as Marcus Samuelsson, who … create higher quality prepared items avid cooking competition show viewers — and that’s going to need hands,” he might recognize from “Chopped” and explained. “Iron Chef America,” among other popuIn her food and beverage managelar culinary shows. ment and career development cours

Recently, a group of more than 20 ACI es, Coopey teaches her students how students started Rouxbe. to best secure a job post-graduation,

“It’s good to see different people’s including targeting job searches, pretechniques and to learn different terms. paring resumes and cover letters, and So, we think this is a valuable tool, but learning how to stand out from other we’re really in the beta step, a test vercandidates. sion of that right now,” Coopey said. “And I think that that information is

For ACI staff, the question is: What actually more valuable now than it was is the most advantageous way to apwhen we were, in a sense, trying to put proach online options? butts in seats because there’s so many

“We’re still deciding, if we were ever openings for hospitality,” Coopey said. to move more in that direction, how we Coopey added that she’s hopeful the would be doing things like assessment opportunities will be there for her for the students?” Coopey said. “We’re students. still hashing out all of those subtle “Things will return to some level of things now in terms of what we’re donormalcy,” she said. ing upon the students’ return.” Not all ACI students are fearful of life

While ACI did have a smaller class after graduation, though. start upon the school’s reopening, Peoria resident, Army veteran, and Coopey said they’ve still had “regular ACI student Anthony Bowdrie said that interest” from prospective students. he’s seen fellow students lose extern

And although open houses are canships they secured pre-pandemic, but celed for the rest of the year, ACI does because he’s retired and has a pension, still offer campus tours regularly durhe pursued cooking because it was a ing the week. passion of his.

“We’ve had a great deal of increased “Fortunately, for me, I’m in a different interest and a lot of motivation; and position than a lot of the students here that could all also be due to the shifting because I’m retired,” he said, adding: job market,” Coopey said. “I’m not concerned, but I definitely un

According to Stratta, the pandemic derstand how it’s impacting my peers.” has led restaurant owners to think The pandemic did, however, dash more critically about their staff. Bowdrie’s dream of completing his in“It’s going to become tough,” he said. ternship overseas in Italy or Spain.

“The kitchen is not as much peril as “It’s varying week by week,” he said the service component of it,” he conwith a laugh. “All the overseas stuff that tinued. “The service component might I was planning on is gone by the waybecome fast-casual and to-go-only beside now.” cause there’s less touch time. There are But his long-term goal remains the less people around. Let’s hope this isn’t same: “I’ll probably start with my own here to stay, but it’s definitely going to food truck, but in the end, I want to own leave a mark.” my own restaurant.”

Stratta said the last time he’s seen Information: azculinary.edu

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