| A hands-on approach is needed to take dough, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and mozzarella cheese beyond pizza and into the land of fine cuisine.
So five students in Lee County High Tech Center North's culinary arts program don't just settle for what they learn at the school at 360 Santa Barbara Blvd. — they get direct training at The Joint, which is one of Cape Coral's newest restaurants in the Cape Harbour complex at the south end of Chiquita Boulevard.
"It is a lot more intense at the restaurant — the pressure is there," said Daniel Stamps, 17. "We get a lot more crowded at The Joint. Everything has to be done right."
The students' duties at The Joint include chopping ingredients as prep cooks and assembling food at various stations before it moves on to be baked, broiled or sauteed — and there also is a little bit of cooking.
All work is under the supervision of experienced chefs. Frank Caputo, The Joint's executive chef, grew up in a restaurant family. He graduated from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Caputo enjoys introducing talented, hard-working students to the restaurant life because food preparation is almost a spiritual act for him. He looks for students who have a passion for food.
"I wanted people who had an interest in learning about fresh food who had no set ideas coming in," Caputo said. "I wanted people to learn to understand the relationship between ingredients and taste. I wanted them to care."
A restaurant career at a high level is about love, hard work and overcoming pressure.
"There is no room for error in an excellent kitchen," Caputo said.
The students aren't a cheap way to avoid labor costs, Caputo said. The pay ranges from $9 an hour for someone with just a little background to $14 an hour for an experienced cook.
A peek at The Joint's menu Monday revealed specials such as oxtail lobster risotto topped with white truffles. There also was sauteed striped bass over vegetables and rice pilaf covered with a lobster-based sauce called a nage, according to Kevin Healey, sous chef.
But dishes like that don't throw the students at the 1,500-hour school program.
Stamps and other students are at culinary class from 8 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Once the day's menu is settled on, students dive right in under the supervision of instructor Jack Elias and his assistant.
The textbook "Culinary Essentials" provides food preparation and other restaurant business information. Cooking is the fun part, but students also learn how to clean and sanitize food as well as how to calculate costs and how to store it.
There are written and oral tests graded by Elias, a certified executive chef, certified culinary educator and certified food and beverage executive.
"I've been teaching here for 14 years," said Elias, 44. "I actually created the program here."
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Stamps attends class all morning and then goes to The Joint from 2:30 p.m. until it closes, sometimes after midnight, for work.
But Stamps loves food and the creativity involved in making it, so the long hours haven't discouraged him or fellow student Sarah Boscarino, 22. The possibility of attending Johnson & Wales Culinary College in Miami remains a possibility for both of them. Both said they are interested in opening their own restaurants.
"I used to work at a chain restaurant," Boscarino said. "There you learned to do things one way. It wasn't very creative."
And Stamps sees beauty in the simple garnishment of a dish.
"I love to garnish," Stamps said. "It just adds beauty to the appeal of a plate."
The students became interested in culinary careers in various ways. Many said cooking is a creative outlet — and knowing that a meal will make someone feel good is instant gratification to the cook, said Tammi Tollefson, culinary arts assistant in the class.
A high tech culinary arts graduate, Tollefson worked at the Ritz Carlton in Naples while she took classes four years ago.
"I'm a baker, and I took cake decorating classes," Tollefson said. "I like the sweet stuff."
When there was an opening in the culinary department she jumped at the idea of helping others learn their way around food.
Stamps had a different path into the program.
"I love food," he said. "But I used to hear this other guy talk about what he was learning and doing in class, and it sounded interesting. I went to the school, took a look around and the next day I signed up."
Elias' students fit right in to the pace and production quality at The Joint. Recently Elias had Stamps dump a load of fries because they were too greasy.
"If I say they are too greasy, they are too greasy," Elias said.
The students did them again. Crispy, not greasy.
Students prepare and cook meals at the school for sale to the public every day. And the food is more than the usual cafeteria fare — filet mignon wrapped in bacon, sauteed grouper, peanut crusted chicken breast and coconut shrimp regularly appear on the menu.
The prices are downright cheap. Filet mignon? $4.75.
The students also come up with more creative ideas. They trot the finished product out for Elias to taste after the lunch rush.
"Hey chef, try this please," said Cape Coral's Rebecca Lerman, 16.
"It is chocolate brioche with white chocolate butter."
There won't be many burger flippers graduating from this class. |
