Lincoln Tech - Culinary Arts Program

On this episode, you'll hear from instructors and former students about what the Culinary Arts Program entails and how it's helped propel these students into successful culinary careers. 

Lincoln's mission is to provide superior education and training to our students for in-demand careers in a supportive, accessible learning environment, transforming students' lives and adding value to their communities.

 

Careers in Culinary Arts Podcast

 

00:00:03

Chef Leslie Silva, Lincoln Culinary Institute Graduate and Chef de Partie: Doing the program definitely prepared me for the real life experience that I would have in the kitchen.

 

00:00:12

Chef Peter Crouth, Lincoln Culinary Institute Instructor: You'll learn everything from knife skills to sanitation, teamwork with other students and hands-on training.  You'll cover everything literally from soup to nuts.

 

00:00:24

Chef Derek Dugan, Lincoln Culinary Institute Graduate and Executive Chef: If you're going to go, go for the passion, go because you want to learn. There is a bevy of knowledge and there are some fantastic instructors within the program. They can teach you a lot of lot of great things. Go in with an open mind. Don't think you know everything.

 

00:00:43

Chef Pauli Milotte, Senior Culinary Recruiter for the Walt Disney Company: Lincoln has not just taught the same old brigade of cooking and plating. “This is the way we learned it, and that's the way you're going to learn it.” They have modernized the steps and the adjunct instructors and the chef instructors have kept up with the industry very well.

 

00:00:54

Host: Welcome to the official podcast of Lincoln Tech. Lincoln Tech's mission is to provide superior education and training to our students for in-demand careers in a supportive, accessible learning environment, transforming students’ lives, and adding value to their communities. On this episode, we'll find out more about the Culinary Arts program from instructors, employers and former students. So let's get cooking.

 

00:01:15

Silva:  My name is Leslie Silva. I am a chef de partie at Pineapples and Pearls in Washington D.C., and I graduated from Lincoln Culinary Institute back in May of 2022.

 

00:01:30

Chef Shamal “Shimmy” Watkins, Lincoln Culinary Institute Graduate and Chef de Partie: My name is Shamal Watkins. I actually go by Chef Shimmy. I graduated from Lincoln Tech in September, but I actually finished in March. I work right now at the University of Maryland as chef de partie, or assistant chef. So it's a fun transition that I had. I actually started my externship in January, and by the time I finished my externship, I was looked at as a candidate to become a full time cook. I then became a chef in July. It was a quick transition from one position to another to another.

 

00:02:11

Crouth: I’m Chef Pete Crouth and I am a chef instructor at Lincoln Culinary Institute in Shelton, Connecticut. My background - I've been doing this going on 40 years. I co-authored an award-winning children's nutrition book titled The Green Box League of Nutritious Justice. I also won a national recipe contest, the grand prize winner of the Louisiana Sweet Potato Recipe contest. And I won a grand prize for my BLT sweet potato hash, which was bacon, leeks and tomato. We won't go on from there, but that's enough, right?

 

00:02:48

Host: That sounds delicious. I wish you could go on, but we'll talk more about food in a second. So, Leslie and Shamal, what are your stories about making the decision to enroll in the culinary arts program at Lincoln Tech?

 

00:02:58

Silva:  It was just kind of pursuing culinary, I think. I originally took the traditional route after high school of going to four year college, and I wanted to major in food science and nutrition. And then I kind of figured, well, this would be a lot more fun if I got the fundamentals of culinary down. I did my research from there and fell in love with the idea of working with food and fine dining and how much of an art it is. I thought about going to a four year - Johnson or Wales, CIA, that kind of thing. And then I figured the best learning tool is experience, and a trade school seemed like it would give me a really solid foundation [in] the basics. From there, move my way up and things like that. I enrolled in the middle of the pandemic, so that was a little hard to navigate. I think the whole world was struggling to navigate with life itself at that point. But, you know, I'm really glad I took that step. And now I'm working at one of the top restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Episode Transcript

S1 (00:04):
Doing the program definitely prepared me for the real life
experiences that I would have in the kitchen.

S2 (00:12):
You'll learn everything from knife skills to sanitation, teamwork with
other students hands on training. You'll cover everything literally from
soup to nuts.

S3 (00:24):
If you're going to go, go for the passion, go
because you want to learn. There is a bevy of
knowledge and there are some fantastic instructors within the program.
They can teach you a lot of lot of great things.
Go in with an open mind. Don't think you know everything.
So Lincoln has that just taught the same old brigade
of cooking and plating. And this is the way we

(00:45):
learned it, and that's the way you're going to learn it.
They have modernized the steps and the adjunct instructors and
the chef instructors have kept up with the industry very well.

S4 (00:54):
Welcome to the official podcast of Lincoln Tech. Lincoln Tech's
mission is to provide superior education and training to our
students for in-demand careers in a supportive, accessible learning environment,
transforming students lives, and adding value to their communities. On
this episode, we'll find out more about the culinary arts
program from instructors, employers and former students. So let's get cooking.

S1 (01:15):
So my name is Leslie Silver. I am a chef
at a party, pineapples and pearls here in D.C. and
I graduated from Lincoln Culinary Institute back in May of 2022.

S2 (01:30):
So my name is Jamal Watkins. I actually go by
Chef Jimmy. I graduated from Lincoln Tech, in fact, tember,
but I actually finished in March. I work right now
at the University of Maryland. I have a big party
or assistant to chef. So it's a fun transition that
I had. I actually started my externship in January, and

(01:52):
by the time I finished my externship, I was looked
at as a candidate to become a full time cook
between becoming a full time cook in June. I then
became a chef in July. It was a quick transition
from one position to another to another Chef Pete Carroll.
I am a chef instructor at Lincoln Technical Institute in Shelton, Connecticut.

(02:16):
My background I've been doing this going on 40 years.
I co-authored an award winning children's nutrition book titled The
Green Box League of Nutritious Justice. I also won a
national recipe contest, the grand prize winner of the Louisiana's

(02:37):
Sweet Potato Recipe contest. And I wanted a grand prize
for my BLT sweet potato hash, which was bacon, leeks
and tomato. We won't go on from there, but that's enough, right?

S4 (02:48):
That sounds delicious. I wish you could go on, but
we'll talk more about food in a second. So, Leslie
and Jamal, what are your stories about making the decision
to enroll in the culinary arts program at Lincoln Tech?

S1 (02:58):
It was just kind of pursuing culinary, I think. So.
I originally took the traditional route after high school of
going to four year college, and I wanted to major
in food science and nutrition. And then I kind of figured, well,
this would be a lot more fun if I got

(03:19):
the fundamentals of culinary down. And then I just did
my research from there and just completely kind of fell
in love with the idea of working with food and
fine dining and how much of an art it is.
So I just researched different schools. I thought about going
to a four year Johnson or Wale, CIA, that kind

(03:41):
of thing. And then I figured the best learning tool
is experience. And a trade school seemed like it would
give me a really solid foundation, kind of just teach
me the basics and from there, move my way up
and things like that. So I found that Lincoln Tech

(04:02):
and here in Columbia, Maryland, had their culinary arts program,
which was fairly new. I believe They had just opened
up the program a year or two prior to when
I had enrolled. I enrolled in the middle of the pandemic.
So that was a little hard to navigate. I think
the whole world was struggling to navigate with life itself

(04:25):
at that point. But, you know, I'm really glad I
took that step. And now I'm working at one of
the top restaurants in Washington, D.C..

S2 (04:34):
Before I went to culinary school, I worked in three
different restaurants. I was actually front of house for three
of those different restaurants. But I also interacted with most
of the chefs that became friends to the chef. And
they showed me like a little thing of too about cooking.
And the more I cooked and I invited people over

(04:55):
to eat, especially the famed chef, they keep that my food.
I would always ask me, why am I not in
the kitchen? And I. I always thought it was crazy
because I'm like, Well, I'm not this experienced person. I
know how to cook. I can't be in the kitchen
with you. But again, more and more of hearing the
same thing, I decided to try my hand at actually

(05:15):
jumping into a kitchen.

S4 (05:17):
Chef Peter, can you tell us a little bit about
the culinary courses at Lincoln?

S2 (05:20):
Tech courses are great. Whatever role you choose to either
be a culinary and or a baker, you're going to
start out with an introduction course. So some of the
bakers join some of the culinary ends in the same
classroom as an introductory to basically cooking to the culinary world.
You're going to learn to do things the right way. Unfortunately,

(05:43):
when someone's out in the field and they aren't trained properly,
you know, they pass bad habits on to the next
guy or they run the place wrong. And that's when
you get all these bad food stories and you get
people are getting sick or what have you. But we
break some of that. There's no bad habits started here.
You're going to learn the right way and we're going

(06:05):
to tell you and show you the right way and
why we do it this way.

S4 (06:10):
And who are the students that go here? Is that diverse?

S2 (06:12):
Absolutely. It's so diverse. Now, I don't want to say it,
but another instructor kind of said it this way, but
maybe a woman with midlife crisis or, you know, she's
in her job. She's been doing this all her life
or what have you, and it's just not doing it
anymore for her. And she wants to change careers and. Yes.

(06:33):
And then you get the students right out of high
school that they need direction and everyone doesn't have to
go to college for a liberal arts career. We all
need plumbers, we all need cooks, we all need nurses. And,
you know, that's what Lincoln's airport, electrician, electricians, you know,
and and what have you. So it's great. You know,
it's the diversity that we have. Yeah, it's fantastic.

S3 (06:58):
Hello, everyone. My name is Chef Holly Miller, and I
work with the Walt Disney World Company. I'm the senior
culinary recruiter for the Disney culinary program here in Orlando, Florida.
Walt Disney World. I've been with the Disney Company for
44 years, and I've been in the culinary position since
my start of employment. I joined the company as a

(07:20):
line cook back in the late seventies and in the
early eighties. Around 8283 get promoted into my first salaried
position as a sous chef for the Disney Company over
at Epcot Center was during the grand opening and I
went to Disney Leader. Since then, all the way up
into current position. After 25 years of cooking and working

(07:41):
in our resorts and parks, decided to take a different
change in my career and try to give back to
the food and beverage team in a different way. In
developing an internship program. The internship program is for our
resorts and parks here in Orlando and Walt Disney World,
and I travel around to different culinary schools and bring
talent in to support our line of business.

S4 (08:05):
Can you tell us more about the Disney Internship program?

S3 (08:07):
Sure. The internship is year round, so you go to
Disney holiday programs, Disney careers and search Disney culinary programs
and find more information on it. For those who want
to do a quick search while you're listening. The internship
is based on education. You have to be in culinary
school or a recent grad of up to two years

(08:28):
from leaving your commencement. So each school culinary has an
internship required, so it's a work experience off campus. They
have to go to an employer. So we work with
the campuses like we Can has a set program where
they have to do an intern at the end of
their school. It's the last thing they do, which is
very beneficial because this gives it a chance to get employed,

(08:52):
not have to worry about going back to school because
they've completed their degree and most likely can stay on
with the company, begin a career. That's what they chose to.
But the internships are based on four months, six months.
It could be up to a year. And we do
provide housing and our program for the students. So it
makes it really convenient to stay in fine in this

(09:14):
country right now is affordable housing. You know, we put
that right in front lap of the students. So take
that headache away from and they come down and they
work in the kitchens, either cooking or baking. We have
a full baking, but just three programs. Well, and these
students work with Disney leaders. They are working with chefs
that they were looking to inspire to become at some

(09:35):
point in their young career as they go through the
journey of food and beverage. So they're working with sous chefs, chefs,
culinary directors, executive chefs, and in some cases working real
close to our guests who are experiencing their vacation in
our cuisine, about the food that the student may be
baking or cooking. So there is a little bit of

(09:58):
a guest focus on the program as well, not just
the product focus. Oh, my name is. Derek Duggan. I
am the executive chef of Lucas Local Oyster Bar in Southbury, Connecticut. Well,
currently I've been the executive chef of Lucas Dock Oyster
Bar for the past three and a half to four years.
When I started cooking and getting the passion for cooking,

(10:22):
I was raised by a single working mother. So I
spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my
grandmother when my mom was at work. While my grandmother
wasn't a fantastic cook, there was always little projects for
me to do around the kitchen. So that kind of
ignited a passion for it locally where I grew up.
At nine years old, I got a job folding pizza

(10:44):
boxes at a local pizza shop and they paid me
in a large pepperoni pizza in a two liter bottle
of coke. So for a nine year old, I was rich,
but I got to spend time in the kitchen watching
them stretch pizza dough. So that's the first time I
ever kind of got the little bug of seeing something
work out there in the industry. My first job was

(11:05):
in a small commercial kitchen at 16 years old, and
then I went in and out of the industry for many,
many years, tried different professions, whatnot. And then when I
got into my early thirties, I decided that it was
time to start switching professions. It was time to stop
working just for the paycheck and start working for the passion.

(11:29):
So I quit all my other jobs. I went and
enrolled in Lincoln Culinary. To just bone up on my skills,
polish everything off, get that self-satisfaction that I went and
got some proper training other than just, you know, being
in and out of kitchens my entire life and deciding

(11:50):
that that was going to be my final career, that
I was going to go full on headfirst into becoming
a chef.

S4 (11:56):
Chefs Derrick, Leslie and Jamal, as former students at Lincoln Tech,
what would you say to those that are contemplating enrolling
in the Culinary Arts program?

S3 (12:04):
So the program at Lincoln Tech, Culinary Arts Program, the
most valuable things I found from it was it has
a fantastic grasp of the foundations of cooking the basics.
So and there were some really fantastic instructors there that
there called the basics for a reason. Everything is derived
from them. And the instructors there did a very fantastic

(12:27):
job of relaying that to the student, that everything is
versed in the basics and everything comes off of that.
So if you understand the basics of what homework is,
how to make a stock, how to make the five
mother sauces, everything is derived from that. You can trace
any recipe back to the basics. And the culinary program

(12:49):
at Lincoln had a very good foundation of that. Had
some very good instructors. What I found most valuable when
I was there was actually latching on to certain instructors,
chef instructors that I identified with that I felt comfortable with,
and they would go above and beyond when they recognized

(13:10):
the passion. And in my personal experience, when they recognized
the passion in me of where I wanted to go
with this. There were certain instructors that would go above
and beyond. Give me more tips and advice in reading
material outside the normal curriculum to help advance. So that's
the best things that I took out of the program.

S1 (13:29):
I definitely recommend it. I mean, I would honestly recommend
doing a trade school over the traditional four years. Not
that there's anything wrong with it, but for me I
felt like doing the program definitely prepared me for the
real life experiences that I would have in the kitchen.

(13:51):
I mean, the skills tests that I had done for
pineapples was the exact same format as my final in school.
So it just kind of gave me a little bit
more confidence of, okay, I remember when I did my final,
I remember how it went. I remember the little mistakes
I made and how it just kind of prepared me.

(14:12):
All right. The real thing, I'm not going to make
this mistake. I'm going to time everything out and I'm
going to have my whole day planned for it and
definitely walk there in there with more confidence. If I
hadn't gone through the national test trial, I guess. But yeah,
I mean, the program, it's what you make of it.
Like most things. And in every kitchen that I ventured,

(14:35):
they tell us the same thing. This place is what
you make of it. You know, if you're someone who
is really wants to pursue it but is a little
afraid of taking that leap of faith, I would just
say take the leap. I mean, what's the worst that
can happen? Right? But it definitely did prepare me for
the real life experiences I would have in the kitchen.

(14:56):
And it gave me that solid foundation of just kind
of work hard at things. Things are a lot better
when you work hard for them. They're a lot sweeter,
I guess. The instructors were amazing. I learned so much
from them and the year that I did the program
and you know, it wasn't just always teaching the basics

(15:18):
of culinary and things like that. It was also just
kind of navigating your way through through a kitchen because
you have all different types of kitchens. You have kitchens
where the chefs are really nice and stuff and they
won't really tell you anything. And then you have those
kitchens where the chefs are absolutely crazy and you just
kind of have to learn how to take those punches.
But figuratively, of course. But I'm glad I did it.

(15:42):
I don't think I would be in the position that
I am today if I had not gone.

S2 (15:47):
The best way to pitch it, in which I pitched
a lot of times because a lot of people who
have worked in the industry and feel like, you know,
culinary school with nothing to go toward. And I always
ask the same question that I'll forgive the theme revolt.
I always tell people it is awesome to work in
a restaurant. You know how to cook, but some key

(16:09):
things that you can't really learn in a restaurant that
you can learn in common in every school is one
being able to create your own menu. And when you
work in restaurants, you do their menu one more time
than not, they will not say, Hey, give me a
menu item out of your creativity to also learning all

(16:30):
the stuff you would need to create your own brand
and your own business. So the stuff that you can
go and learn in Lincoln Tech, most of the skills
that most people wouldn't show you like cutting stuff by hand.
We all have machines now, but being able to cut
them by hand and still keep that skill, that's something
that a lot of people are looking for, not just, Hey, yes,

(16:51):
I know how to use the machine, but I don't
actually know what dimension deep cuts can be or how
many pieces I can cut a whole cow into, though
The kind of thing that you learned in Lincoln Tech.
When you learn about the history of cooking, that makes
all the difference of knowing where the first restaurant came from,

(17:12):
where all the skills came from, where the brigade came from.
That's so much information that helps a lot when it
comes to going through life of the cooking in a
different perspective than what you would see just working in
a restaurant.

S4 (17:25):
As an instructor, what careers are grads going on to you?

S2 (17:28):
Well, it depends. When you learn the basics here and
you learn the right way. There is still a ladder
to climb as far as that goes. Some people are
so talented that they see them right away and you
come out and it's all a learning process. You're not
just born a chef. They have to work on their skills,
work on their speed, stuff like that. But that comes

(17:49):
with repetition. You know, we're showing them the right way,
but when they get out there, whatever they choose to
do with it, that's up to you. It's almost like
a musician, right? You learn how to play music if
you're any good or you want to pursue it further,
you know, you work on your craft.

S4 (18:05):
Okay. Now the important question, what kind of money can
a chef make?

S2 (18:09):
It varies. So much depends on where you want to go,
how many hours you want to log and have some
luck involved. But all in all, it's how much you
put into it is what you're going to get out
of it. You know, there are chefs out there making
really big bucks, but there is a sacrifice as well.

(18:31):
You know, they're logging long hours and not a lot
of family time and what have you.

S4 (18:36):
So I know some people out there don't like bringing
their work home with them, but I mean, we all
have to eat, right? What are your go to dishes
to make for yourself?

S1 (18:44):
I think my go to dish when I'm ready to
just kind of come home and eat is a classic
meat sauce, spaghetti and meatballs, pretty basic. But when you
add a little bit more spice and different ingredients to it,
it's very versatile, I feel. And it's definitely my go
to it's like, All right, what's for dinner tonight? Pasta.

S3 (19:05):
If I had to pick something. I do like working
with game meats a lot. Things such as venison, ostrich dog,
things like that. A little more off the wall, things
that you don't find everywhere. Things are a little more
delicate to cook with. On my current menu at the restaurant,
I have a venison French rack of ribs. There's one

(19:26):
of our top sellers that the guests rave about. I'm
very proud of that dish. So if I was going
to have to pick one thing I'd have to give
an answer for. I like to to work with game
meats a lot.

S4 (19:37):
Did you hear about the pastry chef that went to jail?
He got arrested for breaking and entering.

S3 (19:42):
Oh, you did? Along with a couple of my servers
to love. Love telling the crazy dad jokes.

S4 (19:50):
Does the culinary arts program at Lincoln Tech sound like
a fit for you? Find out more information, schedule a
campus visit and talk to instructors or the career services
team online at Lincoln Tech. Dot edu.