Marco Chirico, at only 25, is already moving a legacy into the next generation via his father’s restaurants—one operating for three decades and one a few years young—in Brooklyn.

By Lynn Schwartz

When a parent receives public recognition in a career, the children might prefer to run in the opposite direction, deliberately choosing a different livelihood. Then there are those offspring who desire to follow in the impressive family footsteps. With that decision is an inherited responsibility; there is a pressure to measure up.

Marco Chirico has chosen the latter path. At only 25, he is taking over Marco Polo Ristorante, his father’s legendary Italian restaurant in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn—a restaurant that has just celebrated its 30-year anniversary.

Accepting the reins requires a delicate balancing act. Chirico must maintain the quality, integrity and longevity of the famed family business, but also carefully and respectfully guide the restaurant into the future for the next generation.

Filling Some Very Big Shoes
Chirico grew up in the middle of a lively business where the whole family was involved. Chirico’s father, Joseph, immigrated to New York from San Martino, Italy, in 1964. He began with a luncheonette, serving Italian sandwiches, and in 1983 opened Marco Polo Ristorante, named for the Venetian explorer.

Joseph Chirico became recognized as a pioneer, introducing both fine Italian dining to Brooklyn and serving unfamiliar ingredients such as bufala mozzarella imported from Italy, porcini mushrooms and truffles. He also became the owner and operator of the historic Gage and Tollner on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn.

There was no expectation for Joseph’s son to make a career in the hospitality industry. “I was bussing tables since I was 12 years old,” says Marco Chirico. “We all worked there. My sisters were hostesses, but there was never any pressure for me to be in the business. I just liked it. I liked the customers and my father saw that.”

“Gold Medal Classroom” readers who answer a survey (see link below) will receive a special code for a $200 discount on Worlds of Flavor® 2013 registration. Also, all names will be placed into a drawing for one free Worlds of Flavor registration, and three respondents will receive a choice of one of three CIA books.

By Jan Stuebing Smyth

To be a chef today means to be plugged into local communities, national networks and global conversations. Information technologies are changing foodservice in profound ways in the kitchen, dining room and classroom, particularly since the current  generation of Millennial diners grew up with an unprecedented access to 24/7 connectivity.

Any curriculum for aspiring culinarians that does not include a nod to technology in the kitchen—from immersion circulators for new cooking techniques to tablets for access to their curriculum—is incomplete. A single YouTube video, real-time webcast or even an Instagram photo can transport a chef or student to a restaurant or village kitchen thousands of miles away and alter his or her culinary aspirations in an instant, turning the world into a classroom.

Culinary philosophies are being incubated in highly personal, globally conscious ways that could only happen in this hyper-connected age of information and social-networking technologies. Chefs in Spain look to the kitchens of Japan as part of re-imagining their regional traditions. Chefs from New York to California exchange ideas over the web as they re-invent Moroccan and Southeast Asian flavors. Chefs from Lima and Lisbon, Sydney and Shanghai gather at international conferences—like MAD in Copenhagen, Mesamérica in Mexico City and Worlds of Flavor in Napa Valley—to forge new professional bonds that expand the creative space in which they work.

Whereas previously, influential food critics at city and national publications controlled the destiny of ambitious chefs and restaurants, chefs today can build their own communities of support. A four-star review from The New York Times or a top Michelin rating still yields considerable weight in a restaurant’s ability to attract and retain customers, but they are no longer the only game in town. Crowd-sourced reviews from Yelp, Zagat and others, along with social media juggernauts like Twitter and Facebook and the commenting sections of blogs, have undercut the established critics who used to have the power to make or break a restaurant. Not having to court the favor of high-profile critics means not having to skew one’s cooking or dining concepts to the expectations of a small handful of gatekeepers.

As students go to college this fall, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is offering them exciting new education options. These new concentrations—in beverage management, farm-to-table cooking and Latin cuisines—give students the chance to focus their studies on a particular area of interest in the food world.

Students enrolled in the bachelor’s-degree-management programs at the CIA’s Hyde Park, N.Y., campus can choose a concentration that includes 15-credit semesters at the college’s campuses in St. Helena, Calif., or San Antonio, Texas. Visitors to those campuses can reap the rewards of the students’ lessons with new and exciting dining experiences.

“The rapid pace of foodservice innovation is creating new demands for specialized skills and knowledge, and opportunities for students to get this knowledge within their broader education are critical for career success,” says CIA President Dr. Tim Ryan, CMC. “Professions develop specialties as they advance—which is very evident in medicine and law. This is also true for the culinary profession, where specialized cuisine and management knowledge are key for restaurants seeking new ways to sharpen their competitive edge and profitability.”

The concentrations expand upon the college’s bachelor’s-degree programs that pioneered culinary-management education in the 1990s.

Students in the Advanced Wine, Beverage, and Hospitality concentration spend a semester at the CIA’s Greystone campus in the heart of California's Napa Valley wine country. Throughout the program, they get an upper-level wine-and-beverage education and study the advanced principles of management as they relate to hospitality and restaurant service.

Kendall Collegeannounced in August that itsaccreditation has been reaffirmed by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) for 10 years—the maximum amount of time allowed. In addition, Kendall’s School of Culinary Arts’A.A.S. in Baking and Pastry and A.A.S. in Culinary Arts programs’ accreditations from the AmericanCulinaryFederationEducationFoundation’sAccrediting Commission (ACFEFAC) have been renewed and awarded “exemplary” status. Exemplary status means programs meet the highest possible educational standards recognized by the ACFEFAC.

“HLC’s reaffirmation of our accreditation for 10 years is an endorsement of the quality, reputation and student-centeredness of our programs,” says Emily Williams Knight, president of Kendall College. “In commenting on the strengths of our programs, the HLC team noted, ‘the staff, leadership, advisory and executive board shared a consistent passion for how Kendall is focused on being a student centric organization.’ The team also noted that ‘since the last HLC visit in 2004, Kendall College has made significant—and in some cases exemplary—progress with its institutional and learning assessment processes.’”

As the American Culinary Federation’s 2013 National Chef Educator of the Year learned from her fourth-grade teacher, to achieve success in the classroom, a good instructor must be able to recognize the learning styles of his or her students and adjust his or her teaching style accordingly. Because every student deserves a Miss Farber.

By Leslie Eckert, CCE, CWPC, MBA

“It takes time to discover what works for you.”

As a child in elementary school I learned differently from all the other kids around me. It took me longer to absorb and retain information, and I had to work twice as hard to achieve accuracy with regards to technique. I was labeled a slow learner in second grade and attended summer school just to keep up with my third-grade class. Fourth grade came like all the other grades, but I soon realized on the first day of class this year was going to be different.

Miss Farberwas an incredible teacher who made learning fun, easy and exciting, and thinking back now, her style of teaching was so different from my previous teachers. Miss Farber incorporated games, pictures, role-playing, colors and sounds in our daily learning and promoted a learner-centered classroom. It was an incredible year, and I missed Miss Farber as I entered into fifth grade, where I found myself confronted with the old style of teaching and learning. Was the magic of learning gone for good?

Culinary instructors from across the nation recently participated in Emmi Roth USA culinary-externship program and American Cheese Society conference events.

Emmi Roth USA, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Emmi Group and a leading provider of specialty cheeses and premium fresh dairy products, recently welcomed six culinary instructors to participate in a Wisconsin Cheese Immersion at the company’s creamery and Culinary Education Center in Monroe, Wis. Admission to the program was supported by partner CAFÉ.

From July 30 to Aug. 3, the instructors experienced a comprehensive cheese immersion though hands-on cheesemaking, working alongside Emmi Roth USA corporate chefs and educational sessions. The externship coincided with the 30^th Annual American Cheese Society (ACS) Conference & Competition in Madison, Wis. This national conference drew cheesemakers, specialty retailers and other industry professionals from around the country and offered additional opportunities for the externship participants.

Culinary instructors who participated in the program were Daryl Nosek, FMP, curriculum chair of culinary arts at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, N.Y.; Chris Bugher, CEC, of  Mountwest Community College in Huntington, W.V.; Colin Roche, Ph.D., CEC, FMP, CHE, of Johnson & Wales University in North Miami, Fla.; Michelle Gaw of Cuyahoga Community College in Highland Hills, Ohio; J. Claire Menck, Ph.D., culinary director of The Art Institute of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; and Todd Barrios, CEC, of Stephan F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Advanced planning, organization, preparation, creativity, flexibility and solid content knowledge are all necessary to challenge students and let them know what is expected of them.

By Bradley J. Ware, Ph.D., and C. Lévesque Ware, Ph.D.

Effective classroom management is possible when strategies that facilitate learning and reduce disciplinary problems are implemented. Solutions that can positively contribute to reaching this goal include:  preparing a well-thought-out syllabus that carefully delineates student accountability; using a system of evaluation that de-emphasizes individual grading; and including course work that is both relevant and challenging.

The Course Syllabus
A syllabus is a document that explains a course in detail. It provides students with precise information concerning what must be done to successfully complete a course. An organized syllabus sets the tone of the course and relays that the instructor is prepared and in control. A good syllabus clearly spells out the instructor’s expectations and should therefore be presented on the first day of class. When reviewing the syllabus with students it is important to make sure that they understand the rationale behind each rule, regulation and policy, and the reasons why these are critical to the overall success of the lab/class. A well-worded, clear syllabus can greatly reduce the occurrence of disciplinary problems.

De-emphasizing Individual Grades
In most colleges and university courses, instructors use quizzes, midterms and final exams as their primary evaluative criteria. Unfortunately, individual graded exams often cause fear and anxiety among students and create a competitive atmosphere that divides excellent students and marginal students. Using hybrid forms of these instruments can reduce test anxiety and provide greater opportunities for student success. A midterm or final exam might include a section that contains essay questions that are prepared at home prior to the in-class portion of the exam. “Take home” exams allow students to plan, prepare and organize their essays in advance, reducing the pressure of time constraints. The inclusion of a collection of essays from which students select a predetermined number and develop these is another option. Students might be asked to select and develop three essays from the five presented.

Following the recommendations identified by the acronym, WARM, you can inspire students to reach for ultimate success from the moment they return to or begin their training.

By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

Last month, we discussed honoring and celebrating differences; this month, we will talk about ways to begin a semester by making our students feel special—not always something we think about it, given all the other tasks that face us in September, the time most U.S. colleges begin the year again. There are four major strategies: welcoming, asking, reminding and mixing it up, or WARM. Now might be a good time to consider adopting one or all of them.

Welcoming
Welcoming people has always been a fundamental principle of hospitality. As chefs, we welcome people by feeding them or otherwise offering them food. As teachers, we think about the first class of the term, and we do it well.

This year might be a useful time to think about welcoming them back to the institution, however. As your students come back to the campus after a summer break or an internship/coop/apprentice/work experience, how do you greet them? Do you look for ways to welcome them back to school? Do you invite them to notice all the changes that have been made over the summer? Do you focus on providing each of them with a compliment? Or ask about accomplishments?  Have you reviewed the organization of your office and considered rearranging it to be more welcoming to new and returning students? These and other questions will help you think about how to welcome your new and returning students to the campus.

Students in teams don’t necessarily have to like each other, says Chef Weiner. They won’t have the luxury of choosing their teammates in the real world, after all. But they do have to learn to work together to execute a successful meal. Here are proven tips to teach them how.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

At the recent CAFÉ Leadership Conference in Miami I had the privilege of attending a seminar by Paul Sorgule of Harvest America Ventures. Paul said something that was a proverbial slap in the face for me. He stated that all culinary instructors teach with teams, but we don’t really understand how teams work, nor do we specifically teach our students how to work in teams.

One of the key items he covered is that there are four phases in each team project:

Testing

Infighting

Organization

Mature Closeness

The first thing people do when assigned to a team is to test out the other team members and themselves in the team. How much do the other team members know? How much can I assert myself in the team? Will I be able to ride on other people’s coattails?

Dr. Tso-Cheng Chang was a pioneer of “no pesticides or herbicides” farming in the United States. His farm, which grows vegetables for his award-winning restaurant in Amherst, Mass., not only is one of the largest bean-spout producers in the nation, it also grows schizandra berries—which might be the ginseng of this decade.

Long before “shop local, buy local” became something Americans came to value, Dr. Tso-Cheng Chang grew his own Chinese vegetables to serve at his award-winning restaurant, Amherst Chinese Food, on Main Street in downtown Amherst, Mass. So when in 1983 he converted his farm in nearby Whatley into a small factory designed to mass-produce bean sprouts, it barely caused a ripple on the local business scene.

That same factory on Dr. Chang’s Farm recently celebrated its 30^th anniversary with the distinction of being one of the largest soybean- and mung-bean-sprout facilities in the United States.

“You would say from the success of his restaurant and the sprout farm that Dr. Chang epitomizes the American dream, but his story goes beyond that,” says Steven V. Dubin, spokesperson for Dr. Chang Naturals, which grows and wholesales the company’s certified schizandra berries. “In fact, it’s quite fitting that his farm is in a region known as Pioneer Valley because Dr. Chang has pioneered a number of things, most notably ‘no herbicides or pesticides’ farming.” 

Chang’s journey began in a small town in Shandong Province, China, where he was born in the late 1920s. He earned an undergraduate degree in agronomy from Taiwan University in 1953 and later emigrated to the United States, where he earned an M.S. in crop science from Michigan State University in 1966.