ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE CULINARY ARTS ... - Alamo Colleges

“Seventy percent of our business is non-vegetarian, and our advertising is all word of mouth,” explained
Chris Behrend. “Our business has tripled in 19 months. We open our next Green restaurant at NW
Military and Wurzbach. We are clean. We listened to all of our core customers to improve for them and to
make being a vegetarian easy. They have eaten with us since the day we opened the door. We offer
southern vegetarian food and Texas music. We‟re proud of it and where we come from,” he said.
“The community colleges help people get jobs where they make a difference,” executive chef Mike
Behrend said with a grin. “St. Philip‟s College is at the forefront of education, from clean energy to
culinary arts, and it‟s inexpensive. Mia can go there and still have a job and take care of her personal life,
compared to other schools which charge 10 times the tuition and do not allow students to work,” he said.
“Our employees realize how much everything we do as humans revolves around what we eat,” Mike
Behrend concluded. “Mia started out as a waitress part-time and moved to prep and will work at our new
location. She‟s a vegetarian and able to do everything she‟s proud of. She‟s invested in what she‟s
doing.”
The St. Philip‟s College Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts offers five primary programs
and a full-time faculty member and advisor to work directly with students in each area. All programs
involve students in classroom-based learning experiences, as well as lab experience, and work-based
learning during a practicum course. The culinary arts and restaurant management programs of the
college received an Exemplary rating from the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting
Commission in 2008. St. Philip‟s College is one of only 25 schools worldwide with the ACFF Accrediting
Commission‟s Exemplary status and is rated Exemplary by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board–––an agency of the Texas state government whose staff oversees all public post–secondary
education in Texas. For information, contact the department staff at (210) 486-2398, or book reservations
with the student-operated restaurant Artemisia‟s at (210) 486-2EAT.
CAPTIONS:
01: St. Philip‟s College culinary arts student Mia Martinez is the night manager at Green Vegetarian Cuisine, recipient
of the San Antonio Business Journal 2011 Going Green Award. A specialist in creating vegetarian food and
beverages, Martinez is one of several students the firm has hired as interns and employees from the college‟s
culinary program, which is one of only 25 to earn a best-in-world Exemplary rating from the American Culinary
Federation Foundation's Accrediting Commission. (SPC IMAGE | PATRICK EVANS)
02: Business has tripled at Green Vegetarian Cuisine, recipient of the San Antonio Business Journal 2011 Going
Green Award, since St. Philip‟s College culinary arts student Mia Martinez was hired to work at the city‟s only allvegetarian
restaurant. (SPC IMAGE | PATRICK EVANS)
About St. Philip’s: Bishop James Steptoe Johnston of the St. Philip‟s Episcopal Church of the West
Texas Diocese founded St. Philip‟s College in 1898. Today, St. Philip‟s College, a member of the Alamo
Colleges, is a multi–campus institution and serves a semester enrollment of more than 11,000 credit and
more than 8,000 continuing education students. St. Philip‟s College is a Historically Black College and a
Hispanic Serving Institution. As “A Point of Pride in the Community,” St. Philip‟s College is among the
oldest and most diverse community colleges in the United States.