Alumni Columns - Northwestern State University Alumni

CAMPUS NEWSCulinary Arts concentration provides a taste of foodand beverage industry for aspiring chefs/managersNSU’s burgeoning concentration inculinary arts is attracting students fromwidely diverse backgrounds who areinterested not only in learning how to preparefine dining cuisine, but also the businessside of the food and beverage industry.Culinary arts courses are offeredunder the Hospitality Management andTourism (HMT) program and appeal tostudents interested in careers in cateringand restaurant management as well as theepicurious.“Some students are crossing overfrom other majors to take the classes aselectives. You can get a minor in culinaryarts or pursue the concentration underHMT. There may be a situation in whicha business major or general studies majorgets a minor in culinary arts,” saidinstructor and NSU Alumnus Todd Barrios.“We’re opening up the availabilityof classes to a greater range of people.”Barrios, a Certified Executive Chef,teaches four culinary arts classes andplans to increase the program’s visibilityby offering leisure cooking classes anddemonstrations for the general public.Classes currently being offered includeadvanced baking, Garde Manger: the artof the cold kitchen, advanced food prepand catering/buffet. A food sciencecourse and lab are prerequisites for theclasses. Other courses tied to the concentrationare meal management, large quantitycooking, food and beverage management,which teaches the business behindthe industry, and food service layout, acourse in which students learn how todesign a commercial kitchen.“It’s a complete restaurant and foodproduction curriculum,” Barrios said.“We added the concentrationbecause we had quite a few studentrequests and phone calls asking if we hada program,” said Dr. Patricia Pierson,head of the Department of Family andNSU culinary arts students Chance Price and Justin Nelson learn to prepare differenttypes of meringue with help from instructor Todd Barrios, right.Consumer Sciences (FACS). “Weresearched other curricula from schoolsall across the country and developed whatwe thought was a good fit for our program.”Barrios, an award-winning chef whospent a portion of his career in restaurantmanagement, earned an undergraduatedegree in 1993 through NSU’s Departmentof Family and Consumer Scienceswith a concentration in Hospitality, Managementand Tourism before HMT wasits own full program. As an undergraduate,he was a member of the Spirit ofNorthwestern drum line. Barrios workedin restaurants and well-known establishmentsin New Orleans and Baton Rougebefore joining NSU’s staff in January andmoving back to Natchitoches with hiswife, the former Sheree Griffin, and theirchildren, Camryn and Caden.“I was finding as an executive chefand as a food and beverage manager thata lot of kids coming out of culinaryschools were not prepared for the industryin terms of the knowledge and thedemands and the pace,” Barrios said.“I’ve been doing this the last 12 years. Ineed to prepare them for what to expectin this line of work.”Valerie Thornton, a senior HMTmajor from Lakeland, Fla., was interestedin the culinary arts concentration becauseshe operates her own catering companyand wanted to learn more about foodpreparation and gain hands-on experiencein the production area of the food andrestaurant business.“Some things that have surprised meabout the business are the amount ofhours you are required to work even afteryou earn your degree and the amount ofturnover there is for managers in corporaterestaurants,” Thornton said. “Somethings that have surprised me about beingin the kitchen are how intricate the bakingprocess is and how much hands-onknowledge you need in a kitchen. Thereare so many tricks and tidbits that youlearn that a book can not teach you.”Before choosing HMT as a major,Thornton worked in the restaurant busi-www.northwesternalumni.comAlumni Columns Fall 2006 / 5