INDULGE

the movers
{EDUCATOR}
Larry
Rice
So when this son of a single mom who worked as a keyboarder became
the first in his family to go to college (his sister and older brother would
later follow suit), it was no surprise that his destination would ultimately be
Johnson & Wales University’s Charleston Campus for an associate’s degree in
culinary arts. Today, with a slew of additional degrees to his name and a roster
of culinary and academic achievements, Rice leads the school’s North Miami
Campus as president, a post he officially assumed last summer, after 22 years
on-site in various roles. “It felt right,” said Rice, who along with the famed
culinary program also oversees degrees in majors like Criminal Justice and
Fashion Merchandising and Retailing.
At the festive culinary school, where students don proper uniforms in
class and the halls are lined with their ornate creations (think mouthwatering
chocolate sculptures and tiered cakes), Rice is focused on producing chefs
who can adapt to a shifting economy where only the strongest survive. “Chefs
have to be leaders and managers now,” he said. “You have to understand
how to keep the doors open.” The key to this, he said, is critical thinking and
problem-solving skills, marketing savvy and math know-how. “Our students
aren’t just learning the traditional mother sauces and methods of cooking,”
said Rice, 46, who lives in Plantation. “We are teaching them lifelong skills
that will be sustainable for years to come.”
“Farm to table is not
just a trend, it’s going
to be a way of life.”
After a steady climb to the top post at
Johnson & Wales University’s North Miami
Campus, Dr. Larry Rice recounts his journey
from pancakes to jackfruit.
When Dr. Larry Rice was a young boy growing up in
rural Union, South Carolina, the expectation was that
he’d marry his high school sweetheart and settle
into a career as a welder or a grinder. But something
else, something bigger, was pulling at him. Just
consider his weekend mornings, which he spent trying
to create the perfect pancake for his little sister. (“My goal was to find the
right height, the right density, the right caramelization on the exterior,”
he recalled with a laugh. “My sister just wanted to indulge in my food!”)
Consider too his 16th birthday, when he applied for a job as a dishwasher
at the finest restaurant in town, a now-shuttered chain he equates with
Outback Steakhouse. Within months, he was a high school student by day
and head cook at night, responsible for staff that was “old enough to be
my mother or grandmother,” he said.
Because Rice believes the focus on healthy food is here to stay, he’s made
a point of supporting classes that address health, wellness and sustainable
foods. An edible landscape on campus features more than 100 varieties of
fruits and vegetables. “Farm to table is not just a trend, it’s going to be a
way of life,” he said. He also predicts food styling will become increasingly
important. “Plates have to come out looking perfect, and the smell has
to be enhanced through natural smells,” he said.
While the culinary students hone these skills in nine state-of-theart
cooking labs, criminal justice students across campus hole up in a
fingerprinting lab and fashion students learn in a mock boutique and
boardroom. All gather at The Mix, the school’s cafeteria that serves more
than 99 cultural cuisines. The school’s various majors intersect in the real
world, Rice said, and while he’s mum on the details, he’s planning a big
event for 2016 that will bring them all together with a performing arts
organization. He’s also planning two new bachelor programs for Fall 2016,
one in Entrepreneurship that will allow students to hone their ideas
alongside mentors and another in International Business Administration
that will include a study abroad component.
His plate full at work, Rice still finds comfort cooking for his family, who
transitioned together to a vegan lifestyle nearly four years ago after watching
a documentary and reading a book touting health benefits. “I realized that
knowing all I know about culinary arts, food manipulation, flavors and methods
of cooking, I could live a healthy life without animal protein,” Rice said. So
instead of perfecting breakfast for his sister, he recently braised jackfruit for
a mock hash with a low-country twist for wife Michele, an associate professor
of conflict resolution at Nova Southeastern University who he met at church
while both were studying at Florida International University, and his daughters,
one a high school junior and the other pursuing a master’s degree in Orlando.
“My daughters couldn’t tell the difference from the meat dish they ate in
the Carolinas!” he marvels. “When you braise it the right way, it has the
consistency of meat without the cholesterol and with all the potassium and
antioxidants that come with jackfruit!” Next up: pancakes, vegan-style?
TEXT BY LAUREN COMANDER / PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK GARCIA
50 INDULGE | FEBRUARY / MARCH 2016 | www.miamiindulge.com