Charleston Cooks! - eatdrink Magazine

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four-month semesters running November
through February (versus the normal academic
three months), with related work
experience required during the intervening
eight months. Half of the student body (currently
numbering 71 with a capacity of 76) is
�rst-year, learning and working alongside the
returning second-year students. Fourteenhour
days are the norm, and there is attrition.
�e other point of di�erentiation is that
the School is operated and sta�ed by a dozen
working restaurant professionals. “�e curriculum
is based on [Auguste] Esco�er’s
philosophy of French dining and kitchen
organization,” says Payne, “but the School is
also geared to the chef/owner model of restaurateurs
who want to be passionately and
personally involved in their work.”
So the students are immersed in culinary
history, nutrition, restaurant design, purchasing,
sustainable farming practices, front
of house and table service, communication
and food writing, wine pairing, cheese making,
baking, pastries and desserts, cookery
and presentation from a broad range of nationalities
and regions… right down to how
to bend while picking up a stray fork.
�e students gain perspective on food
at every level and stage, including visiting
local sources and talking to producers,
vintners, brewers and livestock farmers. �e
fare served at the nightly dinners and twiceweekly
luncheons emphasizes fresh local
ingredients with a preference for organic.
“Occasionally, someone will question
strawberries in January or sea bass on the
menu, but we’re a landlocked culinary
school running fall through winter. But
nothing we serve is frozen or prepackaged —
you won’t �nd that in a 120-seat place.”
In addition to all the theory and class time,
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2010
Renowned chefs, such as Tuscany’s Riccardo Camanini,
come from around the world to spend a week teaching
teams of a dozen students prepare and serve
luncheons for up to 25 people on Wednesdays
and Fridays, and larger teams rotate to
prepare the dinners for as many as 60.
For the three-course luncheons, the
menus span classic bistro to nouvelle cuisine,
tapas, southeast Asian and Indian.
Every station is manned by students, and in
addition to personally checking every plate
before it leaves the kitchen, the lead student
chef visits each table to meet the guests
and answers questions. Add a glass or two
of wine and a co�ee, and Wednesday afternoon
never looked and felt so good.
�e nightly dinner series begins with Culinary
Repertoire menus of Chefs School favourites,
for example, Salmon and Tuna Tartare;
Salad of Curly Endive, Bacon and Roquefort;
Grilled Leg of Lamb with Moroccan Ratatouille
and Rosemary Aioli; Iced Chocolate and Coffee
Mousse with Co�ee Granita.