Canton Observer for September 9, 1982 - Canton Public Library

Josephine Schembri of Canton Townsh ip and Joe Muscat of
Westland learn the less glamorous s de of cuisine.
Chef Richard Benson (right) demonstrates preparation of German
potato pancakes in the expansive new kitchens of Schoolcraft College's
Culinary Arts addition. Students are (from left) Pete Veach,
Thursday, September 9, 198
*
Dan Miller, Mike Dorer and Joe Less. The addition allows the com
munity college to double enrollment in one of its most popular vo-
cational programs.
College's new addition is a cook's delight
Robert L. Breithaupt, director of the Schoolcraft College culinary arts program, inspects a cut of
meat to be used in teaching meat cutting.
Culinary arts students at Schoolcraft have real classrooms
in their new building and no longer need to use
j
i
%> r
the cafeteria as a lecture room. Here, Karl Qiliwicz,
president, addresses members of the Gourmet Club.
By Suzi« Rollins Singer
staff writer
It's a cook's dream.
Scores of 20-quart mixing bowls,
five-gallon containers of ingredients
and dozens of ovens are scattered between
kitchens separated for pastry,
meat slaughtering and quantity food
production.
Every inch of the 7,500 square feet of
culinary space is being used by the 120
full-time Schoolcraft College students
studying to be professional chefs.
THE NEW $1.3 million Culinary Arts
Building, an addition to the original
cafeteria in the Waterman Campus
Center, brings the structure's size to
12,000 square feet, said Robert
Breithaupt, the certified executive chef
who directs one of Schoolcraft's most
popular and famous programs.
"Prior to this year, we were only
able to handle 30 new students a year.
We had a 3^ year waiting list. Now we
can handle 120 full-time students, 22
co-op students, 60 apprentices and 15 in
continuing education," Breithaupt said.
In an era when expansion is rare,
Schoolcraft's culinary addition is the
first major construction on the campus
in almost a decade. The culinary addition
is at the north end of the campus
at 18600 Haggerty, Livonia.
A visitor couldn't doubt for a
moment the professionalism whipping
through the kitchen. The atmosphere is
alive with talk of fluffiness, quality and
perfection.
The former cafeteria kitchen, where
all classes were once taught, is now
used only for quantity food preparation
— its original purpose.
BY MID-MORNING about 15 stu
a - _ . ; _ i *
Tart shells filled with beans
await baking in the new culinary
arts kitchen at Schoolcraft.
The beans weigh down
the pastry so it doesn't bubble.
dent chefs clad in white jackets and toques
scurry around the 700-square-foot
kitchen busily preparin g lunch for the
college community.
One hovers over a frj ing pan with 15
German pancakes whi e another pre-
pares an egg-based di« h. Chatter fills
the air.
"This is all a han ds-o n experience,
Everything is geared i o simulate the
industry," Breithaupt s< id proudly,
The curriculum inclu des courses on
quantity production, dvanced (a la
carte) dining room proo edures, French
service, baking and pa itry procedures
and labratory work.
Staff photos by Bill Breslet
Leonard Stec, pastry chef, demonstrates
a decorating technique to students Rob-
%
"It's a two-year associate's degree
program with two 16-week semesters a
year," explained Breithaupt, a 35-year
veteran chef and assistant dean of applied
science. Each course is eight
weeks long
Future chefs get a taste of meat cutting
in the kitchen's butcher shop
Whole steer, veal and lamb arrive for
students to cut up, Breithaupt said.
"Our only requirement is that the animal
must be dead and gutted,' he added.
JOB OFFERS abound, the chef said,
from restaurants around the state, as
well as several from neighboring
states.
If culinary arts students decide to
further their education, they have the
option to tranfer their full credits to
Grand Valley State College or portions
of them to Michigan State University.
Cornell or University of Nevada for de
gees in hotel, restaurant and institu
tional management
"Most of them will go into industry
as line cooks, saute or broiler cooks or
assistants to chefs. Some may even go
to Europe," Breithaupt explained
Breithaupt is quick to point out that
while neighboring community colleges
like Henry Ford and Oakland Community
College have culinary arts programs,
theirs are more management
orientated. Schoolcraft's is entirely career
orientated.
It's no longer a man's world in the
kitchen either. "We're running aboyt
50-50 men and women," he said
Consumption of their delectable de
lights isn't confined to students The
general public may stop by the Waterman
Center between 11 a m. and 2 p m
for lunch and sample a diverse menu at
reasonable prices
m
ert Bugeja (left) of Belleville and Russ
Fogleman of Wayne.