Village Clients Prepare for Careers In the Culinary Arts

By Martha Lepore

   Hold the mayo. Pass the hollandaise!
Food preparation students at St. Vincent de Paul Village have sautéed and stir-fried their way into the annals of history as members of the Village’s Culinary Arts Program charter class.

   Offered through a collaboration with the Centers for Education & Technology (CET) in the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), the Village’s 600-hour course prepared the 20 graduates for careers in the food service and hospitality industries.

   “St. Vincent’s program is unique and sophisticated,” said James Smith, SDCCD vice president of instructional service. “Once completed, students receive a certification that meets the standards of the American Culinary Federation. There are only two other programs like it in California.”

   Still in its infancy, the Culinary Arts Program won immediate support. “We are very enthusiastic about this program,” said Donna Namdar, a CET professor of Family and Consumer Sciences. “When Chris Burgess from St. Vincent’s proposed the training program through our Centers, Marc Cuellar, dean of the César Chavaz Center, and I were impressed with his vision, energy and inspiration,” she said.

   The collaboration of Village and CET allows students to receive culinary training with no fees, yet the education is comparable to one that students at vocational schools elsewhere could pay fees upwards of $17,000, according to Namdar.

   Cuellar, Namdar and CET’s President Felix Aquino will make a presentation about the Culinary Arts Program to the League for Innovation for Colleges in Phoenix this spring.