As the largest technicalcollege in the state, MATC offers an impressive career-focused culinary programthat provides the training, practice and experience needed to succeed in therestaurant, hotel or institutional food service industry. Under the capableadministration of Associate Dean Richard Busalacchi, MATC offers associatedegrees, technical diplomas and certificates under the umbrella of itshospitality programs.
Culinary arts, one ofMATC’s most popular programs (with a waiting list), is an associate degreeprogram that typically takes two years to complete, assuming the studentattends full-time, taking 16 credits per semester. However, most MATC culinarystudents are considered nontraditionalrather than attending college full timedirectly after graduating high school, they are balancing school, work andfamily responsibilitiesso they often take more than two years.
“MATC gives people anopportunity, whether people are looking for a second chance, more training, ora new career,” Busalacchi explains. “The college gives people the opportunityto make something of themselves again and again and again.”
The 70 credits ofrequired culinary arts coursework are divided between lectures, demonstrationsand hands-on laboratory experience, and cover an expansive list of topics. Thecurriculum ranges from the preparation of basic and specialized foods, to wineand beverage study, to menu planning and cost control.
In November 2009, MATCcelebrated the opening of a state-of-the-art baking and pastry lab. The collegeis offering a new associate degree program for baking and pastry arts that willbe available for open enrollment in the fall. Students in the program areenrolled in focused coursework, such as “Chocolate, Confections and SugarWork,” “Healthy and Natural Baking” and “Cake Decorating, Icing and PastryBags.”
Central to the culinaryarts method of teaching is to send the students straight from the frying paninto the fire, so to speak. “Anyone can learn in a lab when there is nopressure,” Busalacchi says, “but when there are 15 checks hanging in front ofyou, just piling up, that’s when the students really learn how to operate in abusy, chaotic kitchen.”
With the reassuringguidance of John Reiss, an instructor for MATC's specialty foods program,culinary arts students perform all the rolescooks, sous chefs, servers, hostsand dishwashersin what might be the best-kept dining secret in town: Cuisinerestaurant. Located on the sixth floor of MATC's main building Downtown at 700W. State St., the fine-dining restaurant is open to the public for lunch from11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Diners at Cuisine canexpect a menu brimming with undeniably seductive entrees such as roasted Mainelobster tail served with hot drawn butter, gratin of root vegetables andbroccolini; fresh fettuccine pasta tossed with tomatoes, cauliflower andbutternut squash; and a duet of grilled Pinn-Oak Ridge lamb chop and braisedshoulder accompanied by organic spinach and root vegetables. Parties of up tosix people may reserve the chef’s table located in the kitchen for a firsthandvantage point of the students’ work. Culinary arts students also prepare thefood served at MATC’s food court and bakery, as well as special events.
On Monday, March 8, MATCis hosting its annual “Five Star Food & Wine Evening,” an event thatsupports scholarships and continuing education opportunities for MATC studentsand faculty in its hospitality programs. Guests will travel from station tostation, noshing on French, Asian, Italian and Latin-American specialtiesprepared by culinary arts students, and sip on a variety of paired wines.Baking and pastry arts students will be creating delectable sweets andspecialty pastries to complete the meal. Suzanne Schlicht, an MATC culinaryapprentice graduate and one of the final five contestants on the sixth seasonof “Hell’s Kitchen,” will be lending a hand and displaying her culinary chops forthe fund-raiser.
Because of the low costof tuition, and the quality of the education taught by instructors who havedegrees and more than 10,000 hours of occupational experience, MATC offers avaluable option for aspiring chefs. “Kendall College or Le Cordon Bleu may haveprestige,” Busalacchi says, “but at the end of the day, when you come to MATC,you’re getting the exact same degree and the same training for a third of theprice.”
