“Sit down and I’ll show you how much I know.”
As a young culinary student in New Orleans, I witnessed many of my teachers have a self-centered attitude.
Kristen Grissom had a similar experience and now believes that this approach gets in the way of the mission of higher education. Grissom is director of the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas at Greenville Technical College, where I taught for two semesters. I can assure you that she is not the type to show off.
She is entering her 12th year at the institute and today the school boasts a 65% graduation rate, which is quite high for a school of its kind. She sees students dropping out because they have been convinced by their current employers – restaurants, hotels or country clubs – that they don’t need their degree because they can “learn everything they need on the job.” I disagree completely. The books, the lectures, the assignments and the lab work are a crucial part of understanding the path to becoming a chef, restaurant owner or manager.
“I’m happy when a student comes to school and can’t even sharpen a knife, dice a carrot or cut up a chicken, and a few years later they have a job as a chef that they love, their cooking skills are perfect and they see a path to success in the restaurant industry,” Grissom said. “On the other hand, there are also a whole bunch of people who come here to become great chefs. They may be retired or on a sabbatical and want to learn the craft of cooking professionally. I think that’s great, and learning to cook is never a bad idea.”
“When I took the position as department head, I had a lot of preconceived ideas about the position, and in this job I counsel many children who struggle with the basic needs of life. Over the years, we have had many students who lacked housing, transportation, or money to purchase their school supplies.”
Graduates of the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas are at the helm of some of our city’s most well-known restaurants, and that greatly boosts the morale of our city – and of Grissom’s.
“I’m excited that we’re helping to grow the culinary scene in Greenville. I grew up in Florida and this is my adopted home,” she said. “I love Greenville and our school helps make Greenville special. Plus, culinary arts is a career that neither technology nor AI will ever destroy. It will always be a craft practiced by dedicated chefs.”
Greenville Tech Culinary Institute of the Carolinas offers multiple areas of study and the Career Pathways scholarship may cover the cost of tuition, books, and fees.
“City Juice” is the colloquial term for a glass of tap water served in a restaurant. John Malik is a culinary consultanthe and broker at National Restaurant Properties. He can be reached at [email protected].
