Chefs for Community Service: Cooking for a Greater Good

Student Contributor: Tiffany M. Davis
Culinary Arts Degree Program:
A.O.S. Culinary Arts

We’ve heard it many times before: the best way
to show what you’ve learned is to teach it to others.
In that case, the students in Chefs for Community
Service (CCS) have learned quite a bit. For the past
two weekends, CCS has provided volunteer culinary
service to community organizations in the NYC area.
In doing so, CCS gives these organizations a more
gastronomically exciting experience that enhances
the community work they do, and leaves everyone
involved a bit better for it.

Personal gratification can come from many aspects
of our lives: finishing a busy restaurant’s dinner
service on the line without any major mishaps, getting
a good grade in class, or passing a practical. So, why
community service? Why the selfless act of putting in
long kitchen hours, with equipment and food products
that are vastly different from what we work with here
at the CIA, and for no payment whatsoever other than
personal gratification?

“On a personal level, I simply wanted to be a part
of a helping hand in NYC, since it is home to a lot of
those in need,” says Ethan Oh, current CCS president
and organizer. To that end, he manages both culinary
and baking students who go out once a week to
different locations in the area to cook quantity meals
for crowds ranging from 10 to 300. The community
groups range from faith-based organizations to soup
kitchens to “life rehabilitation centers.” All are nonprofit
organizations focused on giving back to those
who need it the most.

Most recently, CCS cooked a Korean barbecue
for the Rural and Migrant Ministry at St. James
Episcopalian Church in Hyde Park, NY, through an
introduction from the Culinary Christian Fellowship.
The barbecue was the cap on a 3K walk event that
raised money for the ministry. Members of CCS spent
the night before the barbecue prepping potatoes,
onions, and almost twenty pounds of top round for an
expected crowd of 100. The next day, the CCS crew
prepared potato salad as well as enough fixings for the
multitude of hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken that
was grilled outside over hot coals.

The main attraction, however, was the Korean
barbecue that had marinated overnight in Oh’s secret
recipe. Throughout the barbecue, guests took every
opportunity to speak with CCS members; one guest
was a 1940s graduate of the American Institute of
Baking and delighted in the memories evoked by
seeing the students running around in their whites.
The event ended up being a great success, with guests
purchasing containers of barbecue and potato salad
to take home; all leftovers were donated to a local
shelter.

The weekend prior to the barbecue, CCS cooked
a Dinner Impossible-type meal that may have rivaled
Robert Irvine’s experiences: they had five hours to
cook a meal from scratch for over 200 residents and
staff at the Bowery Mission in NYC. CCS stepped up
to the task in a joint effort with Chaînes des Rôtisseurs
and pulled off a timely menu of braised chicken with
peppers and onions, rice pilaf, a Mediterranean-style
green salad with Kalamata olives, feta cheese,
tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, topped with a
Parmesan vinaigrette, Raspberry peach cobbler, and
lemon Italian ice with raspberry sauce.

Stacy Landau, Manager of Volunteer Relations at
the Bowery Mission, was ecstatic at the production
and professionalism of CCS members. “You guys
just came in and made things happen, and we are
so grateful,” she said. Clyde Edey, Bowery Mission
chef, agreed. “This was a good thing you did,” he
said as he observed from the sidelines in his own chef
whites and assisted with product procurement. Other
Bowery Mission staff and residents agreed. “Thank
you so much,” was a common refrain as residents
lined up to get their meals, which were vastly different
from what they are served every day. “You guys rock,”
said another member of the kitchen staff, who kindly
washed pots and pans as the meal progressed.

Oh explained the choice of the Bowery Mission
as a community service project: “Bowery Mission
is a fantastic organization and the oldest mission
in NYC. They're dedicated to serving people from
many different walks of life - domestic abuse, neglect,
homelessness, or drug addiction. The soup kitchen is
operated by members of the live-in program.

“The reason why I wanted our group to visit Bowery
was to get our club members to see the different types
of organizations each of us can serve. We've been
volunteering at a place called The Queens Galley in
Kingston the past couple months and that place has
a completely different dynamic from Bowery. I feel
it was important for those who have been to Queens
Galley to see the Bowery Mission to broaden their
perspective on community service. Similarly, those
who went Bowery should join us when we go back to
Queens Galley.”

Podcast Features Leader in Fine Italian Cuisine

Chat with Scott Conant, Class of 1992, is Newest in Series

Scott Conant, a top name among chefs of Italian cuisine in New York City, talks about his career in the newest "Insight from the Inside" podcast from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). "Insight from the Inside" is a series of chats with CIA graduates who have exciting jobs in the food world.

During the 11-minute podcast, the 1992 CIA graduate shares highlights of his professional life, from the mentors who guided his career to earning a James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant in America with L'Impero in 2003. Chef Conant is now the owner of Scarpetta in New York City and Miami Beach, FL and the author of two cookbooks, New Italian Cooking and Bold Italian.

What stands out in Conant's memory about his days at the CIA was the professional approach among his classmates and realizing he wasn't the only 18-year-old passionate about food. "There was such a passion that every student had. I always had it, but here it was par for the course," Chef Conant recalled. "Every discussion was about food. Everything was about how to get yourself better; focusing on technique; how to be a professional chef."

Conant recorded the podcast while on campus to judge student presentations from the Marketing and Promoting Food course in the CIA's bachelor's degree program.

"Insight from the Inside" has featured CIA graduates Grant Achatz, John Besh, Cat Cora, Dan Coudreaut, Steve Ells, Duff Goldman, Johnny Iuzzini, Sara Moulton, Charlie Palmer, Michael Symon, and Top Chef winners Ilan Hall and Hung Huynh. To hear the interview with Chef Conant or receive future podcasts, visit www.ciachef.edu/podcasts.