ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 22, 1996 TAG: 9611220065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
IT'LL BE ICY ESCAPADES and special sauces in the Star City, if cooking school proponents have their way.
Icons of sports, television and music, move over.
"Chefs are the celebrities of the moment," according to Patricia Bartholomew.
Bartholomew, head of the hotel and restaurant management program at City University in New York, was in Roanoke Thursday to speak in favor of a proposed culinary arts school at Hotel Roanoke.
Virginia Tech, Virginia Western Community College and hospitality industry representatives hoping to start a local chef school asked community leaders Thursday to support the idea.
The plan's backers said area hotels and restaurants need more chefs, saying an institutional cooking school in Norfolk is brimming with students. Others around the nation have waiting lists, they said.
That's because graduates are easily finding jobs: not only at restaurants and hotels, but with airlines, cruise operators, food service companies and catering businesses, Bartholomew said.
The school's biggest advocates are retired hotel executive and area civic leader Heidi Krisch and Bridget Meagher, owner of Alexander's restaurant in downtown Roanoke. They forwarded their idea Thursday at a luncheon briefing for about 50 community leaders at Hotel Roanoke.
"This looks like a success waiting for a place to happen," said Tom Brock, chairman of the New Century Council.
However, the proposed school is still without the estimated $600,000-plus needed to open its doors. Needed are at least four faculty members at $40,000 apiece and a $500,000 equipped kitchen laboratory. There would be additional costs for food, scholarships and administration to establish the school under the auspices of Virginia Tech's College of Human Resources and Education and Virginia Western.
The idea first came up at a New Century Council community meeting more than three years ago during that organization's effort to chart the economic future of Western Virginia.
The project was tabled during a period of state government budget cuts. Krisch said today's budget climate is brighter.
Backers already have picked out space at the Hotel Roanoke's conference center for classrooms. Gary Needham, the hotel's head chef, said he could offer students hands-on training in his kitchen.
Classes could start in fall 1997 or spring 1998, with up to 50 students the first semester. The program would enroll high school graduates, career-changers and those already in the food business who want new skills.
Cooking is presently part of Virginia Tech's Hospitality and Tourism Management curriculum, but graduates don't win the same credentials as do graduates of full-fledged cooking schools, which cover specialities such as pastry making, sauce blending and ice carving. Mahmood Khan, head of the Virginia Tech department, said his office receives one or two calls weekly from would-be culinary artists looking for either a two-year or four-year degree program, which is what the proposed school would offer.
Only about six schools in the nation provide top-notch culinary training. Tuition runs $10,000 to $15,000 annually. Entry-level chefs earn $30,000 to $35,000 a year, and executive chefs make $50,000 to $60,000.
An increasing trend toward eating out is driven in part by Americans' having more money and time, Bartholomew said. A recent study found that Americans spend half their food budget eating out, she said.
A cooking school task force is being formed. Those interested can reach Khan at (540) 231-5515 or Meagher at (540) 982-6983.
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