Trident sees big culinary future

In recent years, cooking has become entertainment, and chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Rachael Ray have become stars, leaders at Trident Technical College's Culinary Institute of Charleston said.

The school will be better able to satisfy the growing interest in the culinary arts with a renovated 25,000-square-foot facility on the Palmer campus in downtown Charleston. The $9.5 million project will be completed sometime this summer, and classes in the new facility will begin in the fall, the leaders said.

Marion Sullivan, the school's culinary program specialist, said Trident's plans for both its large cooking facility on the North Charleston campus and the renovations on the Palmer campus were in the works before the world-renowned Johnson & Wales cooking school left Charleston in 2006. But, she said, Trident's downtown facility can fill some of that void.

Mike Carmel, head of Trident's culinary department, said mixing cooking's popularity with a city known for fabulous food and restaurants is a recipe for successful culinary education programs.

More students are becoming interested in Trident's culinary programs, he said. Even young people still in high school are expressing an interest in cooking careers.

"The thing that's cool about cooking is that it's passionate, and you get immediate results," Carmel said. "You know right away if you've done a good job."

Louis Yuhasz, a recruiter in the culinary industry, called Trident's plans for the Palmer campus "brilliant."

The new facility on the Palmer campus will have a 120-seat amphitheater with a demonstration kitchen as well as special kitchens for teaching classes, food production, baking and conducting nutritional research, said Michael Saboe, dean of the Trident's Culinary Institute. It also will have four "mixology" stations, where students can learn to mix drinks, and a 50-seat dining room.

The downtown site makes it a good place to offer advanced culinary training to people already in the industry, Saboe said.

"One of the things that's interesting about our industry is not everybody wants a degree," Carmel said.

The school will offer two new culinary certificate programs at the Palmer campus next year: advanced baking and pastry and advanced culinary arts.

Carmel said the facility also will be used for special events and short continuing education classes, such as a two-night sushi course.

Trident will continue to offer its associate degree program in culinary arts at its North Charleston campus, Carmel said.

The North Charleston facility opened in 2005 and serves 550 culinary and 125 hospitality industry students, Carmel said. Next fall, the school expects to add at least 150 students. The facility can enroll up to 1,100 students, he said.

Carmel said he's certain students with cooking skills will land jobs in Charleston whether or not they earn a degree. "There are more jobs than students to fill them," he said.