Food for thought: what's cooking at Johnson & Wales University teaches students and adds zest to Charlotte's financial district.(PICTURE THIS)

Business North Carolina, April, 2008 by Martin, Edward

Late in the afternoon, along West Trade Street just a few blocks from the heart of Charlotte's financial district, there rises a sweet aroma. It's the smell of success, though not the financial kind. It is of croissant and tart, yeast roll and pie. Dressed in white, just beyond the plate glass and close enough to touch from the sidewalk outside, students of one of North Carolina's newest institutions of higher education busy themselves in their classroom, amid stainless steel and clanking utensils.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In ...