Commentary: Baltimore International College's new Culinary Arts

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Aug 13, 2005 by Kristen Keener

It was This Old House meets The Galloping Gourmet.

With the same facile hospitality a chef would exhibit in bringing his guests to the table, our guide in a tall white hat kindly told us to watch out for the table saw. We were also careful to mind the loosely dangling wires, stacks of ceiling tiles and stray tools as we made our way to the kitchen laboratories.

While the Baltimore International College's new Culinary Arts Center is still a renovation in progress, a small group of reporters was invited to come see what will be the independent college's state- of-the-art instructional facility. With less than a month before students arrive to start their fall semester, there were still more construction workers measuring, sawing and installing than there were culinary professionals mincing, slicing or infusing.

But our tour guide, Richard Stuthmann, the college's director of instruction, was unruffled as he showed off the attributes of the new center.

They've assured us they're going to turn it over to us in two weeks, he said of the contractors darting around the building.

Located in Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood, the Culinary Arts Center is a reincarnation of the David E. Weglein Elementary School, Baltimore City Public School #2. The school is actually two buildings - a traditional brick schoolhouse dating back to 1910 and a squat Seventies addendum that was erected on the 2.5-acre site to accommodate the upsurge in school-age kids once the Boomers settled down.

It is the three-story, 1970 building that is the site of the first segment of an estimated $17 million renovation project. This first phase cost $7.6 million and is being carried out by CAM Construction, Gaudreau Inc., and Pappas & Associates. Baltimore International College was able to secure $4.1 million in local funding, including a $1 million state capital grant. The remaining funds for the project came from personal gifts, in-kind donations and financing from Branch Banking and Trust Co.

Begun in January 2004, the renovation already has added almost 20,000 square feet of educational space, more than doubling the college's 13,400 square feet of lab space in six buildings throughout Baltimore. Construction on the second building will begin in 2009.

Sweating like onions in a skillet right before they caramelize - the air conditioning and other utilities had not yet been turned on at the center - we wended our way to see the seven new culinary arts laboratories, the purchasing lab, auditorium and gymnasium, administrative offices and student recreation spaces.

Because the new facility allows the college to consolidate its classroom space, all 800-plus full-time students - whether they're pursuing a certificate, associate's degree or bachelor's degree - will spend time in the culinary arts laboratories. The labs will have current and even some prototype commercial-grade equipment for students studying cooking, baking, pastry making, culinary management, hospitality management, and food and beverage management.

Each of the laboratories may be in use three times a day for classes that last up to five hours.

One first-floor lab is specifically equipped for garde manger, a French term for pantry storage that encompasses the preparation of all cold foods - appetizers, dressings, salads, pâte - or food skills that require a colder environment, namely ice sculpting, sugar sculpting, cake decorating and truffle making. The first floor also will be fitted with a smoker for making cured meats and sausages.

Though none of the labs was yet assembled, Baltimore County- based Vulcan-Hart, a maker of commercial restaurant equipment, provided a large part of more than $1 million worth of brand-new cooking equipment installed in the center. Beneath a coating of dust and other construction residue, the stainless steel ranges, ovens, steamers and fryers were pushed to the rooms' peripheries until it could be installed and put to use.

In designing the labs, the idea was to provide the educational space and the newest equipment to allow students to master the skills required for a job in the culinary arts or hospitality fields.

With food consciousness on the rise among Americans, students can use all the preparation they can get, Stuthmann said. Thanks to Food Network and cable TV, Americans have a demand for knowledge about food. They want to be shown the tricks of the trade.

His goal is to teach his students the skills they need to exceed customers' expectations every time, he said.

If he is given a week, Stuthmann says he can teach anyone to cook, but what he's trying to do is graduate hospitality and culinary professionals.

Part of doing that lies within the eighth educational space: the purchasing laboratory, where students learn that there is more to running a commercial kitchen than food prep and presentation. Indeed, some of the best chefs make the worst restaurateurs, Stuthmann said.

Baltimore International College students learn how to handle various foods, do inventory, manage safety issues, order and purchase products, identify various food items, requisition products to the classroom, and understand seasonal issues and when various products are available at the best cost.