Culinary Arts Department

John M. Santora, Chair

Phone: (607) 587-3170; Email: santorjm@alfredstate.edu

The food industry, and in particular food production and management, is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing industries in the world. The variety and number of culinary employment opportunities are apparent to anyone who has dined in a restaurant, resort, college dining hall, hospital, or coffee shop. The industry offers a wide range of career opportunities on many levels, including food production and service, food production management, supervisor of food production employees, and employee training programs.

Students in this program learn culinary arts by cooking approximately 750 meals a day in our cafeteria and in our a la carte lunch and fine dining kitchens. Through production at 'real-world' levels, they develop professionalism, quality, and efficiency. Our labs include institutional, a la carte, evening fine dining, and baking, hands-on food planning, production, service, and management and supervisory skills to meet real customers’ needs.

TECHNICAL STANDARDS

  1. Perform lab functions while standing on their feet for extended periods of time (up to five hours) daily.
  2. Be proficient in reading (for guest checks, recipes, and instructional manuals) and mathematics (for recipe conversion, cost control, and calculations associated with food production and service).
  3. Write with sufficient clarity for communication with faculty, kitchen personnel, and guests.
  4. Lift 40 pounds from floor to eye level.
  5. Orally communicate with people six to 10 feet away.
  6. Visually identify degree of product doneness.
  7. Walk on a slippery floor while carrying 40 pounds with caution and safety.
  8. Handle kitchen equipment, including knives, with dexterity and safety.

Please refer to the most current required tool list on the Alfred State website at www.alfredstate.edu/questions/high-school-seniors-and-recent-graduates/what-tools-do-i-need-for-my-curriculum.

FACILITIES

The Cafeteria Lab gives students the opportunity to learn quantity food production for institutional production of food through the preparation and service of 750 institutional meals daily.

The Restaurant Lab is a well-equipped dining room and a la carte kitchen that has the equipment used in commercial restaurants. Students prepare and serve meals to order for approximately 40 luncheon patrons daily. It is also used for our evening fine dining lab, where up to 16 patrons are treated to gourmet delights in the only evening meal training program in Western New York. Selected banquet activities are scheduled so that students may learn to plan and prepare for catered events. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner special events are scheduled each semester.

The Bakery Lab is reputed to be the best equipped training facility of its kind in the state. The student has access to virtually all types of baking equipment used commercially to produce baked goods. The bakery is adjacent to an institutional food production laboratory and an a la carte kitchen where baked goods are an integral part of the 750 meals produced daily. The Baking Lab is a learning-production lab for quantity baking for a cafeteria, restaurant dining, or catered functions. In addition, the preparation and presentation of elaborate creations common to upscale restaurants offers creative students the opportunity to develop their talents.

An amphitheater-style resource-demonstration room, equipped with computers, video taping capabilities, and an extensive library of cookbooks and videotapes, is within our building with access for all.

DEPARTMENT PROGRAMS

Culinary Arts (AOS)

Culinary Arts: Baking, Production & Management (AOS)