Last week, at the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Hotel & Casino, 4 known, trained and experienced chefs provided insights into their profession in front of about 10 potential students who might apply for the SBO Chef level 2 course.
The chefs’ present were: Nathalie Baptiste and Lesley Martina of Big Fish Restaurant and Dino Jagtiani of Rare and Temptation Restaurants, and Iwan Hokahia from Sonesta Great Bay Beach Hotel & Casino.
Chef Jagtiani of Rare and Temptation explained about the experiences of a chef, what life was like being a chef, its ups and downs, realities of being in the kitchen, and the attitudes that one should have.
Jagtiani said that life is not easy being a chef, it is hot in the kitchen, and sometimes there is no tremendous amount of money to be made in the chef/restaurant business, there is a lot of standing on the feet, so one needs discipline for the profession. It is also advisable he said that to begin being creative, start to experiment with different taste, among different pointers.
The registration date for the Chef level 2 program is August 20th, from 12.30 till 14.00 at Sundial School media room. The course Chef level 2 will start in September 2010.
Because a lot of students want to attend this course, we held excursions, interviews and pre intakes in June. The students who attended these days have preference over the students who didn’t show up or called at a later date.
We only have place for 20 students and at the moment there are 34 students who want to enroll into the program. Still everyone can call the SBO Service Center (5430497 / 5430498) to put their name on the list, but the selection is strict.
There will also be an interview with different chefs and (new) students in August to make sure we select the right students for this program.
During the year there will be a second course for the business to follow the course to become a Job Coach in the kitchen. This will be in September / October, because we really need chefs to train the students on the floor.
The chefs who spoke at Sonesto Great Bay Beach Hotel all attended the Job Coach course for 6 mornings. They also came up with the idea for this lecture to make sure the students will know where they have to sign up.
During the year different chefs will give workshops to the students, also chefs from abroad. This is to train the students in different fields and prepare them to become all-round chefs. The program will be for 2 years, and we will start this program again in 2012.
At the chef’s lecture, another chef, the Executive Chef by Sonesta Great bay Beach Hotel & Casino, Ewan Hokahia, spoke as well about the realities of being a chef and being different levels in the kitchen. He said that it was though, you will be spoken to in a harsh manner, and you just have to take the instruction and do it.
There is little room for niceties. In addition, persons who work in the kitchen have to work as a team for the greater good of providing a really good meal to the customer. There is no need to like each other per se, he said, but there is a great need to please the customer. It is all about the food and the service, he added. And there is no time for special holidays, like Christmas, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc. Those days are the best business days in the restaurant business, Hokahia said.
So the students got an ear full from the experienced chefs about the realities in the kitchen.
Friday, August 20, 2010 is the only day for registration. It will take place at the Sundial School from 12:30pm to 2:00pm.
Students who want to enroll in this course have to bring their:
1. Census registration
2. Copy of diploma or last report card
3. Copy of passport or ID card
4. One ID photo
All cost for the school year 2010-2011 will be:
1. School fee, including knives: $425
2. Chef uniform: $70
3. Book lease: $120