Area Culinary Schools See Enrollment Boost

HARTFORD (AP) — Local culinary schools say the star power of celebrity chefs may be driving an enrollment surge and culinary schools across the state and region.

The Farmington-based Connecticut Culinary Institute, which is planning a move to the roomier Hastings Hotel property in Hartford, has seen a 45 percent increase in three years to 500 students. In Cromwell, at the Center for Culinary Arts, enrollment has almost tripled since 2000 to 240 students.

“It’s not just the Food Network that’s created a buzz in the culinary arts,’’ said Mark Taub, the school’s director. “The ready-to-eat market [of heat-and-eat dishes]has really been an impetus to the industry, as has the continual opening of new restaurants,’’ he said.

The National Restaurant Association said industry sales in the state could reach $4.2 billion this year, a 4.4 percent increase from 2003. Sales in the region and nationally reflect similar increases.

That means there is also more opportunity for aspiring chefs. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says the number of chef or head cook jobs is projected to rise from 132 in 2002 to 153 by 2012.

According to the Connecticut Department of Labor, as the economy improves, one in every five jobs created in the state through 2005 will be in the restaurant or hotel industry. But that does not mean young kitchen gurus will make it big fast.

Most kitchen employees start at under $25,000 a year — not so glamorous compared to the $100,000 salary earned by some executive chefs.

“There’s one Emeril and then there’s 100,000 others,’’ said Dino Cialfi, chef and owner of Peppercorns Grill in Hartford, referring to celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. “God bless you if you want to be the next Emeril. “

Lisa Pasay, human resources director for the Max Restaurant Group, which employs more than 500 in its group of six Hartford-area restaurants, the company rarely hires graduates immediately after from culinary school.

“The struggle that we see is we have a great reputation, and all our restaurants are high-volume and fast-paced,’’ she said, so there is little tolerance for slow, artsy chefs. “Still, we are kind of looking for that diamond in the rough.’’

Brent Frei, director of marketing at the American Culinary Federation, said the celebrity push also motivates students to finish. Culinary schools have a normally high dropout rate, but the celebrity push may inspire students with dreams of Emeril to earn their culinary arts certificate.