PUHI — With thumping music in the background and instructors looking on, a platoon of Kaua’i Community College culinary arts students in creased white coats and hats worked busily in a cramp kitchen Saturday, peeling, paring and cutting vegetables, fruits
PUHI — With thumping music in the background and instructors looking on, a platoon of Kaua’i Community College culinary arts students in creased white coats and hats worked busily in a cramp kitchen Saturday, peeling, paring and cutting vegetables, fruits and meat.
A circus-size tent and four smaller tents were put up on the college grounds the night before and yesterday. Under them, students precisely positioned tables and benches and other tables from which a feast would be served to thousands of Kauaians.
The busy activity was in preparation for Sunday’s 16th annual breakfast buffet at KCC — the college’s largest culinary event of the year.
The event — sponsored by the college’s culinary arts program and the Kaua’i chapter of the American Culinary Federation — showcases the cooking skills of about 60 students in the program and raises funds to improve the program.
Over the years, scores of graduates have found work at hotels and restaurants throughout the state, the U.S. mainland and elsewhere.
This year, the students and others connected with the program have special motivation. Funds will be used for the purchase of equipment and expansion of the program — a new kitchen, a new dining room, new classrooms and a new bake shop. Plans also call for renovation of the school’s cafeteria.
“It just means our program will get better and better,” said instructor Biruta Eilers.
The event has attracted more than 2,000 people each year for the last five years, using the same menu — individually created omelets, pancakes, meat dishes, fruits and coffee and juice, said event spokesman Mark Oyama.
“People come back because they know what is offered, the familiarity, and they like that,” he said.
Sunday’s breakfast features a pastry bar, fresh fruit, rice, hash browns, scrambled eggs, ham and sauce, Portuguese sausage, eggs benedict, bread pudding with custard sauce, omelets, pancakes, Royal Kona coffee, juices, Meadow Gold juices and milk and Menehune Water, Oyama said.
The event enables students to work side by side with 15 professional chefs, including graduates of the program, and network with prospective employers — representatives from hotels and restaurant on the island, said Oyama, a culinary arts graduate of Kapiolani Community College on O’ahu and owner of Mark’s Place and Contemporary Catering in Puhi.
During the two-year course, KCC’s culinary arts students learn about safety, sanitation and nutrition, as well as international, classical and Pacific Rim cooking, Oyama said. Students also learn the financial side of running a restaurant.
Funds from the event also are used for scholarships, retraining of chefs and sending students to national culinary conventions, Oyama said.
Money also is sent to help support projects of the American Culinary Federation, whose focus is improvement of culinary education and advancing employment opportunities, Oyama said. The organization has headquarters in Florida.
Cost at the door is $12 for adults and $7 for children.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
