Macon Magazine

perseverance, professionalism, and integrity, and with the knowledge that those things make them better men and women." OPENING MINDS AND ENTICING PALATES Real-world culinary education includes opening students' minds to fresh food and fine dining, and Compass Rose Café is more than a student-run restaurant serving lunch under the tutelage of Hardy and Robinson. The Café also expands students' worldviews through global cuisines. Hardy pointed out that their students come to them with a limited view of the world, and the Café is an avenue for teaching them about different types of foods from different regions and cultures. "During the school year we introduce cuisine from four regions in the U.S. — the South, Northeast, Southwest, and a melting pot. Then we cross the pond to Europe, always covering French cuisine because the French founded culinary arts and remain the standard for quality food. We also cover other European cuisines like Spanish and Italian, and to a lesser extent, Asian and African cuisines — and we insist that they try everything we serve." COMPASS ROSE CAFÉ The chefs and their student crews have been wowing locals in- the-know for Friday lunch since 2016, serving a four-course menu for up to 60 people. The price is $20 per person. Compass Rose is a loss leader for the school, meaning that the Café prices meals lower than they cost to make in order to attract new and returning customers. Profits primarily stem from the thriving catering division. Clearly a source of pride, Hardy said, "If you're a chef, eventually, you want to get to a high-quality James Beard- or Michelin-rated restaurant. So, we expose our students to the pinnacle of food service, and they're privy to every phase of the Café's operation. We work on plating with three-dimensional designs using textures, flavors, colors, and smells. We talk about restaurant music, body language, and how to serve customers." When the chefs review menu concepts, they dive into a recipe's origin. Case in point, the Jan. 13, 2023, menu featuring Regional French Cuisine. When the students saw "moules marinières et frites," they understood they'd be serving the renowned mussels from Prince Edward Island's chilly Canadian waters prepared with wine and herbs alongside crispy shoestring fries paired with a whole grain mustard aioli for dipping. Hardy added, "We brought in the French teacher from the other side of the building to make sure their French pronunciations were correct." The students are quizzed about the delicacies they serve, and Hardy pointed out, "If asked a question by a guest, we expect them to give a clear, concise answer. And if they don't know, to say they'll ask the chef and then return with an answer. Good servers speak knowledgeably about the food they serve to inspire confidence." MAKING THE GRADE The culinary pathway at Hutchings College and Career Charter Academy is a collaboration with Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC). All Hutchings students are dually enrolled in another Bibb County High School or a high school in Twiggs or Monroe County, where they must be on track to graduate and have completed their core courses. They spend half the day at their home school and the other half at Hutchings. Entry into the Hutchings culinary program is selective, with character and behavior top of mind. Students must have a 2.6 grade point average, and because each student's behavioral record is scrutinized, Hardy said, "We don't have discipline problems because our students want to be here, and once here, we closely monitor attendance, which is key. The culinary pathway is lab-based." He quipped, "I can't send a student home with a knife, sauté pan, and a recipe card and say, 'Make it.' Students must be in class." At the end of Year One, students encounter a crossroads. Those who aspire to continue their culinary training must pass the ServSafe manager-level sanitation exam, the industry standard for food safety, required of all adult food service managers. Hardy and Robinson said they treat it as an elimination test. "Students who fail the exam are removed from the program because we serve the public and our students must know the level of safety we require. Most culinary colleges permit a student who passes the exam to exempt their first post-secondary class, Safety & Sanitation 101, and culinary students can test out of other classes based on their course work in our program," Hardy explained. Each pathway at Hutchings yields three elective credits and is so rigorous that an embedded academic credit is included. That's by design, according to Washington, in order to attract students. In the case of the culinary pathway, the in-depth study of food science generates one science credit annually. 70 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023

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