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Don't get burned is what aspiring chefs learn

It looks like a new castle on the hill, overlooking I-75 as the highway winds toward downtown Cincinnati. But it's not a castle — the beautiful stone tower is Cincinnati State's new $33 million addition: the Midwest Culinary Institute's new digs.

Chef John Kinsella looks out from the building with pride. “You know,” he says with a slight Irish brogue, “when I arrived here in 1983, the Dean wouldn't let me see the kitchen until I signed my contract.”

Today, the building is state of the art. It offers the 350 chefs-in-education the best facilities money can buy, and the institute, with Kinsella's guidance, plans to increase its student enrollment by 150 next year, and again double within two years to 900. Right now, the chef staff is 12. That too will be multiplying.

The grand opening of the new facilities is not until winter loosens its grip on the city. Plans are to bring a nationally known celebrity chef into the Institute's new demonstration theatre. No one has been named, but rumors abound within the student ranks that the celebrity tentatively scheduled is going to “kick things up a notch.”

Kinsella won't comment. The sage does reflect on the dynamic change in the status of chefs in the U.S.

“You know the U.S. government did not list ‘chef’ as a profession until 1967. Until then, we were considered ‘domestic help.’”

Indeed, that perception has changed a great deal. Chefs are now looked upon in many circles with the same aura as rock stars.

Kinsella is nonplussed about it all. “There are 8.4 million positions for cooks and chefs in the United States — 2.1 million for chefs. But there is a shortage of trained chefs. Some restaurants are being forced either financially or by the shortage to create ‘kitchen managers.’” Kinsella looks down his nose with a frown as he says the phrase.

Kinsella was raised in Northern Ireland, but moved to London as an apprentice for the five-star Grosvenor House Hotel, at the time a rival to the famed Dorchester and the Savoy. He spent three years there, beginning with peeling vegetables, moving to sauces, soups, then pastries, butchering, and banquet services. He came to the states to work for Hilton Hotels in Cincinnati at what is now the Crowne Plaza in 1975.

He joined Cincinnati State's culinary school at its inception. “It was as simple as an ad in the paper,” he recalls.

His office walls tell of his accomplishments: American Culinary Federation Chef of the Year; A World Cup Championship with his student team in Luxemburg in 1998; American Master Chef; European Master Chef, and one can't help but notice the photograph of Queen Elizabeth.

The man may still have his roots in the United Kingdom, but there is no doubt that his heart is with the students at Cincinnati State.

Kinsella sees his students as beginning a lifelong profession, much like a doctor or lawyer. And he makes sure they dress the part.

Each student is required to purchase three uniforms: one to wear, one to launder, and one to keep for formal occasions. Students also purchase a set of high quality forged German steel knives when they join the program. It isn't cheap, but the requirements make for a professional looking, and serious student.

The uniform includes a pair of checked pants, a white embroidered short sleeve chef shirt, the traditional floppy chef hat (instructors wear a stiff hat to differentiate themselves from their pupils), a neckerchief in Cincinnati State green, and black clogs. The uniform is completed with a butcher's coat — a long sleeve heavyweight lab coat. The goods are all cotton. Students are also prohibited from wearing jewelry.

“Although it is professional look, the uniform is designed with safety in mind,” the institute's head chef informs.

“I trained at the Grosvenor under Rene LeBee, a real tough guy. He was brilliant, but what a disciplinarian. He was very serious about safety. We used to go into the restroom and practice removing our uniforms in case hot liquids were spilled on us.”

Kinsella points out, “See, the shirt seams and pants are designed to tear away in an emergency. I require my students to even wear cotton underwear. Polyester can melt against the skin and cause third-degree burns if you don't have it off of you in 30 seconds.”

The whole uniform is designed with safety first. The pants require no belt and are secured with a cotton drawstring. The clogs can be kicked off. The pants are loose.

Kinsella comments on some “new” uniforms he has seen. “They're wearing tightly tapered pant legs and tight wristbands these days. Once long ago, I saw a chef named Tommy Walsh at the Grosvenor spill a pot of soup right onto him. It was good that he was wearing the right uniform, not one of those new, tight outfits.”

Finally, Kinsella mentions wait staff, not people that are trained at the Midwest Culinary Institute, but nonetheless, vital. He agrees that the right uniform for the wait staff can enhance the dining experience.

“The waiter or waitress is the most important person in the dining process. The wait staff will make or destroy my reputation as a chef. Unfortunately, too often in this country, people say, ‘I'll become a waiter until I get a good job,’” Kinsella laments. “It is difficult to find excellent, professional waiters.

“Ted Balistrere, past President of the National Restaurant Association and a famed restaurateur in his own right, once said to me,” relates Kinsella, “‘When a patron enters a restaurant, the first person he sees makes or breaks the dining experience.’ I believe that to be a true statement.”

If Master Chef John Kinsella was the first person you met upon entering the Midwest Culinary Institute, you would be impressed indeed.

Cincinnati-based writer Rock Neelly is a contributing editor to Modern Uniforms and sister publication Wearables Business.

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