Learn your way around a professional kitchen at Johnston Community College

By RANDY CAPPS

SMITHFIELD — Whether your cooking knowledge is limited to throwing frozen things in the microwave, or you make Christmas cookies that are the envy of your friends and neighbors, there’s always something new to learn in the kitchen.

Robbie Carver, community programs coordinator and head of Johnston Community College’s Culinary Arts program, is here to help.

“What we’re doing at JCC is a culinary class that’s called Career in a Year,” he said. “It’s a 21-week course (taught in English and Spanish) that breaks up between Culinary 1 and Culinary 2. The Culinary 1 also includes the ServSafe and Sanitation course.”

Carver, a 1994 graduate of Wake Tech’s Culinary Arts program, spent more than 26 years cooking in restaurant and corporate settings. But his first day in the program was a bit of an eye opener for him. “I always wanted to cook because my aunt was a chef,” he said. “She was part Italian. She was part Jewish. She lived in the Bronx, and she took me (in the kitchen.) But when I stepped into culinary school, I didn’t know what was going on.

“My professor at Wake Tech, Richard Roberts, and my chef, Fredi Morf, always told me there’s two fields you should get in. Eating, because people have to eat, and the funeral business, because people are going to die. I chose the food business. I figured I could work with that a little bit better.”

Apparently, his class offers a similar experience for first-day students.

“The restaurant equipment is totally different from what you have in the house,” he said. “I can tell a student, ‘Mary, go get me a braising pan.’ The first thing you’d need to know is what is a braising pan. So, we kind of go through that.”

Like his professors pointed out, the culinary field is constantly in search of new recruits.

“I’ve received a lot of phone calls, even before COVID but during COVID, too,” Carver said. “(People) are looking for help. Johnston County has grown tremendously. People are looking to get into restaurants and go out to eat on Friday and Saturday nights, but they don’t want to drive to Raleigh. What these restaurants and chefs are looking for here is people that are capable of jumping right in. People who know how to use a knife, know how to work in a small kitchen. And they’re having a little bit of problems trying to find those employees here in Johnston County.”

The Culinary Arts program at JCC covers plenty of ground. Everything from how to be professional in a culinary field, how to use the right tools, different setup stations, different types of equipment, menu planning, food costs, beverage costs, inventory, profit and loss statements and much more.

“I’ll give them a project sheet,” he said, “You’re going to feed 250 people. Here’s where you’re going to do it. You’ve got to figure out everything it costs. Gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, your hourly employees, what you’re going to pay them. (You need to know) how much you need, how much equipment you need to buy, how you’re going to set it up? If you’ve got a kitchen on your food truck, how do you set that up?”

There is a lot of material to absorb, but students seem to take to it quickly.

“They come in, the first day, they wear the uniform,” he said. “They feel good about themselves. They think they know how to cook and they don’t sometimes. ... We had a lady who had run a restaurant in Clayton, a little mom and pop place. They unfortunately went out of business. She knew how to cook, but she didn’t know how to run the business. And when we started learning about that in class, she said, ‘Chef, I never knew about food cost. I just thought I could mark it up a dollar from what I paid for it, but I couldn’t make enough money.’”

That student is now running a food truck, and with an eye on food costs, turning a profit.

The program, which began in 2011, continues to evolve. The school recently purchased a new 125,000 BTU Napoleon grill with four stations that Carver hopes to use for some new courses.

“In the future, we’re going to get the bricklaying class to build us a wood burning pizza oven,” he said. “Then, we’re going to use the grill and have a barbecue class.”

The Culinary Arts program at JCC is a chance to sharpen your skills for a career in a growing industry — and add to your vocabulary along the way.

“If you’re looking to get into the field, but you’re not really sure, come to this class,” he said. “Take it. See if you can handle it. Then, you can take the next step and go to Johnson and Wales, or another community college and finish a degree program. ... You’re walking in with Servsafe (certification). You’re walking in with the uniform policy. You know about the techniques of cooking, and when the chef says, ‘go get a braising pan,’ you come back with a braising pan.”