Today we are IN THE CLASSROOM at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge, where the kitchen is the classroom.
“People will give you a lot of slack on the quality of snow cause that’s Mother Nature,” says Kevin Clarke, program chair for the CMC Culinary and Hospitality program. “But what do you do when it’s your time off the hill? They want good food.”
In Clarke’s classroom, book knowledge meets real-life cooking experience. He’s been with the program since 1993, when it launched as a feeder for the Keystone fine-dining scene.
“They had the Keystone Ranch, which was popping at the No. 1 restaurant in the state,” he remembers from the program’s first year. “We had the ski tip lodge, we had the Alpenglow Stube.”
As other culinary schools shrink, like Johnson and Wales in Denver, the CMC program keeps churning out world-class chefs, including recent James Beard Award-winner Matt Vawter.
“The executive banquet chef at Copper,” Clarke continues, listing alums, “the chef at Carlin, Rootstalk, Radicato, 12 interns working over at Keystone.
This year the CMC program evolved again.
“The big news was we transformed from an apprenticeship-focused program to a more flexible and student driven- internship program,” Clarke says.
His kitchen itself has evolved. It comes with the standard pots, pans, knives and gas grills. But there’s also a dry-aging cabinet for prosciutto and cheese, and a dehydrator for locally sourced mushrooms.
Then there’s the newest toy in the room.
“A smart cooking center,” Clarke says with a grin. “What the rest of us would call an oven. It will roast, it will bake, it will steam, it will braise, it will proof your bread and then bake your bread. They are absolutely wonderful and we just had that installed less than a month ago. We’ve done pizza, crème brule, stock. Everything.”
Clarke recommends at least six months in a commercial kitchen before tempting his associates program.
But there’s a little something for you weekend chefs out there – the non-credit recreational course.
“Three to four times a week at night we’re doing everything from Bangkok street food to artisan pizza,” Clarke says. “It’s where we’re really reaching out to the community. Anyone can do it.”
Learn more about the CMC culinary program or sign up for a weekday cooking class. As the sign outside his classroom says: “Show people love. Cook them good food.”
Thanks again for going IN THE CLASSROOM from Heavenly Times Hot Tubs and Billiards.