UAA’s Culinary Arts kitchen gets new state-of-the-art updates

by Catalina Myers  |   

Chef Noah Miller instructs culinary arts students Jannie Mangalus and Shelby Boos during Miller's A la Carte Kitchen and Culinary Skill Development laboratories in Lucy Cuddy Hall's Bakery. (Photo by James Evans / University of Alaska Anchorage)

All summer long, the whir of high impact drills, the piercing screech of table saws and the echo of pounding nails could be heard coming from the depths of UAA's Lucy Cuddy Hall on the east side of campus. What was all the commotion? A major renovation project to update UAA's Culinary Arts and Hospitality Administration Division's (CAHAD) kitchen. Besides gutting the old kitchen and installing state-of-the-art and up-to-date industry standard equipment, the culinary program itself underwent some renovations as well.

"It's a total change of the tide," said Naomi Everett, associate professor and interim chair of UAA's CAHAD.

Everett is an alumna of CAHAD, who graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's in hospitality administration and a master's in career technical education. She's been with the culinary school for 11 years and has watched it change and grow as the industry in Alaska and beyond has demanded more chefs and restaurant and hospitality managers.

"We have new faculty members, a student success coach and are hiring a program assistant," Everett said of some of the changes. "With the retirement of Tim Doebler, former professor and director of CAHAD, new faculty coming in, and the hospitality administration degree now being offered in-state, it's the perfect time for us to take the next step, and we're super excited about it."

Beautiful, shiny and new

Everett said UAA's culinary program is outstanding, but like with any industry, standards and technology change. A generous financial donation from Holland America Group made the renovations possible, which will help instructors provide a teaching experience that reflects what students will see when they enter the workforce in the food and hospitality industry in Alaska and beyond.

"It was an outstanding kitchen prior, but now it's just going to be even better," Everett said.

Some of CAHAD's renovation highlights include a new cooler and freezer in the bakery, as well as two convection-style double-stacked ovens, and a newly updated prep line that comes equipped with steam tables, refrigeration drawers and a double heat lamp to keep food warm. Lastly, the whole kitchen got a fresh coat of paint.

Culinary arts student Shelby Boos works on her dish during Chef Noah Miller's A la Carte Kitchen and Culinary Skill Development laboratory. (Photo by James Evans / University of Alaska Anchorage)

"Having these new improvements really brings us into the future," said Noah Miller, an alumnus of CAHAD who was hired this past spring as an instructor for the program.

Miller's worked in the industry for more than 10 years and, until recently, managed local Anchorage hotspot, Table 6.

"When students graduate from here they are going to see a more familiar working environment — instead of going from something old to something new," Miller said.

He said besides the equipment updates, the point of sale (POS) system was also overhauled and is now up to date with the industry standard, which gives students the opportunity to develop their front-of-house skills.

"Some of what we had was getting really outdated and to have a nice new kitchen where students can work more efficiently is going to be so helpful," he said.

Kellie Puff, also an alumna of CAHAD, echoed Miller's sentiments, but as a pastry chef, is really looking forward to diving into baking classes this fall semester. Puff's class also creates the baked goods and confections for the school's bakery cart (also made possible by a generous gift from a long-time individual donor to CAHAD), which is a huge hit with students, faculty and staff each semester.

"The new ovens — I look at the ovens and think croissants, croissants," said Puff.

She's excited that the renovation has brought the culinary school's kitchen up to current standards so she can introduce students to cutting-edge techniques in baking and pastry making. She said with the emergence of bakeries like Fire Island Bake Shop, cake shops and businesses like Sweet Caribou, it's important for UAA's culinary students to be knowledgeable of local and national trends.

"We're in an evolving industry and our kitchens need to reflect that," Puff said. "We need to be staying current so we can teach our student the things they're seeing on the Food Network and in culinary publications. I'm really excited to be able to do that and bring that to the table."

Ultimately the kitchen renovation is about creating a closer to industry learning experience for students, which will prepare them to be better chefs, bakers and managers when heading out into the job market. Everett said it's a win-win for Lucy diners because they will experience the benefits of delicious meals cooked quickly, coming off the line faster and hotter.

Adding to the menu

Recently, the culinary school added an in-state offering of the Hospitality and Administration degree, which focuses on the business management side of the food service and hospitality industry. Everett said establishments are not only looking for capable, creative chefs, but also competent managers and marketers to run everything from traditional restaurants and commercial kitchens and hotels, to managing kitchens for mining camps or remote fishing lodges.

Everett said earlier in the summer, local coffee roaster SteamDot Cafe was looking for a director of deliciousness. She laughed and said she hoped her students would apply, but explained that this was a good example of a local business wanting to expand their food program.

"We listen to industry, we listen to alumni and we pay attention to trends — and we're trying to meet the workforce needs of Alaska and beyond," Everett said. "There's a huge deficit within food service and hospitality. There's a lot of places that have to draw from out of state, and if we can do more to supply these businesses with locally trained employees, it will be better for our state."

In addition to the kitchen renovations and newly added hospitality administration program, Everett said there are more exciting changes on the horizon for CAHAD, including meeting the demands of students who are accessing their education differently than they did 10 years ago. She said technology plays a much larger role in education than it used to and that they're using a blended classroom of both traditional textbook methods and more modern techniques, like online video tutorials and live demonstrations students can watch on their devices.

"You're able to see it, do it and then review it," Everett said. "I think we're being progressive — there's a whole generation of people who Google everything versus looking in a textbook. And we're just trying to cover all those learning dynamics for people."

Chef Noah Miller teaches A la Carte Kitchen and Culinary Skill Development laboratories in Lucy Cuddy Hall's Bakery. (Photo by James Evans / University of Alaska Anchorage)

Besides adjusting teaching techniques, Everett said the culinary school is thinking outside the box with who they partner and collaborate with. For example, she is currently working with the UAA College of Health's Dietetics and Nutrition Program to redevelop some class offerings to allow students pursuing an education in health fields the opportunity to learn how to cook. The new classes will all be available online, focusing on two key points: one, principles and techniques of cooking, and two, how to transcend that knowledge into food for health.

Lastly, CAHAD is looking to get into commercial baking. Everett said they are hoping to add commercial baking to the culinary course lineup, because currently there is huge industry demand for it, from hotels to the explosion in popularity of bakeries in Alaska and around the country. Adding commercial baking to the mix up will make UAA's culinary students more competitive once they graduate.

"Also, we can run our bakery cart more often," Everett added, laughing.

She knows that will make the university community happy. But on a serious note, she said the bakery cart really rounds out their back-of-house education with front-of-house duties, like dealing with customers.

There's a lot happening in the culinary world at the moment. In some ways, Alaska is just catching up, with the emergence of local breweries, eateries and bakeries. The industry demand for chefs, bakers and hospitality managers in Alaska is increasing and UAA's CAHAD is happy to not only serve up innovative dishes on campus, but to help lead the culinary charge in the Last Frontier.

Written by Catalina Myers, UAA Office of University Advancement

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