If the arrival of January 2011 inspired a resolution to become a better cook, look no further for help than the Lucia Mar Unified School District’s Adult Education department. Delighting would-be kitchen wizards, local food guru Joe Seals offers a line-up of how-to classes guaranteed to fire the imagination, while polishing culinary skills.
Seals, a former restaurant chef and an authority on international foods, promises to help both hapless and accomplished cooks improve their performance with pots and pans. Using humor and drawing on many years of experience, he makes learning fun.
Students can start with Basic Culinary Skills, a 16-week class designed for beginners and anyone interested in launching a career in the culinary arts. The course covers everything from nutrition and menu planning to shopping and food preparation.
For cooks with a taste for the exotic, Culinary Skills 4: International Cuisines takes a look at the signature dishes of some major world cuisines, including Italian, French, and Latin. Each block of study culminates with a cooking demonstration that gets the whole class involved, and results in lots of tasty bites for sampling.
As part of the Epicurean Kitchen Garden series, Seals guides students on a journey that blends both gardening and cooking. He explains the finer points of how to grow certain food items, and then demonstrates the best ways to cook them.
The Epicurean Kitchen Garden 3 delves into the wonders of ancient cuisines from East Asia, Greece, the Middle East, pre-Colombian South America, and beyond. No. 4 in the series covers Fusion and Contemporary Cuisines, with an emphasis on delicacies from California and internationally inspired fusions. Seals will also share tips on how to do what he calls “your own fusing.”
Since many chefs dream of dishing up their favorite recipes in their own restaurant, Seals has brainstormed a unique course called the New Restaurateur—a Contemporary Management Philosophy. Slated to begin in March, it covers different kinds of restaurants, kitchen layout, staff hierarchy, menu development, hiring practices, marketing, and customer service.
Seals, who attended culinary school in San Diego, worked in the kitchen of the famous El Cortez Hotel before hiring on as a chef in upscale restaurants in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Chicago. He’s also cooked in local eateries from Cambria to Pismo Beach, and aims to help aspiring restaurateurs avoid the pitfalls of the trade.
“There’s a gazillion reasons why restaurants fail,” Seals said. “One thing I will mention in class as to why they fail are two ‘myths’ that are bantered around: ‘location’ and ‘the economy.’ They’re simply excuses given by those who didn’t pay attention to the real stuff.
“Why did Chow close within a year of opening?” he asked. “Why did McPhee’s Avila close? On the other hand, why do so many really bad pizzerias stay in business?
“Why a restaurant succeeds is a hard question,” he said, “and a key to success in this industry, which I emphasize in class, is creating an ‘identity.’”
Seals explained that he’ll begin with an overview of the state of the industry, before tackling the ins and outs of surviving in style in the restaurant game.
To prepare for the class, Seals sent out a questionnaire soliciting opinions about why restaurants fail and the keys to their success. He approached restaurant owners, food writers, and anyone he considered a “restaurantgoer extraordinaire.”
“I want to get across to students what it takes to succeed in the restaurant business,” Seals said, “so I’m talking to owners of the best restaurants around here.”
Armed with first-hand information, Seals will discuss the obvious basics, such as great food and service, as well as the skills a successful owner must master. He’ll emphasize that, in addition to talent in the kitchen, would-be restaurateurs must polish their management and bookkeeping skills, develop a system for tracking inventory, hone negotiating skills to get the best deals and freshest items from vendors, and learn how to guard against theft.
Although Seals claims to be too old to open his own eatery, he admits with a laugh that, “I still have my old plan for ‘Terrasini,’ the best Italian restaurant that never was.
“It’s easy coming up with reasons for why businesses fail,” he added. “How they succeed is the hardest answer, because it’s complicated.”
For professional chefs, amateur cooks, and all manner of diners, 2011 can be a year of success and good eating. Simply take advantage of the educational opportunities on the Central Coast and get a head start on those New Year’s resolutions.
K. Reka Badger is a lifelong student—and teacher. Contact her at rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Jan 20-27, 2011.