bob martinson / NL A short order cook’s duties are never done.   elisabeth freligh / NL Aaron Gerrard and Kelly Turner prepare customers’ orders in the Cuddy Center restaurant Friday afternoon.

Students serving up gourmet grub
Cuddy Center boasts fine dining, reasonable pricing

By Ynez Slaymaker
Special to the Northern Light

The kitchen can be a hostile environment. When the pork chops are scorched and the help isn’t moving fast enough, some chefs throw knives and hot potatoes–at their employees.

What happens behind closed doors at your favorite restaurant can be heated, stressful and violent; like a boiling pot about to overflow. The culinary business is fast paced and high pressure. Customer satisfaction, food quality and uniformity are paramount to the restaurant business.

University of Alaska Anchorage students learn the finer details of the food industry in the Lucy Cuddy Dining Room. Culinary arts, and hospitality and restaurant management students prepare gourmet dining for the general public Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The culinary program provides a cuisine atmosphere similar to a four-star dining experience. The Lucy Cuddy Dining Room is “Anchorage’s best-kept secret,” said Dean Radcliff, professor of culinary arts and hospitality.

“We teach fine dining with a lunch agenda,” Radcliff said. “We can’t foster the idea of fine dining in a book. We teach theory in the classroom; hands-on coaching and grooming techniques are taught in the dining room.”

Radcliff, in addition to teaching, is the dining room’s steward.

“You can’t be successful as a chef if you don’t know how your dining room is operating,” he said. “Hospitality is going to make or break your success. If you’re not a people person and you walk into a dining area, it will spill onto the guest.”

In class, students learn how to anticipate the customer’s needs. Students are often afraid at first. They want to be chefs and are comfortable in the kitchen. They’re not used to dealing with people. Students learn the front of the house, not just the kitchen and cooking, said Lori Morgan, a hospitality and restaurant management teacher’s assistant.

There’s more to the culinary arts than just cooking. Ted Lee, a first-year student in the program, said people come to it thinking, “How hard can it be?”

“Everything they learned in chemistry ties into cooking,” Lee said. “Even history lessons have a benefit when studying the origins of certain foods. It’s also good to have a basic understanding of French terminology.”

Aaron Gerrard, a student in both the culinary arts and hospitality management programs, agrees that cooking is harder than it looks.

“You have to know what is happening at the molecular level of your food, and nutrition as well as sanitation,” Gerrard said. “Making desserts is a science–a chemical reaction. On the hot side you can tweak here and there with cooking techniques, spices, sauces; change it to fit the customer.”

There are other requirements aside from learning the science and chemistry of cooking. Basic computer literacy is required along with the ability to use word processing, spreadsheets, databases and communication programs. Students must successfully complete five core classes: Sanitation, Nutrition, Principles of Food Science, Culinary Cost Control and Quantity Food Purchasing before they step into the kitchen.

Cooking 101 it is not. Class covers everything from the protozoa details of what happens to food while in the refrigerator to the microscopic details of food browning in the oven. The five core classes let the potential cook know just what they’ve signed up for.

“The dropout rate is 60 percent in the first semester,” Gerrard said.

During the second semester, pastry cooks start at 7 a.m. in bakery skills. As they become proficient, their baked goods are sold at the campus bookstore, the morning bakery cart and at outside dinner party orders.

Advance students enjoy more freedom and can expand on what they already know. They create the items for Friday’s dessert buffet, an assortment of delectables such as: praline cheesecakes, double chocolate coffee cake, strawberry Romanoff ice cream, white chocolate Bavarian and lemon curd tart with meringue among others. Friday’s dessert buffet is $3.50 for a taste of everything.

“Everybody becomes your best friend when you start making desserts,” said student Eric Wittrock.

The dining room menu is based on trends, new ideas and teaching opportunities. Chef Jena Bokman likes to have a variety of foods for the students to prepare. Customers can buy lunch for as little as $6.50 for a half-order of Soft-shell Crab Tempura or $8.50 for a full-order. A variety of gourmet dishes from roasted rockfish fillet to poached duck breast and everything in between await the lunch patron.

“The most expensive meal is $9.95 for the king crab stew, and that’s pretty reasonable for gourmet dining,” said Joanne McClenaghan, a customer from Eagle River. Her friend, D’anna Krueger, was also happy with the food. “I’m impressed,” she said. “It was more elegant than I thought it would be.”

Students credit the professors for the Culinary Arts & Hospitality program’s success.

“The chefs don’t just know their stuff, they know how to teach it,” said culinary student Dore Meyers.

The Lucy Cuddy Dining Room: Open to the general public 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Last seating is at 12:30 p.m.
Reservations preferred. Walk-ins welcome if space is available. Call 786-1122 to request a reservation. Seating every 15 minutes. Closed during summer.

‘Everybody becomes your best friend when you start making desserts.’

Culinary student Eric Wittrock