Culinary Arts College serves gourmet lunches

The Culinary Arts program serves gourmet lunches from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The dining room, “Technique,” is staffed entirely by students who cook and serve the lunches to the public as part of their education. The meals are sold at lower cost than other gourmet restaurants in town.

“Most people don’t know that they can get meals comparable to the finest dining establishments in Boise at lunch for a fraction of the costs,” said Kellie Branson, Selland College administrator. All the meals run less than $11 a plate, which includes a side salad or a cup of soup du jour. BSU Culinary Arts College also runs a full-service deli from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday, staffed entirely by students. Reservations are not required in either dining area, but are encouraged for Technique.

The school runs on a four-week schedule as opposed to a semester-by-semester basis like the rest of the university. Every four weeks the students rotate positions from the bakery to the kitchen to the deli. The menu also changes every four weeks according to the preferences of the guest chef. The current guest chef is Chef Elias White, Sous Chef at Spurwing Country Club. Students are perfecting their technique on dishes chosen by Chef White ranging from Cajun seared pork loin to stuffed chicken to pistachio crusted salmon.

Boise State’s Culinary Arts program is accredited by the American Culinary Federation. “A lot of schools don’t meet the standards (for accreditation). We take pride in that,” said Chef Vern Hickman, kitchen instructor. Hickman has been an instructor at the Culinary Arts school for 18 years and was a full-time chef 12 years before that.

Graduates of the program have gone on to positions locally and nationwide. One graduate of the program, Van Adkins, was even offered a job in the White House, according to Hickman. Adkins turned down the White House job in order to fill the executive chef position at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Adkins now is an instructor at the California Culinary Academy.

The Culinary Arts curriculum includes classes in ice sculpture and food carving. This October students will be carving and selling pumpkins to businesses in the community to raise money to attend the American Culinary Federation conference in Hawaii.

For menu information call 426-6368. To make a lunch reservation at Technique call 426-1957 or visit http://culinary.boisestate.edu. For information on the pumpkin carving call Chef Vern Hickman at 426-4199 or email at vhickman@boisestate.edu.

Ginny Eggleston / News Editor

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