Department chairman Ron Takahashi, coordinating the activity for many of these initiatives, said both students and the community will benefit from the experiences offered, and the income generated.

Farm and kitchen

Kapi'olani Community College's culinary institute has added an apprenticeship program that offers students hands-on experience. Courtesy Kapi‘olani Community College

Chef-instructor Grant Sato, who teaches a popular cooking-basics course for the school's noncredit program, has primary responsibility for the adventures. The tours are van-size — maximum of 24 people — and begin with pickup in Waikiki between 7:30 and 8 a.m., followed by a walking tour of Chinatown with chef Sato and a dim-sum brunch. Afterward, the vans head off for a tour of Dean Okimura's 'Nalo Farms in Waimanalo and then to chef Sato's KCC classroom, where the class will learn how to prepare a simple, East-West dish and sit down to a late lunch.

Cost is $119 per person; tours begin in late November or early December. Information: 734-9483. A Web site, www.kcc.hawaii.edu, is under construction.

Working students

The three-year apprenticeship track is aimed at the student with an interest in hands-on kitchen experience and a good, steady job. The on-the-job training comes with a paycheck and even benefits.

For two years, the students work a regular, 40-hour week at KCC, rotating through every job in the kitchens from dishwasher to line cook, and through all the college's food operations, from the cafeterias to the fine-dining room, espresso bar to catering. The college created a new job category to accommodate the pay for the apprentices, which starts at just above minimum wage and includes guaranteed raises.

During their third year, the students work with one of the college's industry partners — restaurants in need of experienced help and willing to extend some mentoring and teaching to the student culinarians.

The students graduate as certified culinarians with solid job histories and contacts in the field. Said Takahashi, "You end up with very well-rounded experienced cooks, people who have the potential to move up. I can tell you that when I was a food and beverage director, if someone came to me with those credentials, I'd hire 'em."

The program is already under way with chef Craig Yasaka, formerly of the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, who has both kitchen, and food and beverage management experience, overseeing things as KCC kitchen as Chef de Cuisine. He is designing menus and work plans for all the new and extended operations.

Weekends at KCC

Culinary-school restaurants are great places to enjoy a fine-dining meal at family-dining prices. But most of these dining rooms are open for lunch and dinner only a few days a week, rarely on weekends, and only during the academic year.

The year-round culinary apprentice program is allowing Ka 'Ikena, the KCC fine-dining room, to open on weekends, with a Saturday-night buffet and Sunday brunch (see box for hours and prices). The weekday operations of the dining room will continue to be carried out by students in the school's Associate of Science program, with menus rotating — from classic to East-West and so on — as different classes take over the kitchen.

Med-school menu

The Culinary Institute of the Pacific will be responsible for dining operations to feed 1,000 staff, faculty and students — not to mention members of the surrounding business community — on the new Kaka'ako campus of the John A. Burn School of Medicine, now under construction. There'll be a food court open for breakfast and lunch Mondays through Saturdays. In the evening, the space becomes a moderately priced ($16 to 18 entrees) sit-down dinner restaurant.

The focus, according to Takahashi, will be on more healthful, fresh, creative menu items in the three food-court areas: deli, pizza bar and European kitchen, which all will have an open kitchen plan. "It won't be 'health food,' " Takahashi said, "but we will be providing nutritional analysis of all the menu items and giving people healthier choices. We're going to try as much as possible to use locally grown produce."

Culinary competitors

Mark April 30 on your calendar, a Saturday, for an all-day culinary extravaganza, including the revival of the once-annual student Culinary Salon, an American Culinary Federation (ACF)-certified student competition, plus more light-hearted activities including an ice-carving contest with chain saws at full blast, a waiter race and a mystery basket cooking event.

There will be an opportunity to view students' creations after the judging, and there will be food sales as well. The local meet is an important part of preparing students for the annual state, regional and national ACF medal competitions, Takahashi said. These operate by strict guidelines that are applied nationally. "It teaches them the discipline they need," he said.

Vision outlined

At Friday night's Ho'okipa fund-raiser for KCC, Chancellor John Morton outlined the vision for the Cannon Club site: to build a state-of-the-art teaching facility for advanced culinary training, including a bachelor's degree track. The plan is dependent on conclusion of an agreement between the federal government, which owns the land, and the state. And it will require a very large fund-raising effort; $12 million to $14 million will be needed. Some money is expecting to come in the form of matching grants, city block grants and private giving. The goal is to attract renowned instructors and students from around the world.