Chef helps Arc Culinary students excel
Recently, Arc Broward named Juan Peralta as executive chef of its social enterprise, Arc Culinary, in Sunrise. Peralta has been with the nonprofit since 2014 when he joined as a sous chef. The fusion of Peralta’s passions, cooking and teaching, enables him to share his culinary skills with students, and to help them develop skills they can apply in the workplace, he says. Arc Culinary’s catering business generates revenue to serve more than 1,200 families of children and adults with disabilities and life challenges in Broward County.
About: Arc Broward assists people with disabilities to ensure that individuals live, learn, work and thrive within their communities through resources and programs at 10 locations throughout Broward County, including its Social Enterprises: Arc Educates, Arc Culinary and Arc Tech, that provide training for workforce development and potential future employment for adults with disabilities.
Resume
Experience: Line cook, Neiman Marcus’ Mariposa Restaurant; Junior Sous Chef, Icebox Café, South Beach
Education: Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Miami, Fla.
On The Job
As executive chef: I oversee all catering and contract meal work produced from Arc Culinary. On average, I prepare over 500 meals a day out of our commercial kitchen. In addition, I manage the catering in the Grand
Ballroom at the Sunrise Civic Center. I work side by side with our student chefs providing technical training in the kitchen.
Goal: To continue the tradition of our tagline: “great food for a great cause,” and to grow our base of satisified customers.
Industry wisdom: If you lose passion, your work suffers and it shows.
What’s new: Pop-up style dining. We have a pop-up dinner club called The Traveling Plate, which has given me an opportunity to work with some amazing chefs in South Florida. I love learning from them and seeing what’s new in their world. Most recently, I worked with Adrienne Grenier and Paula DaSilva, two culinary stars in the South Florida community. The students and I love these dinners and the opportunity to showcase our talents within our community.