Niagara College rethinks culinary and tourism programs
When marks are on the line, there may be some pressure. But when you add 50 hungry customers, it’s a whole new ball game.
Changes to Niagara College’s culinary and hospitality programs are aimed at giving students an experience that better resembles real-life employment.
Rebranding and reorganization brings the programs back under one roof. It’s a move the programs’s dean said has been years in the making, and one that made sense as the school continued to grow its offerings.
“We were already the beverage school, and we were already the food school and adding hospitality tourism just sort of connected everyone together,” Craig Youdale said between sips of his pink milkshake made by students during a pop-up lunch event that raised awareness for breast cancer research and prevention.
The pop-up lunches are among ways the school is revisioning how it teaches.
Youdale said the new approach puts an emphasis on the student as the customer.
“We wanted to make sure that the student was driving the bus. So whatever they were learning that day, it became the service we needed to sell,” Youdale said.
Instead of planning an event that will bring in customers and making students adapt to the event, the school is now crafting events around whatever it is the students are learning.
Many of the familiar favourites will still take place, Youdale said, it’s just a matter of putting the students’ needs first.
The changes won’t please everyone and Youdale admitted it will take some convincing to fully bring the public on board.
Benchmark Restaurant, for instance, has been reimagined to no longer be a traditional restaurant,
‘‘ We wanted to make sure that the student was driving the bus. So whatever they were learning that day, it became the service we needed to sell.
CRAIG YOUDALE CULINARY AND HOSPITALITY PROGRAM DEAN
but instead a venue for the school’s events, which Youdale said will ramp up as they go.
“We realize that we have more work to do to get the public to connect with what we’re doing,” he said. “And we kind of, in a way, we still want them to come for lunch, but we want them to sort of come at a time that’s best for the student.”
Youdale said the new program also means students will be required to cook and bake at a higher volume, an area where college programs have traditionally struggled, he said.
Bringing hospitality back into the fold, the school is also transitioning away from the Niagara College Canadian Food and Wine Institute (CFWI). Youdale said that was a difficult decision, but one that had to be made.
“In the back of our minds, we always knew that we would eventually outgrow the (CFWI) brand, but we think it’s positive and I think it’s just a natural evolution,” Youdale said.
For their part, students at the pop-up in support of breast cancer awareness seemed to enjoy the new events. Chef professor Olaf Mertens said there was an early rush of people, and while they weren’t likely to sell out, it was still a good experience.
“It’s real industry standards played out within our college kitchens with real guests, and many opportunities for guest feedback and interaction,” he said.
Said student Bollar Thakar, “Last year, we were preparing food, but this semester we are also presenting those skills to an audience … that’s what hospitality is all about.”
Being the first term under this new approach, Youdale said how things went will be assessed this winter. It’s still a work in progress, he said, but he expects there to be more opportunities for students to engage with the public as they learn and grow.
For more information on popups and other events, visit niagaracollege.ca/culinaryarts/culinaryservices, follow @BenchmarkatNC on Facebook or @ncculinaryfoodservice on Instagram.