The college on Friday hosted a Sage Series: Inside the COD’s Culinary and Hospitality Center that brought together restaurant owners, former chefs, and community members to the college’s 60,000 square foot LEED certified Waterleaf building.

Nationally-acclaimed chef Timothy Meyers, who is the college’s culinary programs coordinator and an associate professor, led the guided tour and left everyone in awe. From the big kitchens, chocolate room, Wheat café, culinary market, to the amazing views from a hotel room overlooking the lakefront, his guided tour was worth every step.

In between the tour, the Courier reporter Vandy Manyeh had a brief chat with Meyers:

VM: What are your responsibilities here at the culinary and hospitality center?

TM: So my responsibility here is to coordinate the culinary and baking programs. I oversee the academic side of the program, the curriculum, the courses, the availability, the scheduling and the day-to-day activities that we utilize here in the kitchen and big shops. I also coordinate with purchasing people to make sure we have everything we need to make classes successful.

VM: Can you describe the Waterleaf in terms of the facility, factories and services you have available?

TM: Sure. The culinary and hospitality center has about five kitchens, two big shops, a fine dining restaurant and Wheat café that are 100 percent student-run. There are six rooms in the hotel, which are also operated by our students as well.

VM: What academic programs do you have in place for students?

TM: We offer hospitality management, restaurant management, traveling and tourism management, meeting and event planning, culinary arts, baking and pastry and culinology, which is the blending of culinary arts and food science.   

VM: What new technologies do you have available here at the center?

TM: We have unique ovens and devices from the technology standpoint. We have a brand new cooking suite, where it helps students in the restaurant learn about efficiencies, space, and sizing; we have a combi-oven which helps reduce the cooking time; we have a very large smoker that we utilize for large cooking.

Here is a link to the culinary and hospitality program: http://cod.edu/programs/culinary/