Pro-Chefs in a class of their own

A few weeks ago, we dined at a very exclusive Laguna restaurant. It is so exclusive that it opens only 10 days a year. In their eagerness to eat here, diners are willing to be seated communally or even to eat in the pantry. What is this secret gastro-temple and how can you get a reservation?

This is the Pro-Chef dinner at Laguna Culinary Arts, prepared and presented by the graduating class of eight students, after six months of intensive study.

For five nights, twice a year, everything these students have learned comes together in a real restaurant situation. They create the recipes and do all of the cooking, plating and presentation of a four-course dinner.

We began with an amuse bouche of sausage and sun-dried tomato bruschettas. Then we chose from a selection of four appetizers, five soups or salads, eight entrées and four desserts.

Just to mention a few, there was Southern barbecued shrimp and crab cake served with a chipotle tartar sauce, gazpacho blanco, cinnamon-smoked venison loin over bourbon sweet potatoes and a silky milk-chocolate cheesecake en croute. The students experience the pressures of a working restaurant kitchen: getting the orders right and getting them out hot and in a timely fashion. We thought they did an excellent job.

This school is notably different from many other professional chef-training schools, in that there are only eight students per class and they must be at least 21 because the institute seeks students with more maturity. Interesting to note, the average age is 35, reflecting that this program is often preparation for a second career choice.

Unlike other longer programs that range from 18 to 24 months, there are no academic subjects taught. This six-month program focuses entirely on culinary arts and restaurant management. It involves 700 hours of cooking under the direction of Chef Laurent Brazier. His 22 years of experience as a chef include two and three star Michelin-rated restaurants in France. He is also the former owner of Picayo Restaurant in Laguna.

Students begin with a course in health and sanitation. After that come the basics: knife skills, soups and stocks; then, the fabrication of meat, poultry and fish. Now, with some preliminary skills under their toques, they have a unit of international cuisine: French, Spanish, Italian and Asian. After that, they do Garde Manger, the preparation and presentation of cold dishes, followed by three weeks of baking and pastry making.

Along the way, Chef Laurent presents the students with mystery baskets. These contain a variety of ingredients from which they must create a dish. Toward the end of the course, there is a week devoted to business, including the design and costing of menus. They are continually graded on their notebooks, attendance, teamwork and cleanliness, on their way to sitting five exams. Interspersed with classes are field trips to restaurant kitchens where they observe firsthand what the restaurant business is like.

The final exam consists of the Pro-Chef dinner and a separate cooking trial for a panel of six judges. Each student is given a protein, vegetables for a soup and a choice of making crème brulée or flan for dessert. They must use these elements as a starting point to create a meal. Judgment is based on taste, presentation and creativity.

After graduation, the students may go in several different directions, from becoming caterer or personal chefs to apprenticing in a restaurant where they can work their way up the kitchen hierarchy with the eventual goal of becoming chefs. The school gets requests for employees from all branches of the food-service industry.

Carla Ray, director of student services, helps students find placements. Her previous association with the Cordon Bleu School in Los Angeles has provided her with a large network of professional connections.

Former students work at Tabu Grill, Tommy Bahamas, the Golden Truffle, Thornton Winery in Temecula, Arrowhead Pond and Angel Stadium.

One graduate is the chef du fromage at the Montage, another the wine specialist for Bristol Farms. Three graduates are teachers with the Culinary Institute’s Home Chef School and one lucky student was able to buy Picayo Restaurant from his teacher, Chef Laurent. Of the current crop, one has already been offered a job at Ten Asian Bistro by John Wayne airport, another will be working at the new Island Hotel in Fashion Island and a third is going to work in Tuscany.

Allison Vezeau created our favorite dish at the graduation dinner, worthy of any chef. She has generously agreed to share this innovative take on gazpacho with us and in addition to tasting great, it’s so easy to make.

You can call Carla Ray at Laguna Culinary Arts, (949) 494-4006, to make reservations for the next Pro-Chef dinner.