Vernon College Culinary Academy puts program on display at upcoming open house

BURKBURNETT (KFDX/KJTL) — The Vernon College Culinary Academy is cooking up something cool for you to check out!

“As we go into more intermediate cooking, we do more branching out into the different types of cuisine like Mexican. I’m sure Chef Laboi will want to do Puerto Rican cuisine. That’s where he’s from,” Lead Chef Erika Colee said.

At the culinary academy, under lead Colee’s leadership, you can learn to make just about anything, and if you enroll in their program, you can make a career out of it too!

“We start with the basics, the five mother sauces, knife skills, I can’t stress how important it is to have good knife skills. If you can cut things uniformly and you have a speed any restaurant in town is going to be glad to have you,” Colee said.

Colee says at the open house, you’ll have a chance to tour the facility, get some brochures and ask any questions you may have about the eight-course long program.

“It’s a two-semester program for anyone who is interested in the hospitality field. It isn’t just about cooking and I really want to stress that. We talk about restaurant management, nutrition, human resources management, and yes we do cook, and yes we get to eat what we cook, and yes it’s fun,” Colee said.

The academy started back in 2010 and has since graduated dozens of students to some of the best resorts and restaurants across the country, and Chef Colee hopes you’ll be next!

“I would love to get more students. You can see from our kitchen here we can’t take a huge class but I would love to have 10 or 12 students in here that would be awesome. It’s a passion for me, it’s always has been. I feel like I have to do it and I know there are other people out there that are like that,” Colee said.

Taking part in the culinary academy is surely a recipe for success!

The open house will take place Thursday, June 30, from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at the Vernon College Culinary Academy which is located at 301 E. Third Street in Burkburnett and it’s a come-and-go event.

For more information about the culinary academy click here.