Have you ever been to the Commons Cafeteria or the Santiam Restaurant at LBCC?
This is a place where the Culinary Arts students are cooking up something great! It is located just upstairs, in the Calapooia Center, right here on the Albany campus. It is the Linn-Benton Community College program run by Todd Ketterman. Ketterman is the department chair of the program.
Students come here to attain a two-year associate degree. Then they are ready to jump
into the workforce afterward or go on to their bachelor's.
At LBCC our students spend about 85 percent of their time in the lab (the restaurant) cooking and 15 percent in a classroom. This is a hands-on and interactive program.
The program accepts up to 45 students per year. They break them down into three groups. In their first year, the groups are bakery, hot kitchen and a third group that is broken down into sub groups. Half the students spend their time in the "fine dining" where they learn the front of the house aspect and the other half spend their time in the pantry (cold kitchen).
These groups are a cohort mix. The first term the students start in one group. These groups rotate through each position for the first year. Everyone has a chance to be in each area their first year.
The first year is where the students will learn how to use the equipment and theories behind what they are doing. They learn to manage the stress of the environment and work together as a team in a fast-paced industry.
The students learn how to read recipes and how to follow then accurately. They also learn how to tell if the products they use are fresh. Also, how to know what products are available during what season they are in.
The students learn how to use all of the equipment in the kitchen. They will be trained on how to read temperatures. They will be taught the proper storage of all foods and at what temperatures bacteria grows.
The second year of the program is where the more advanced classes take place. All of the students and Ketterman work together to come up with a new menu almost every day.
They base their menus on what season it is. They want to use the freshest, most local products they can. They build the menu and put it together. They also build it on what skills the students need to be learning and focusing on. There is a lot of thought that goes into the menu.
You can find their menu on Facebook as well as in the Commuter weekly. This is the LBCC newspaper.
The restaurant industry is booming right now, with a huge demand for chefs. The program at LBCC readies these student to jump right in with their creativity and fresh ideas that will be able to give dated menus a new look.
You can find out more about this program on the LBCC website. There you will find all the information you will need to start your new career.
Ketterman started at LBCC in 2009. Ketterman came here from Spring Hill Country Club. That is where he set up their food and beverage program. Ketterman spent over eight years there as their executive chef.
Before that, Ketterman attended Western Culinary Institution in 1991. It is now known as Le Cordon Bleu. Ketterman said, "LBCC class sizes are smaller than Le Cordon Bleu, and it is a little less than half the tuition." Ketterman also said, "At LBCC the students have more one on one with the instructors."
Cherrie Wellens at the Commons Cafeteria said, "We are devoted to customer satisfaction." Wellens has worked at the Commons for five years on the front lines. You see her friendly face as you pay for your food.
Wellens has watched many new students come into the program all the way until they graduate. Wellens said, "I believe that our students are well prepared for the workforce when they move on from the LBCC program."
At a Glance
What: The Culinary Arts Program.
Where: At LBCC on the second floor of the Calapooia Center
When: Every fall a new class starts
Students earn a two-year associate degree
For more information: Todd Ketterman (Kettert@linnbenton.edu)
Program website: www.linnbenton.edu/culinary-arts
Cherrie Wellens
Todd Ketterman
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