When it opens this September, the new Monroe College Culinary Arts Center will be perhaps the most state-of-the-art culinary instructional facility in Metropolitan New York. The four new kitchen labs on the college’s New Rochelle campus will include two à la carte, one banquet, and one baking and pastry kitchen outfitted with Jade commercial ranges, induction cook tops, and combination-oven/steamers that allow chefs to steam, poach, roast, broil, bake and “rethermalize” food simultaneously.

“With our new Center, Monroe College culinary students will be learning their craft on the best equipment available,” beamed Luke Schultheis, Dean of the School of Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts. “The entire facility has been custom-designed for our students, which means we’ll be able to maintain small classes with individualized instruction, as we always have.” Also, instead of segmented classroom space, the new Culinary Arts Center will have open space, much like the facilities in large food production facilities or hotels. “This makes for a more realistic work environment for Monroe students who will be developing their skills for the real world of work,” Dean Schultheis said.

The conceptual design for the Monroe College Culinary Arts Center was jointly done by the faculty – all accomplished chefs – and with architect Susan Doban. This design includes large windows and specifically designed electric lighting. “This will help students understand the nuances of colors and texture and how prepared food should look to the guests in the front of the house,” according to Chef Daniel Hinder, the Director of the Culinary Program. “This will allow the students to attend to it with greater detail that isn’t available with standard fluorescent lighting.”

A world-class chef in his own right, Chef Hinder likens the impending debut of the new Monroe facility to opening a world class hotel. “Who would not be excited about this?” he asked rhetorically. “It is a culinary dream come true!” Also, after the new center opens, the School of Hospitality Management and The Culinary Arts plans to open a restaurant for the general public.