Fine Dining, Courtesy of Florida State College

Sara Welch’s passion and profession is sweet—literally.

“My love of desserts made me want to go into desserts,” says Welch, School of Culinary Arts graduate.

Sarah’s a pastry chef at Bistro AIX—one of Jacksonville’s hottest restaurants. She says her education at Florida State College’s School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality helped her land her this five-star job.

“The culinary program was probably the best, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my career,” says Welch.

Her boss couldn’t be happier with her performance.

“On a scale of one to ten, I’d rate her solid eleven,” says Chef Tom Gray, Bistro Aix.

And there are more Florida State College students with Sara’s passion and talent getting ready to dive into the industry.

“I want to be a pastry chef. I love the sugar, I love the baking,” says Okwuoma Blandin.

“After [I graduate] I am hoping for the Ritz Carlton,” says Amanda Ruggles.

Okwuoma Blandin and Amanda Ruggles are confident they’re not only ready to work, but ready to succeed because of what they learned from their professors.

[TAKE SOT: Okwuoma Blandin/Student]

“We have the best chefs, I know there are other programs, but they’re simply more expensive,” says Blandin.

“The chefs have a lot of experience, many years of experience. They’ve been in many different situations and they put it on us to be in many different situations to gain that kind of experience,” says Ruggles.

The culinary program also educates students on the business and management side of the food service industry. Some of that learning takes place in the college—the rest is in local businesses.

“Even if they’re a full time student, and they’re not working, they’re going to have 600 hours in a structured high quality internship before they graduate,” says Ron Wolf, Instructional Program Manager, School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality.

[TAKE SOT: Richard Grigsby, Professor of Culinary Arts]

1:47: “It kind of gives them a good idea of where they stand, what they need to work on and move on from there,” says Richard Grigsby, Professor of Culinary Arts.

However, Chef Richard Grigsby won’t let you move on until you get through his final, which is literally locked inside a box. Sounds a lot like a reality show challenge, doesn’t it?

“The final for this class [Garde Manger] is actually a mystery box competition, where they get a mystery box of food and have to prepare a four course meal,” says Grigsby.

“Oh, my gosh! [Hand on forehead] Oh, the mystery box,” says Welch.

It’s an Iron Chef challenge Sarah remembers all too well.

“The point was improvising. You’re going to have all these little bits of product left over in your walk-in freezer and you have to figure how to make these things go together on one plate and be able to make revenue off of it,” says Welch.

While the public can’t taste-test final projects, you can sample some of what the students create at the Mallard Room.

“It looks like a restaurant, it feels like a restaurant, but it’s a simulated lab. Members of the public who come here and eat are invited guests who choose to participate in a learning experience,” says Wolf.

“It’s almost like organized chaos. Everyone’s running around, but everybody has a purpose,” says Aaron Beaty, student.

So does every assignment.

“When I got into the workforce, I thought it wasn’t much different than what I experienced at school. It’s faster, there’s more, but this is not much different than what we had in school,” says Welch.

To get reservations at the Mallard Room, call (904) 766-5555.