CityView Magazine

20 | October 2015 Photo by Kiara Love food F ayetteville Technical Commu- nity College has been offering its Culinary Arts Program for nearly 40 years, and while a lot has changed, both within the program and within the foodservice industry, department chair, Chef Richard Kugel- mann, says that the secret ingredient for a good Culinary Arts Program has remained the same: Variety. "We try to teach them a little bit of everything. Vegetarian, garde manger, baking and so on, and it is up to them to decide what kind of chef they want to be," Kugelmann said. "We want to give them the tools to succeed in any kitchen, so we have to teach them every aspect of the food service industry. Part of what we teach also, is that what we call 'so skills.' Professionalism, communica- tion, good writing skills, uniform skills … It has got to be about success. If they are going to succeed, we have to give them what they need." Kugelmann knows a thing or two about success. Before becoming a full-time instructor at the school in 2006, Kugelmann worked his way up the corporate lad- der, first in the banking industry, and then serving as CFO for an apparel company APPETITE FOR SUCCESS FTCC's Culinary Arts Program helps locals prepare for a future in food BY JAMES JOHNSON in Florida. Despite this early success, Kugelmann says he felt unsatisfied and in need of a drastic life change. at change came when aer he le Florida and enrolled in Charlotte's Central Piedmont Community College's cu- linary program, and graduated cum laude. Aer graduation, Kugelmann became a member of the American Cu- linary Federation and began a lengthy career in food service. Kugelmann spent the 10 years aer graduation participating in culinary competitions and sweating it out in the kitchens of several hotels and restau- rants, as both chef and general manag- er, before opening his own restaurant, Fayetteville's South City Grille, in 2001. "I loved working in the industry, but worrying about keeping up payroll and all of the business aspects of a restau- rant, was not as fun as working in the kitchen," Kugelmann said. "Teaching allows me to focus on what I love." ough Kugelmann has no regrets about stepping out of the restaurant business, he is the first to admit that there is no better time to be working in it than now, which may be why FTCC has invested so much in expanding its Culinary Arts Program from a tiny room off of Fort Bragg Road, to taking up nearly an entire building. "Well, it is because culinary is a big industry now, if you look at, even the Cumberland County demographics, we have, I am guessing, 1,500 food ser- vice establishments in this town alone. ere is a lot of people who work in the food service industry. Because it is such a big employer and the college's mission is to provide employees for the area, it has become a big department. We have a couple of hundred students." Total restaurant industry sales ex- ceeded $660 billion in 2013 and despite losses in other areas of the national economy, the foodservice industry has continued to grow with each year. According to Kugelmann, more Americans today choose to eat out than eat at home, and with the recent popu- larity of food trucks, starting one's own eatery has only gotten easier. Photo by Brad Losh John James & Aiesha Williams Richard Kugelmann

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