These articles always start with “ever since I can remember…..” well, ever since I can remember, I absolutely loved cooking. As a teenager, I never made the connection that I could pursue something like cooking as a career choice, let alone, go to school to become a chef.
It was complete happenstance that I stumbled into the kitchens at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, in May of 1983. Accompanying a friend who was planning to attend the school that fall, I fell in love with the kitchens and signed up that day for the program. Far and away the most important ingredient for success is Passion. Being an educator has been a bless- ing for me. I love the challenge of taking students who have limited skill sets and developing them into award-winning culinarians. The most important misconception about being a chef is it is all about culinary skill. Yes, we call it culinary arts but what we do is commerce---it is business, and you need a man- agement degree for this. I love to observe the growth of students. I teach the freshman culinary lecture class and then the senior capstone class, so I see their growth over four semesters. I inspire my students to embark on a journey of Self-improvement; aspiring to be bigger, stronger and faster everyday in their professional and personal lives. As a young culinarian, I did not journal my experiences so I lost the ability to reflect back on the knowledge I learned, the challenges I overcame and the positives I developed. I routinely assign all of my students a journaling assignment now. During the pandemic I was asked over and over again if this industry would recover. There were those that said it would take years. I believed it would not only be among the first business to re-establish and thrive, but that it would do so at historic levels. We are seeing that now---tremendous growth---AND opportunity. Tons of great jobs, with higher pay. It has never been a better time to be a chef, pastry chef or hospitality professional! Chef Frank Costantino
Dr. Frank C. Costantino CEC CCE CCA AAC Assistant Vice President, Academic Affairs Dean for the School of Hospitality Management and The Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe College Executive Chef, The Dining Lab at Monroe College Coach, Team CINY ACF National Student Competition Chair
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