Culinary Graduations

Poppy with NOCC executive director Claire Jecklin

It's graduation time in Louisiana and the horizons are wide for this year's culinary students. The New Orleans Career Center is celebrating the first graduating class of their Hospitality, Restaurant, and Tourism Academy – and Louisiana Eats is joining in.

We begin with Chef Alon Shaya, whose foundation plays an integral part in the new trade school. Alon knows firsthand how a single teacher can change the direction of a student's life and he's committed to giving the same opportunities to today's youth that he benefited from as a troubled teen.

Then, we drop by the New Orleans Career Center to catch up with founding executive director, Claire Jecklin before meeting Taiquan Domino, one of the first graduates of the ambitious new program.

Finally, we hear from members of the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute's first graduating class along with their instructor, Chef Alison Vines-Rushing. NOCHI offers a fast track into professional kitchens, awarding a professional degree in just 100 days.