There’s a new program getting underway in Honolulu to help chefs gain experience and enter the local workforce. It involves the University of Hawaiʻi’s Culinary Institute of the Pacific and a famous local chef.
For chef Roy Yamaguchi, culinary education is top-of-mind. As director of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, Yamaguchi helped forge a partnership with the Culinary Institute of America this year.
The workforce development program is now offered at Kapiʻolani Community College. So far, it has helped more than 60 students earn certificates of completion from both institutes.
Yamaguchi said students work on roughly 20 recipes a day. Over the program’s five-day intensive training period, they’ll produce around 75 to 90 dishes.
He said this helps chefs-in-training to “taste and see the different type of recipes that were made not only by themselves but by others.”
The goal is to elevate their cooking skills, but Yamaguchi also hopes to shape their mindsets.
He said participants need to believe they can do it, adding, “To me, when you change that mindset and get out of that shell, you're able to accomplish a lot more.”
This lesson instilled by his mother is something Yamaguchi aims to pass down to Hawaiʻi’s next generation of culinary leaders.
He notes Denise Yamaguchi also played a pivotal role in the collaboration between the two institutes.
With the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Foundation, she is working with large farms and ag businesses to create internships for high school students. She said that will help them “move the needle so kids can get exposure to different kinds of real-life jobs.”
The state Department of Education will introduce those internships starting in 2025. Students will learn about more than just how to grow food, including packaging, marketing, pricing, and other aspects of the business.
