UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

Another group of students comes to the program through culinary
arts programs at Alaska Vocational Technical Center, the Matanuska-
Susitna Borough School District, Kenai Peninsula Borough School
District and the Anchorage School District’s King Career Center.
High school students in Mat-Su, Kenai and Anchorage districts
also can earn UAA credits for the class, Doebler said.
Industry demand for formally educated culinarians is increasing
across the U.S., he said.
Student Dasha King said she continues to benefit from the realworld
skills she learned at UAA.
"I will always use the techniques they taught me," she said.
Skilled labor in the culinary arts is in such demand that graduates get
six to eight job offers, Doebler said. Most graduates are starting at
about $12 an hour, he said.
“I can’t turn out enough students to fill the demand,” Doebler said.
Left:: Ramon Peralta sears Cornish game hens. Jeremy Krotochwill is hard at work
in the background. Above: Jeremy Rodriquez, foreground, and Wayne Leith prepare
various vegetables for serving. Right: Michelle Stummer serves Amy Green and
Tim Doebler in UAA's Lucy Cuddy Dining room.
Learning hands-on
The Cuddy Center’s dining room offers service and food equal to any
fine dining establishment in Anchorage, but under brighter lights. The
dining room is open Tuesdays through Fridays for lunch only.
But in this restaurant the waiter who served the meal and the chef
who prepared it are in class.
“This is a service class you are in right now,” Doebler said while
sharing a meal at the Cuddy Center with this reporter. “The bakery,
kitchen and this dining room are all instructional laboratories.”
The idea is that students who complete the two- or four-year
programs graduate ready for work, he said. UAA offers a bachelor’s in
hotel management and an associate’s degree in culinary arts.
“I don’t think there is a student in here who couldn’t leave here and
go to work in a dining room,” Doebler said.
The program operates under the direction of an advisory committee
made up of community and industry leaders. They contribute their
real-world expertise to make sure students leave with the most relevant
training possible, Doebler said.
A second career in culinary arts
David Predeger, 59, has enjoyed preparing
and eating nice meals for 30 years.
These days the freelance photographer has
focused his lens on the culinary arts
“I’ve always loved cooking,” Predeger said.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to learn
more about.”
He worked as a news photographer for the
Anchorage Times until 1981 when he began
working as a freelance photographer.
“I’ve been cooking and doing nice things
with food for years; now I’m learning it the real
way,” Predeger said.“There were a lot of things
I didn’t know.”
In the culinary arts program, he said he’s
learning different types of cooking techniques
like grilling, braising and poaching that help him
to expand his culinary repertoire.
“I was doing a lot of nice things before
school. But I kept doing the same thing,”
Predeger said.
He said he plans to pursue opportunities in
catering after graduation.
“Bon appétit,” Predeger said.
“It really is the industry’s training facility,” he said. “We take the
attitude that we’re stewards.
“From the flatware to the tables – it was all paid for by industry.”
Industry also supports the program by hiring students and offering
internships and scholarships, he said.
Around Anchorage it’s nearly impossible to eat out without
interacting with one of Doebler’s former students.
“We have students everywhere,” he said. “Everywhere food is
served we either have a student there now or we have had.”
Hotel Captain Cook, Anchorage Marriott Downtown, Anchorage
Hilton Hotel, Sheraton Anchorage Hotel, Costco, Westmark Hotel,
Orsos Italian Restaurant and in kitchens on the North Slope are a few
of the places UAA graduates are working.
“We’ve got generations of people out there now,” Doebler said.
8 Accolades
Accolades 9