{"id":172538,"date":"2023-02-09T10:59:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T20:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=172538"},"modified":"2023-02-10T11:04:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T21:04:07","slug":"james-beard-chef-praises-community-college-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/09\/james-beard-chef-praises-community-college-education\/","title":{"rendered":"James Beard Award-winning chef praises community college culinary education"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"People
Splendid Table podcast guests, Robynne Maii center, then Francis Lam (with lei), Sheldon Simeon and Ed Kenney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Star Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> chefs, who are alumni of University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community Colleges<\/a>, extolled the virtues of growing up, learning and cooking in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> on an episode of The Splendid Table<\/em><\/a>—a national culinary culture and lifestyle radio show and podcast.<\/p>\n

Host Francis Lam interviewed chefs Robynne Maii<\/strong>, Sheldon Simeon<\/strong> and Ed Kenney<\/strong> during a live taping at the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Theatre in January.<\/p>\n

James Beard Award winner<\/h2>\n

“Culinary education belongs in community college”
—Robyn Maii
“God bless the community colleges!”
—Francis Lam<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maii, who won a 2022 James Beard Award, is the chef\/owner of F\u00eate restaurant in Chinatown and HeyDay in Waik\u012bk\u012b. She recalled how she decided to enroll in culinary school on the East Coast while she was a student studying modern dance at Middlebury College in Vermont.<\/p>\n

“I quickly realized how expensive it was, so I came home and went to [Kapiʻolani<\/span>] CC<\/abbr><\/a>,” Maii said.<\/p>\n

She loved her culinary education and then she moved to New York with “a big chip” on her shoulder. At first, Maii thought all her coworkers who went to “fancy” culinary schools knew more than she did.<\/p>\n

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Maii (second from left) with Waipahu high school students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Literally it took like two hours and I was like, ‘You guys don\u02bbt know more than me, you guys just think you know more than me,’” Maii recalled. “I feel like I got a really good lay of the land with culinary education, and—not to be dogmatic—culinary education belongs in community college.”<\/p>\n

Plus, the chefs who attended “fancy” culinary schools were in debt, and she wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

“God bless the community colleges!” declared Lam.<\/p>\n