By: Deborah Johnson Wood
A varied menu of redevelopment projects
in downtown Muskegon has a tasteful new addition that will soon draw
some 350 students to the core city year-round. Baker College's Culinary Institute of Michigan
will open on the corner of Third and Western in time for September
classes, and institute leaders expect a record number of students who
will take culinary classes and operate all aspects of the school's
restaurant, Courses, and bakery/coffee shop, The Sweet Spot.
"We're about completed with the third
floor administrative and classroom area and are just waiting for the
office equipment and furniture delivery," says Chef John Cappellucci,
culinary department dean. "On the second floor where the teaching labs
are, we had most of the large cooking equipment delivered and installed
last week. The Sweet Spot and restaurant will be the last areas to come
online because of trying to keep them clean during construction."
Courses and The Sweet Spot will be open
to the public six days a week. The restaurant will serve just lunch or
dinner at first, Cappellucci says. Faculty and incoming students will
make that decision.
"Students will learn as much about the
dining room as they will about the kitchen," he says. "We want it to be
a student-staffed, student-run environment. We have a Class C liquor
license, so they'll be learning a bit about bar management. We're
really trying to educate the whole person so they have some other
skills to build a career."
The institute offers associate degrees
in culinary arts and in food and beverage management, a bachelor's in
food and beverage management and a one-year certificate in baking and
pastry. With the move to a year-round schedule, bachelor's degree
students will be able to shave about six months off the normal
four-year time frame.
The building is expected to receive LEED certification.
Source: Chef John Cappellucci, Culinary Institute of Michigan
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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