The first batch of Culinary Arts Management students successfully organised and carried out the lunch events under the supervision of the programme coordinator Dr. Mark Gibson
The first batch of Culinary Arts Management students is ready for graduation. On 16 and 23 April, they hosted lunch events as their graduation project at the IFT Educational Restaurant, a Michelin-recommended restaurant for 6 consecutive years, and are now preparing to join the city’s bustling restaurant scene. The class was divided in two groups, each asked to prepare a lunch event from scratch. The events each attracted a crowd of around 60 paying customers. The programme coordinator, Invited Assistant Professor Dr. Mark Gibson said, “We spent 4 years training these students in every aspect of the kitchen. They spent 4 years learning how to do this. This was their final project, where they worked in a real life kitchen environment,” he added, “They designed the menu; they practised the menu; they costed the menu.” Student Otilia Rodrigues Novo was chosen as General Manager to head the preparation team for the 16 April lunch event. She expressed, “The most challenging thing was planning the menu. We needed to price the menu to get a good gross profit margin, but we also needed to get quality ingredients for the courses.” After careful analysis, her team chose the following menu: scallop carpaccio as appetiser; honey beer pork belly brisket as main course; and berry mousse with basil sorbet for dessert. The Institute for Tourism Studies’ Bachelor Degree Programme emphasises on the balance between theory and practice. Students are required to complete certain hours of practical tasks related to their specialisations every year. One of the tasks given to the Culinary Arts Management year 4 students is to host lunch event to local residents as their graduation project. Dr. Gibson said the first batch of students in Culinary Arts Management is ready for a successful entry into the job market. “A lot of the students have applied for many of the jobs in the local hotel and restaurant market,” he states. “They are very well-placed to go straight in at a very good level, to Commis Chef 1. That saves them maybe two or three years of on-the-job training.” The Culinary Arts Management bachelor degree programme was launched in academic year 2011/2012 and has 24 places available each year. The curriculum does not only cover chef training, but a wide range of resources during their 4 years of studies, from access to top-notch equipment, to field trips and cooking demonstrations by prestigious chefs. “After a few years, if graduates decide to do some restaurant managing or open their own establishment, they have the skills and the training to do it.” Dr. Gibson stressed. The programme has proven to be highly popular. All intake classes have been largely oversubscribed. “We need to make sure that the programme is relevant to the market, and we have got to keep abreast of the industry,” Dr. Gibson said. IFT is the only public higher education institution in Macao that specialises in cultivating talents for tourism and service industry. It endeavours to equip students with professional knowledge and technical competence in preparation for their future leadership responsibilities in the industry.