News about Baking, Pastry & Culinary Arts

A Pennsylvania College of Technology alumna will serve Axemann Brewery’s Hazy Daisy IPA at this Friday’s “Tunes on Tap” in the Community Arts Center’s Capitol Lounge from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 5.

Rachel Jean Gobin, a May 2022 graduate of brewing & fermentation science – who also earned degrees in baking & pastry arts and applied management – is assistant brewer at Axemann Brewery, Bellefonte. She is originally from Carlisle.

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Coverage of Penn College’s involvement in feeding this summer’s Little League Baseball^® World Series participants was amplified Tuesday evening in television news stories prepared by WNEP’s Chris Keating and WBRE/WYOU’s Jazzmyn Allen. For his piece, Keating interviewed culinary arts technology students Lance P. Bierly, of Centre Hall, and Jordan S. Brouse, of Northumberland, as well as Shawn L. Hanlin, executive chef at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant. Hanlin is also featured in Allen’s report, along with Charlie M. Suchanec, an applied management student from Tyrone.

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Le Jeune Chef Restaurant – including the staff, students and faculty who support it – will again prepare meals for the teams participating in the Little League Baseball^® World Series, a few miles from campus.

For the second year, the restaurant – a living lab for students in the college’s baking, pastry and culinary arts majors – will provide dining services inside the Dr. Creighton J. Hale International Grove, where teams stay during the series.

“The culinary program and Le Jeune Chef are teaming up to execute these daily meals with faculty, students and professional staff all working side by side,” said Michael R. Triassi, director of sales and restaurant operations for the college’s hospitality program. “The best part of doing any event twice is it gets easier each time, through experience.”

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A second week of Pre-College Programs, providing an absorbing midmonth bill of fare, winningly delivered eight more options for teenagers looking for purposeful summer diversion. Attracting both the well-traveled and the close-to-home, the latest Penn College sessions covered a range of career-focused opportunity: Automotive Restoration; Design, Build & Grow (landscape and horticulture); Diesel Truck & Heavy Equipment; Fundamentals of Emergency Response; Graphic Design Summer Studio; the first-time offerings of Have Your Cake & Decorate It, Too and Non-Destructive Testing; and Thingamajig Fabricators. This photo gallery provides a sampling of the visitors’ enlightening encounters with their potential futures, with a slightly heavier dose of the inaugural cake-decorating camp … because who doesn’t want an extra helping of cake? (Readers can also relive the first round of Pre-College Programs, published elsewhere on PCToday.)

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Nearly 140 campers from near and far participated in the past week’s seven Pre-College Programs, giving teens a taste of Penn College through an engrossing variety of academic adventure and social interaction: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience, Automotive Technology, Aviation, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs and Health Careers.

A second week of camps, featuring an equally tantalizing menu of opportunities spread among eight more programs, convenes in mid-July.  Registrants for both weeks hail from 14 states – some from as far away as Connecticut, Florida and Virginia – and include a camper from Santiago, Chile!

Don’t think high school students are the only ones in on the fun, however! Pre-College Programs include My Tomorrow, a middle school career exploration day camp sponsored by the Soars family, from June 28 to July 1 and July 12-15.

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A group of Penn College students, visiting three distinct regions of Italy to study their hospitality culture, were the subject of a May 24 article in Italian online news publication Estense.com. “Estense” is the Italian term for people from Ferrara, in northern Italy. The publication featured the students’ visit to a farmers market in the city. Local representatives talked with students about the market; how it facilitates the use of fresh, in-season foods and a short supply chain; and typical products of the region, including rice, pasta, sugar, garlic, wine, cold cuts, Ferrara peanuts and rice biscuits. The students are enrolled in a study abroad course titled Global Food & Hospitality: Cuisine, Culture and Perspectives, taught by Chef Mary G. Trometter, assistant professor of hospitality management/culinary arts. Watch PCToday for more about the trip (and other college-sanctioned Global Experiences).

Professional Coffee & Conversation, a networking event for students in business and hospitality majors to connect with employers, was held April 14, thanks to a semester of planning and execution by their peers in the Event Management & Coordination class.

The students responsible for the event – Corey J. Blackwell, of Hammonton, N.J.; Andrew M. Snyder, of Whitehall; Jacob R. Wagner, of Palmyra; and Alicia M. Wyland, of Williamsport – are juniors in business administration: sport and event management.

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Local ABC affiliate WNEP-TV visited campus Monday to talk with a few of the Penn College students who have been hired by Levy Restaurants to serve Kentucky Derby internships at Churchill Downs. Chris Keating interviewed Chef Charles R. Niedermyer, instructor of baking and pastry arts/culinary arts, who will accompany business and hospitality students to the Derby for the 13th time, along with students Madison Y. Cooper, of Harrisburg, who will be making her second trip to the Derby; Moira A Smith, of Aaronsburg; and Caleb J. Stemler, of Jersey Shore. The students will leave for Kentucky on May 2 and prepare food for the events that happen throughout the week, including the iconic “Run for the Roses” on May 7.

On the 52nd annual Earth Day, Pennsylvania College of Technology hailed a phenomenon only slightly younger: the Schneebeli Earth Science Center, home to memories, marvels and the makers of a million tomorrows. Observing the milestone golden anniversary of the Allenwood area campus on a beautiful spring afternoon, attendees reveled in “this special place” known as the ESC.

“It is more than a place or a building, though,” said alumnus Justin W. Beishline, assistant dean of diesel technology and natural resources. “This is a place where you were possibly introduced to your career passion. This is a place where you met mentors who fostered your talent and helped you to become a professional. This is a place where, after you left high school, you met people with similar career aspirations and built lifelong friendships. If you came here right from high school, you left a home of 18 years to forge a new life, and the people at the ESC became your new family for two years.”

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A crew of students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s hospitality majors is set to help feed the tens of thousands expected to attend the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 7.

The Kentucky Derby, often called “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” is the longest continually held sporting event in the United States and typically draws about 155,000 guests.

Penn College students, pursuing degrees in culinary and baking and pastry arts, will help prepare the fine food that is served throughout Churchill Downs’ premium dining areas: the venues that host celebrities and other VIPs. Last year, that included several students being selected to work in the brand-new, state-of-the-art kitchen for the sixth-floor Matt Winn’s Steakhouse.

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Twenty-six Penn College business and hospitality students trekked to Hershey on April 8 to tour facilities and learn more about working for the world-famous Pennsylvania chocolate company’s related tourist attractions. Six students are interning for the company in summer 2022, and the company welcomed the group with an eye for recruiting more employees. The field trip was arranged by Chef Victoria Kostecki, who earned Penn College degrees in baking and pastry arts in 2014 and applied management in 2016. It included a tour of Hersheypark Stadium, where the group was led by food and beverage warehouse manager Brandon Snook; three food stands within Hersheypark; lunch at Coaster Café, where Rob Gordon, director of food and beverage, spoke briefly about season-to-season menu changes at the park and at the company’s Giant Center; and tours of Chocolatier, Milton’s and Sweeterie, where Chef Ben King ’14 (culinary arts and systems) spoke to students about menu planning, including how he worked with supervisors and other managers. King and Kostecki are sous chefs with the company. Coaster Café is run by Hailey Brunk, who earned degrees in hospitality management in 2008 and technology management in 2014.
Photo by Brian D. Walton, assistant dean of business and hospitality

From the Spring 2022 edition of Penn College Magazine: Despite choosing “the worst time ever” to open his first solo venture, Michelin-trained Chef Dean Yasharian ’03 demonstrates resilience at Perle Restaurant in Pasadena, California. Read the story.

Student Affairs’ Culture Cafe, held Thursday evening in the Capitol Eatery, allowed the campus community to “Eat, Drink and Travel!” – exploring global learning opportunities while indulging in a Spanish-themed fest. On hand to preview imminent trips, and to whet students’ appetite for enlightening travel in future semesters, were faculty members leading excursions to various destinations: a human services and restorative justice trip to Anchorage, working with YWCA Alaska; immersion into Italy’s sumptuous cuisine; a tour among the iconic automakers of France and Italy; and a firsthand appreciation of the architecture of Spain.

The latest edition of Penn College Magazine – on its way to mailboxes and available at magazine.pct.edu – takes a look at the hands-on presidency of Davie Jane Gilmour and celebrates the work of alumni who are pursuing their passions in Major League Soccer (Christian Peters ’20, assistant team administrator for Real Salt Lake), nonprofits (Todd Fox ’98, organizational development consultant for Habitat for Humanity International) and high-end restaurants (Dean Yasharian ’03, chef/owner of Perle Restaurant).

The Location-Based Catering class recently gained dual experience in planning and preparing buffets and brunches when they catered a memorial for Chef Judy Shimp.

Shimp, who died in 2021, was a faculty member in the college’s culinary arts majors from 1984 until her retirement in 2011 and taught a breakfast and brunch buffet course.

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