*Photo taken in one of Le Cordon Bleu, Sunway’s many training kitchens. *Le Cordon Bleu, Sunway.
When a school as legendary as it is for its reputation in culinary arts, you can only expect to receive the best in building your foundation when it comes to gaining knowledge in culinary arts, be it for managing your own restaurant or managing your commercial kitchen.
Le Cordon Bleu’s history dates back as far as 1895 where it was founded in Paris, remains today as the guardian of French Culinary technique through its culinary programmes that continue to preserve and pass on the mastery and appreciation of the culinary arts.
This famed global culinary organisation is now on Malaysia shores since January 2012 and is linked with Sunway Education Group to create dynamic culinary education opportunities here in Malaysia and South East Asia.
Their renowned teaching methodology of Demonstration and hands on practical classes are important components of learning the proper techniques and are conducted by their international faculty of Master Chefs and industry professionals. With a strict maximum Master Chef to student ratio of one to sixteen, every student has their own workspace in the top of the line kitchen facilities on the Sunway campus grounds.
“We have a total of 4 kitchens spreading more than 4,000 sq ft – 2 each for culinaire cooking and patisserie classes. There are also 2 specially designed demonstration kitchen that supports each programme, aptly named after legendary contributors to French Cuisines, ‘Pellaprat’ and ‘Brillat Savarin’ to further encourage and develop the culinary spirit within its grounds” as general manager of the school, Mrs Ming Rathwsohl Ho confirms.
Designed to offer students the real experience of standing in a commercial kitchen environment with top of the line equipment, the Sunway Le Cordon Bleu Institute will definitely continue to raise the bar in culinary education in Malaysia & South East Asia.
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CHEF FRANCK BRUWIER very much at home at the demo kitchen of Sunway Le Cordon Bleu
“I choose the kitchen as my stage and it is the best method of expression for me and it is where I found myself”
With more than 20 years in the industry, Chef Franck Bruwier has definitely expressed himself in the right arena. As Technical Director & Cuisine Chef Lecturer of Sunway Le Cordon Bleu Institute in Malaysia, his keen interests in immersing himself in different cultures have taken him from his home country in France to various locations in Europe, USA and also to China, South Korea and now to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As our invited panel for our second issue, Chef Franck sat down with Mise En Place to give us a glimpse of his take on today’s hospitality and culinary industry.
We asked Chef Franck the distinctive difference between restaurants in Europe and Asia. “In Europe, there are still many family owned businesses where it has been passed on from generations to generations. In these businesses, the chefs are usually the owners and they have that sense of ownership or a deep-rooted vision of how they would like to carry on the legacy of their businesses” he explains. “But in Asia, being a growing economy – it is different as these restaurants are normally a channel for investments. Most of these investors are not chefs and they rely on a pool of talent in creating a successful restaurant for them. Be it for fame or profits, the final say is sometimes out of the hand of the chef.”
And how would that affect the industry? “Chefs would have a vision of how they would like their kitchen to be and would want it done his or her way. However, if a chef is master and yet a servant, it has been known to hamper certain aspects of his or her creativity.”
Having the technical know how would be a big added advantage for any restaurant operator. “Employees in the service sectors are now hard to come by, moreover one that is just as fanatic as the owner on realising a vision. Equipment is there to be faster or to cut costs. But without the fundamentals and the right skills, even technology will be useless.”
Every setup or kitchen is different and Chef Franck concurred that the fast food chains have created a kitchen that is most fool proof. “The systems and standards set in motion are on the dot. Everything has been reconfigured and calculated to ensure that the food and service is the same and easily controlled.” But restaurants are a different matter altogether. “The Chef or owner should be the person who has all the answers and is the soothsayer as he has to be able to counter or predict change in his kitchen. And it does happen in restaurants where there are seldom bibles or manuals with every scenario written on available to refer.”
More importantly, Chef Franck advises owners to be mentally prepared and have the right mindset to operate a food & beverage outlet. “Get your mise en place done, treat your workspace as your home and when you understand the system, you have got a successful restaurant in your hand.”
“It is not what, it is how. When and if you know how, the ‘what’ will soon appear”.
[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]For more information, please contactSUNWAY LE CORDON BLEU INSTITUTE OF CULINARY ARTS
5, Jalan Universiti Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MALAYSIA
Tel: (603) 56321188
Email: lecordonbleu@sunway.edu.my[/box]
