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CLASSY ACT at University of Hawaii Maui College CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM

Student chefs learn to excel at cooking fine-dining cuisine and food-court meals this semester

Dining Room Lecturer Marc Malone (at far left) with students -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

The sharply dressed server in black with colorful silk tie whisks an amuse bouche to the table, enticing diners with a small taste. It’s an inkling of the quality to expect of the four-course feast that is yet to come.

She then presents appetizers of hamachi crudo with pickled mushrooms, radishes, ginger and shiso to one diner; and shrimp and pork potstickers with cucumber, wakame (seaweed) in a broth of oxtail ramen to the other.

After uncorking some nice viognier wine the couple brought with them, she pours it. They sip, savor and look over Kahului Harbor into the deep blue beyond through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of The Leis Family Class Act at the University of Hawaii Maui College in Kahului.

Does this seem like the food you enjoyed on campus when you were in college? NOT!

The Class Act was voted in the Top 100 in the United States and No. 2 overall Best Restaurant in Hawaii by users on Open Table. It’s also certified by Chaine des Rotisseurs, the oldest culinary organization in the world. It reopens for luncheons on on Friday for the semester.

Brandon Ramsical (left) and Edmon Valois flank Chef Instructor Tom Lelli. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

The most important part is, the food is cooked by student chefs, who spend eight weeks in the kitchen and eight weeks as servers in the front of the house. During the 16-week semester, they pull it all off with aplomb.

In addition, the 37,656-square-foot, two-story colossus Paina Building in which The Class Act is housed also has five fast-serve outlets and a salad bar downstairs in the air-conditioned Food Court with seating for 275 people.

“We’re excited for the beginning of a new semester and a new year,” says UH-MC Culinary Arts Program Coordinator Chef Teresa Shurilla. “Our enrollment is steady and we have a strong group of students this semester.

“We were very sorry to say goodbye to Chef Lecturer Jake Belmonte and wish him the very best in his new position with one of our main vendors, HFM. In Jake’s stead, we’re happy to welcome Joe Tocci to our family of chef lecturers. He comes to us from New Jersey and seems to have already formed a brotherly bond with our Chef Instructor Tom Lelli, who is also a native of the Garden State.”

“I’ve been cooking for the past 20 plus years and I’ve worked with Ming Tsai, Eric Tanaka and Mario Batali at Chef Central, owned by the son of Bed, Bath and Beyond,” Tocci says. “I moved here from South Carolina three months ago, mostly for the aloha on Maui.”

New Chef Lecturer Joseph Tocci (left) of World Plate and Chef Lecturer Noel Cleary of Paniolo Grill showcase dishes Thursday during lunch. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

At World Plate, he teaches his students how to cook in large batches, while adjusting consistencies and enforces all of their skills and techniques.

“I like to quote Anthony Bourdain when I say, ‘I’ve been in the trenches all of my life’ teaching the dos and the don’ts of cooking. My background is Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, so I just go nuts with it.”

World Plate is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. But it will be closed tomorrow along with the rest of the UH-MC campus to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

This week, we’ll do Italian eggplant parmesan, chicken leg stuffed with prosciutto and mushrooms, penne al Arrabiata and spaghetti and meatballs.

Chef Lecturer Noel Cleary runs the nearby Paniolo Grill in the Food Court. The foods are cooked to order, so it may take a little longer than at the World Plate or at the salad bar.

Crispy duck confit with pommes Aligot and dried cherry gastrique is on the French menu rotation at The Class Act coming up Feb. 14 and 16. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

“The focus for my students is on sandwiches, salads and fresh a la carte cooking,” says Cleary. “We try to keep it fresh and change it up. I use New York City delis as inspiration so students see what’s out there.”

This week, Paniolo Grill will serve up turkey clubs, Texas-style barbecue pork sandwiches with macaroni and cheese and cole slaw, and Smoke Shack burgers.

“We’re on week two so I’m applying pressure on the students to up their game,” says Cleary. “Smoke Shack is a famous chain and we recreate the sauce. We do a fresh burger every day that we’re open and use a combination of brisket and chuck and change it up every week.”

The Sodexo company runs the other Food Court outlets such as Raw Fish Camp, Ramen X, Campus Cafe and more. It’s a French food services and facilities management company with headquarters in a suburb of Paris and it’s one of the globe’s largest multinational corporations, with 420,000 employees at 34,000 locations in at least 80 countries.

Chef Jimmy Yanagida is a Sodexo employee who expertly runs both the Raw Fish Camp and Ramen X. Some oldtimers may remember him as the sushi chef at the former Sal’s Place in Kahului back in the day

A new a la carte cheese platter is offered every week at The Class Act, which reopens Friday. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

“I’ve been here for 13 years now,” says Yanagida. “The sushi we sell costs a third of what it would be in most restaurants on Maui. I make California roll, spicy ahi and a mixed sushi plate with California roll, fish egg, cured salmon, sushi egg and spicy tuna tamaki.”

Of course, no visit to the Food Court would be complete without warm and welcoming cashiers Midge Kanaha and Kevin Ageno.

While the Food Court feeds students enrolled at UH-MC and its instructors, the goal is to get more of the general public to dine there.

“The Food Court has such great offerings,” Shurilla says. “If you get bored easily, you can still come in all of the time and find something different to eat. And the more people who come in, the more practice the students have — and the more experience.”

The Food Court is shiny and bright, and it’s a secret pit-stop for take-out as well as sit-down lunches during the work week among savvy diners.

Sodexo employee Sushi Chef Jimmy Yanagida says that fresh rolls are a third of the cost that you will pay at Maui’s top restaurants. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

The foods come out fast, are reasonably priced, plus dining there supports the college and there is plenty of parking in the expansive lot.

“The whole Culinary Arts curriculum is based on serving the public,” says Douglas Paul, manager of Sodexo. “For the students to learn, we need the public to come.”

So what else is cooking at the college?

“I’m personally thrilled to welcome back one of our 2014 UH-MC Culinary Arts Program graduates, Hanna Stanchfield, who teaches our Fundamentals of Baking class,” Shurilla says. “She’s spent the last few years working at some of Maui’s best restaurants. I am proud to say I was one of her mentors. She was an amazing student and I know that she will be an excellent instructor.”

Shurilla wears two hats as program coordinator and pastry chef instructor.

She, Stanchfield and their pastry students bake all of the incredible breads, pies, cakes, cookies and desserts that are sold in the Food Court and served at the Class Act. It’s hard to resist a cookie when they precede the cash register and you must look at them when in line.

“At The Leis Family Class Act, breads change every week based on the menu and they come from our bake shops,” Lelli explains. “So when we do a French menu, the team bakes baguettes and sourdough. If it’s a Moroccan menu, they will bake flat breads, naan, and you dip it in olive oil and dredge it in dukkah (spices).”

While the Food Court needs more customers, The Class Act sells itself.

“We do have a bigger class this year, so we will be taking more reservations,” Lelli says. “Our first day of service is on Friday and our last day will be on April 27.”

Spring semester culminates with the Celebration Dinner on Wednesday, May 2. It’s a final wine dinner bash for $145 per person which usually sells out before we even put the menu out. We are starting to take reservations for the dinner and lunches on Tuesday.”

The international luncheon roster begins Friday with a fun American feast that will also be served next week. Lelli added a new menu this semester to the lineup as well. The Class Act is open for lunch Wednesdays and Fridays only.

“We added an Asian menu and switched out the Latin one. They rotate. This time we start with American, followed by Asian, Moroccan, French and Italian and then it repeats. We like to change it up for all the regular guests.”

If a four-course gourmet meal isn’t enough for you, then book the ultimate Class Act dining experience.

“Once again, we’ll offer our signature Chef’s Table tasting menu on designated Fridays of the spring semester,” Dining Room Lecturer Marc Malone explains.

“Here, you will taste small portions of the entire menu plus special culinary surprises. Seating for this experience will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. with very limited availability priced at $80 per guest, and seating for this culinary journey will be limited to the Chefs’ Counter.”

While Lelli runs the kitchen, Malone runs the front of the house.

“I’m really all excited about reconnecting with the students and adding fun and innovative service techniques this spring semester,” Malone divulges. “We’ll do very cool things with wines and coffees and prepare foods tableside.”

With skills learned both in the kitchen and on the floor as servers, the Class Act students are versatile, indeed.

“This prepares them for the industry,” Malone says. “It makes them well rounded. We push them, take them out of the box to a higher level to prepare them for graduation.”

Besides educating students to become chefs, restaurant owners and managers, UH-MC Culinary Arts Program has a few surprises in store.

“We’re gearing up for the first stage of a renovation this summer,” says Lelli. “We’ve had some donors. The interior of the dining room will be transformed and expanded. You should see the plans. It’s going to be way nicer.”

The upgrades call for more seating in the future, but the first phase will focus on new lighting and the ceiling with more bells and whistles added down the road.

“The good news is that the renovations are starting up and expect to be done over the next few years. We had a $50,000 anonymous donation and more people may want to jump on that bandwagon. Downstairs we’ve got new plates, that’s the start of it.”

“Please be sure to like/follow us on Facebook at UH-MC Culinary Arts Program and on Instagram@uhmcculinaryarts. We post news and information about all our outlets and hot special events on social media,” concludes Shurilla.

* Carla Tracy can be reached at carlatracy@mauinews.com.

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Here’s a primer on what’s cooking at the college

Leis Family Class Act

• The details: Open from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for lunch only Wednesdays and Fridays. International menu changes weekly. Cost for four-courses is $31 to $44, plus $5 corkage fee, tax and cash gratuity. Reservations highly recommended. Chef’s Tasting Experience is on select Fridays for $80 with small tastes of everything on that day’s menu. All major credit cards are accepted on campus. For reservations, call 984-3280. To view menus, visit www.mauiculinaryacademy.com.

Food Court outlets and hours

• World Plate: Open 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays with global cuisine foods (except tomorrow as the college is closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day). The international menu by new Chef Lecturer Joseph Tocci and students changes weekly.

• Paniolo Grill: Open 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays with made-to-order hot and cold sandwiches, salads, pastas and burgers by Chef Instructor Noel Cleary and his a la carte cooking students.

• Raw Fish Camp: Open from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, RFC Sushi Chef Jimmy Yanagida creates California roll, spicy tuna and other Japanese classics along with bentos.

• Ramen X: Slurp hot noodle soup from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays to Fridays. Choose from three different ramen broths — miso, shoyu and tonkatsu — with three ingredient combos.

• Campus Cafe: Grind beef or turkey burgers topped with your choice of bacon, onions, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and until 1 p.m. Fridays.

• Self-serve breakfast: Wake up to breakfast items on the hot bar such as scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast, sausage, hash browns and fried rice from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Mondays to Fridays.

• Salad Bar: Raw and prepared ingredients are light and refreshing for those on-the-go weekday lunches. Both are self-served and priced by the pound. Hot soups and chilis come in two sizes. Enjoy hot entrees, too. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and until 1 p.m. on Fridays.

• Sugar Cubed: Now open only for special occasions and holidays, such as selling chocolates for Valentine’s Day before and on Feb. 14.

• For more details: Call Manager Douglas Paul of Sodexo with food-court questions or catering needs for private parties at 984-3684.

Caesar salad with chicken was on the menu at Paniolo Grill last week. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

Student Chris Rego pours lemon-scented water at The Leis Family Class Act restaurant, which reopens for the semester Friday for fabulous luncheons. -- The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo

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