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It was a brutal stretch for the LA restaurant. Since 2023, hundreds of prominent spots have expanded the costs of food and labor and are shut down amidst the weakening of the economy.
Recently, the local scene was also caught up in a January wildfire that torched several restaurants, with some restaurants temporarily closed and evacuated. Then, this summer, federal immigration enforcement attacks led many undocumented workers to leave the post over fears of detention.
This is a dangerous environment for starting a career in the restaurant industry. But the culinary program at the University of Trade and Technology in Los Angeles talks about another story. Registration has increased by 13% last year, and has risen nearly 30% since 2019.
Jerry Vachon, chairman of LA Tradech’s cooking program, examines grapes in the school’s garden.
(Carlin Steel/Los Angeles Times)
The growth of this program is due to the fact that culinary schools have also been closed for the past decade. Le Cordon Bleu closed universities across the country in 2017, including the Pasadena branch. And a handful of other notable things that were closed in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Recent culinary alumni of trade technology, and the instructors who taught them, said they were not surprised by the school’s success, explaining that the program is attractive as it teaches useful and real-world skills in a new modern building.
“Going to school is very important. We’ll tell that to the young chefs we have,” said Katia Shastova, a culinary alumni of Trade Technology, a chef partner at Vinfolk, a well-reviewed Hermosa Beach restaurant that opened last year. “Some people think you can learn in the kitchen. Yes, you can. But when you come to the kitchen with the techniques already embedded in you…it puts you on another level.”
Robert Wemishner is a longtime instructor at LA Trade Technology’s Culinary School.
(Carlin Steel/Los Angeles Times)
Longtime instructor Robert Wemishner said the program emphasizes “giving students a real view of the work they do on-site.”
“Even at times when the landscape is dark or even uncertain… students want to find a career and pursue their passion,” he said. “And they find a teacher who will burn it.”
There are other factors as well. Division chair Jerry Vachhon said the program could benefit from 19 bumps in 19 posts as people rethink their careers. He also supported the Los Angeles College’s promise initiative, launched by the Los Angeles Unified School District and the LA Community College District about a decade before the University of Los Angeles. He graduated from nine college district schools, including Trade Technology, offering two years of tuition fees.
Vachon predicts the future growth of culinary schools offering certificates and associate degrees through the creation of new topics in research. Trade-Tech will begin awarding certificates for plant-based cuisine this fall. The program also aims to provide certificates in food trucks and mobile vending by 2026. The increasingly popular area aims to have fewer entry barriers than restaurants.
Why students register
The approximately $50 million culinary arts building, which opened in the summer of 2021, is a showcase facility that transformed the program, Vachon said. On a recent tour, he showed off the gardens used in a new class of green technology, as well as a spongy room that includes 12 mini kitchens, stocking sparkly stainless steel appliances.
Many students “really haven’t experienced it” using something like the high-end equipment the school offers, he said.
The building’s large main kitchen accommodates multiple classes of baking and slaughtering in production. Vacon, who had been teaching classes on Chark Terry for a long time, said, “We’re Terrins, we’ll do putty,” he said – proud of the dry aging refrigerator where salami hangs. Located near the campus coffee bar, its offerings are prepared and sold by students.
Raul Gonzalez pivoted from mathematics into the LA Tradech cooking program three years ago. He earned his associate degree in culinary arts this spring.
(Carlin Steel/Los Angeles Times)
Students who recently completed the program said the facility surprised them. Raul Gonzalez, 26, said he was studying mathematics at Trade-Tech but left after an inspiration during the Calculus exam. He visited culinary school three years ago and earned an associate degree in culinary arts this spring.
“I’ve always been passionate about cooking, and finally clicked for me,” Gonzalez said. He wants to open a restaurant in Guatemala, where his parents come from.
Sandy Hernandez, 19, said baking was a hobby in high school, but she wanted to develop skills. She enrolled in the school’s baking program in 2023. Having obtained the certificate this spring, Hernandez has already found work to prepare custards and other items for cafes and catering.
For many students, it is helpful that the program is relatively affordable. Vachon said that students can earn a certificate or degree for around $3,500-5,000, depending on the route chosen by them. In comparison, attending the American Culinary Institute in St. Helena, California costs $22,105 per semester.
What alumni say
Alumni of Tradech’s culinary program said they prepared them well for their careers.
Ricardo Mora, 34, quit his sales job about 10 years ago and signed up for Trade Technology with the goal of becoming a pastry chef. He won certificates from his baking and cooking program in 2017 and 2018 and worked as a pastry chef at a stint at the SLS hotel in Beverly Hills for about three years.
Sandy Hernandez recently graduated from Trade-Tech’s culinary school. She has already found work to prepare custards and other items for cafes and catering.
(Carlin Steel/Los Angeles Times)
But in the end, he got tired of it and pivoted into hood photography in 2020. What he learned in trade technology helped him with this new venture.
“I’ve been working for years to eat food and I knew how to present food to people,” said Mora, a Southgate native. “I can help [clients] Make sure the food looks great in the photo. ”
Another alumnus, 72-year-old Eric Warren, also began his cooking career in his late 50s using his trading technology experience. After graduating in 2011, he made his debut with OOO-WE! The sauce is a “sweet, spicy, cheeky glaucoma” that says it’s paired well with everything from eggs to pork tenderloin. His path was unique, but he believes that his culinary program will become a multi-talented graduate.
“I might start turning my burgers over, but I might become a caviar expert,” Warren said. “Everyone has to eat.”
Jerry Vachon, chairman of LA Tradech’s Culinary Program, also teaches there.
(Carlin Steel/Los Angeles Times)
Shastova, 34, is the chef of Vin Folk, the “most exciting restaurant to open in South Bay in recent memory” that The Times said last month, and is the most visible recent alumni of the program.
Shastova, a Russian immigrant, came to the United States in 2011 and settled in New York before eventually emigrating to Los Angeles. Contemplating her next move, she thought of her mother’s bakery going home.
“I thought I already knew how to do that,” she said with a laugh. “Then I found trade technology.”
She graduated in 2017 with a certificate in culinary studies.
With further evidence of the value of culinary education in trade technology, two other alumni attended by Shastova found work at a well-represented LA area restaurant.
They are Vinfolk’s line cooks.
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