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All Back Issues » May/June 2008 Issue

Hospitality U: Kendall College
Beyond the Kitchen
By Michael Costa

Jeffrey Catrett (right), dean of Kendall School of Hospitality Management, Kendall College, meets with students.
Jeffrey Catrett (right), dean of Kendall School of Hospitality Management, Kendall College, meets with students.

When culinary students at Kendall College in Chicago decide their interests may actually be in the front of the house, they don’t need to transfer to another school to find out. Kendall gives those students the chance to stay on campus and pursue a hospitality education through a partnership with the Swiss-based Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.

“We have a four-year culinary program and a four-year hospitality program. We also have students who go in both directions, with two years in culinary and two years in hospitality. We’re the only school with that combination in Chicago,” says Jeffrey Catrett, dean of Kendall School of Hospitality Management, Kendall College. Catrett says Kendall added the partnership with Les Roches about two years ago, anticipating the industry evolving beyond just culinary training. The school’s hunch turned out to be correct, as the hospitality program has grown from 90 to 275 students, not counting additional culinary students who spend time in both programs.

“They may want to run a restaurant but not necessarily be the full-time chef. Our industry is much more competitive and sophisticated than it used to be, so it’s important to be a good restaurateur and a good businessperson,” Catrett says.

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTION
In addition to Kendall’s campus, Les Roches offers programs in Bluche, Switzerland; Marbella, Spain; Manila, Philippines; and Shanghai, China. Catrett says the global approach toward hospitality gives each student the flexibility to adapt to any hotel environment and consequently increases their job opportunities in the front and back of the house.

Kendall’s culinary program still has the majority of students (650) on campus. Catrett says giving them a chance to cross over to hospitality classes is changing the school’s reputation as a kitchen training ground.

“We’d like to see Kendall known more as a broad provider of professionals for the service industry. Our plan is to eventually have at least as large a hospitality school as we do a culinary school.”