20,000 Hot Reasons to Consider a Culinary Career

By: Kevin Bender
Cooking channel recipes Clayton Chapman

At his restaurant The Grey Plume in Omaha, Nebraska, Clayton Chapman is living his dream. Chapman graduated in 2006 from The Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago with an Associates degree in Culinary Arts, and is garnering national attention for his inspired food.  He recently picked up a Trailblazing Chefs Award from Cooking Light along with Grant Achatz and Marcus Samuelsson.  Oh – and he’s 25.

Always down for meeting new chefs, we connected with Clayton about his rising culinary star – still fairly fresh out of The Art Institute and Tru Restaurant in Chicago.

Culinary Style
  • My style is seasonal, locally-driven, contemporary new-American cuisine.
  • We start with great ingredients and highlight them through multiple variations of one specific item in different textures and cooking techniques.
Tomato Love
  • In the dish ‘Tomato…Many Ways,’ I combine a tomato crudo, tomato concassé with onion and garlic, a raw tomato topped simply with coarse sea salt, tomato gelée, smoked tomato mouse, tomato foam, homemade truffled buttermilk ricotta, and a basil marshmallow.
  • Tomato tips: The best tomatoes will be firm yet supple, be completely red – no green at the top – and should have a smooth skin, free of cracks.

Thoughts on The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes

  • Beyond the fundamentals, I learned how a professional kitchen operates which helped me establish myself in the industry so quickly
  • I not only learned culinary techniques, but I learned the practical, like how to cost a menu, control payroll and run nutritional analysis on a menu
  • Putting the name of the school on my resume alone has helped me get my foot in the door of most establishments

Are you a passionate food lover? Do you love diverse cuisines?  Ever dreamed of taking that passion to the next level? Well, here’s your chance.

Create your tomorrow with a $20,000 scholarship.

Inspired by Clayton’s story? Enter here to enter to win $20,000 to The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes.

This DEVOUR post is sponsored by The Art Institutes.

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