Kyle Cherek will host Madison College’s newly revamped Chef Series.
The opening of a new culinary arts facility at Madison College’s Truax campus in 2016 elevated an already proud program to an even higher status. “The school is on track to be as good as — if not better — than the other three or four preeminent culinary schools in America,” says Milwaukee-based food expert Kyle Cherek, host of Wisconsin Public Television’s Emmy Award-winning series, Wisconsin Foodie.
That reputation is the main reason Cherek signed on to host Madison College’s newly revamped Chef Series. The monthly event will be held at the college’s Culinary Arts Demonstration Kitchen, 1701 Wright St. (Room B1285) and will focus on the entrepreneurial journeys of renowned chefs from Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Chicago. Each session in the eight-part series, which is part of the Madison College Center for Entrepreneurship, will cover methods of food preparation and include a cooking demonstration complete with a serving of appetizers based on the chefs’ recipes.
The first Chef Series session of 2018-19 will feature Justin Carlisle from the Milwaukee restaurant Ardent.
The presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 Chef Series is The Vollrath Company, a Wisconsin business based in Sheboygan that manufactures high-quality commercial food service equipment and supplies. Madison College uses Vollrath products in its kitchens and baking labs.
“Paul Short, chair of the college’s Culinary Arts Program, told me he wanted to take the ongoing Chef Series to another level this year, and that’s what we’re doing,” Cherek says.
The first Chef Series session of the 2018-19 academic year is slated for Oct. 23 and will feature Justin Carlisle from the Milwaukee restaurant Ardent. He also was executive chef at Madison’s Restaurant Muramoto and worked at the Madison restaurant Harvest. Carlisle is a graduate of Madison College’s Culinary Arts degree program and has been a finalist in the “Best Chef in the Midwest” category of the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards for the past four years.
“Everyone I asked has said yes,” says Cherek, whose drew on his network of famous TV chefs and James Beard Award nominees and winners to book the Chef Series. “It really shows their commitment to culinary education. Cooking is both a craft and an art, and it’s innovating all the time. Receiving insight from people at this level is invaluable.”
Here is the lineup for the 2018-19 Chef Series:
- Nov. 13: Heather Terhune, a former contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef who now is executive chef at Tre Rivali in Milwaukee.
- Dec. 4: Seth VanderLaan, chef at Milwaukee’s Miller Park, who is introducing greater sustainability practices at the stadium.
- Jan. 24: Pierre Zimmermann, master baker at La Fournette in Chicago’s Old Town.
- Feb. 13: TBA
- March 6: Rick Tramonto, formerly executive chef and founding partner at Chicago’s world-renowned four-star restaurant Tru.
- April 10: Gale Gand, Chicago-based pastry maker and former Food Network host.
- May 8: TBA
All sessions will be video recorded and archived as a training tool for Madison College’s culinary arts students. The Chef Series will run from 6-8 p.m. and is free to Madison College students; the cost for non-students is $35. Seating is limited, so sign up now. Click here to register.
“The leadership at Madison College is so forward-thinking, and this series is evidence of that,” Cherek says. “I’m delighted about the opportunity.”
Sponsored content by the Madison College Center for Entrepreneurship
