Yesterday was our second phase of filming at Schoolcraft College. Our focus this time was with Master Chef Kevin Gawronski and Certified Executive Chef and Program Coordinator of the Culinary Arts program, Chris Misiak.
Kevin fondly reflected on his earlier years there in the 70s as a student who was able to gain his first culinary cooking education from those who founded the Schoolcraft culinary program. 12 years after he graduated, Chef Kevin would return as an instructor. During his 32 year career as one the lead instructors he then became one of the 70 some total certified Master Chefs in the world to participate and lead several student teams to first place victories in culinary food salons around the globe. Once finished with our sit-down interview, we filmed Chef Kevin teaching some of the current students the art of making a French mushroom omelette.
We then sat down with Chef Chris who's been at Schoolcraft for 38 years. As the Culinary Coordinator, he manages just about every facet of a program that has become known as one the leading culinary colleges in the country.
We were able to film with Chef Chris during one of his classes on purchasing as he explained in detail what to look for when buying fresh seafood. To help the students understand the significance of freshness, Chris opened a new shipment of large sea scallops and king salmon from Foley's Seafood out of Boston. Foley’s is one the nations most well respected fishmongers with a history dating back to 1906 when an Irish immigrant, Michael Foley, opened up a small shop on Boston's Dock Square. Detroit Chefs have been relying on Foley’s fresh out of the water quality since the 60s.
We then set up in the pastry kitchen where we built several sets so we could film historical images and, at the same time, create action movements to go along with each set up. You will see our second chef figure created by CCS student, Alexandra Martinescul, in the likeness of Master Chef Dan Hugelier. Our goal is to have several of these created to help tell our story of the impact the chefs and restaurateurs have had here in Detroit and Michigan. Thank you to student chefs Vera Novirah and Mia Johnson for their hard work helping us out with these sets. We will be posting the trailer within the next couple of weeks!