Local Students Take Culinary Field Trip

Far from what the Food Network would have you believe, the life of a chef consists of more grunt work, kitchen prep and years of paying one's dues than spotless TV studios and conveniently pre-measured ingredients.

In general, it's not that glamorous. That's why to pursue the career, it's best to enjoy the art of it.

Several among the 40 high school students chopping, mixing, boiling and serving up a catered lunch at Diablo Valley College Friday morning were just that type of aspiring chef – in love with cooking for its own sake.

The students were handpicked from seven Bay Area high schools – including Amador, Granada, California and Dublin – for the daylong field trip to the Pleasant Hill community college.

The idea was to give them a feel for what it's like to cook in a full-scale commercial kitchen.

DVC students taught their younger counterparts the tricks of the trade they've learned so far in the college's culinary program.

High schoolers decked out in chef jackets, pants and hats fine-tuned their knife skills and learned the art of deboning a chicken for some fresh miso soup.

For many students, it was their first time inside anything but a residential kitchen, or a home-kitchen-sized lab at their own high school campuses.

The metal flashing and spread-out kitchen stations gave Jenny Costello a glimpse into her own future.

"This is what I want to do someday," said Costello, an 18-year-old Cal High senior who won her school's cooking contest earlier in the year. "I like the hands-on aspect of [cooking]. This was a good experience to practice in a real commercial kitchen."

Other students went on the trip not because they plan to purse a culinary career, but because it's a hobby they'll enjoy for years to come.

"I love the art behind it," said Briana Herberger, 17, another senior at Cal High. "I like creating things."