Chef's Dream: JJC's New $58M City Center Campus

JOLIET, IL - One year ago, a new 96,000-square-foot building, six stories high, opened at 235 North Chicago St. across the street from everyone's favorite restaurant, Chicken-N-Spice. It was a $58 million project, and it cemented Joliet Junior College's presence in downtown Joliet for decades to come. During the work week, this building is busy. There's hundreds of college students riding the elevators and wearing white aprons. This building is also one of Joliet's hidden treasures. Most Joliet residents have yet to step inside, even though they can. After all, it features not one, but two student-run restaurants that are open to the public, plus a bakery.

On Thursday, Joliet Patch arranged for an in-depth tour of the building with Joliet Junior College representatives. Patch wanted to bring you a day in the life snapshot of what goes on inside the tall structure on the northern gateway of Joliet's downtown. Foremost, this is not your typical academia building. This place is stocked with state of the art ovens, freezers, even a high-tech climate-controlled garden chef growing cabinet.

Amazing technology: a climate-controlled growing cabinet.

This facility is where Joliet Junior College's nationally famous pastry chef and cooking textbook author, Andy Chlebana of Food Network fame, teaches his pupils about the finer points of making sugary desserts.

Several JJC students are interested in learning about pastries.

"What makes this building great is that in my old kitchen, I basically had one of these tables. We would cram 12 to 16 students around that table," Chlebana told the Joliet Patch. "And is that more like what you will find in the industry? Absolutely. But here, what you are going to get now is more of a teaching kitchen, so we have more space for equipment. We can bring in some new equipment that we didn't have before. We get to teach the students with state of the art ingredients and equipment so they have the space to do the things right.

Chef Andy Chlebana

"And then when they leave here, they'll face some of those challenges that they are going to face in the industry, and that's the way it is. But we need to make sure here that we're giving them the space and the time ... to learn how to do things right. We have to teach them the gold standard so when they get out they learn how to customize things based on what their chef is going to want them to do."

Joliet Chef Andy Chlebana has been featured on the Food Network.

Meanwhile, down on the first floor, there's a climate-controlled freezer loaded with reindeer, horses, cornucopias, birds and geese. But these animals aren't part of a science experiment. Rather, they're all frozen.

Joliet Junior College's culinary arts program offers the only ice carvings curriculum in the state. There are only between 10 and 15 programs in the entire country, explained chef Michael McGreal, department chairman of JJC's culinary arts program.

These most recent ice carvings produced by McGreal's culinary arts students will be displayed on April 26 at JJC's wandering feast banquet.

Michael McGreal, chairman of JJC's culinary arts program.

Eventually, Thursday's tour moved into the first-floor kitchen where some students were experimenting with medium-rare steaks. Others were learning the finer points of fileting a fish. Some students were making Italian dumplings, pastas and baking pizzas.

Enrollment in culinary arts saw a 40-percent spike from a year ago.

In the kitchen, JJC culinary arts students don't spend an entire semester focused on their favorite selections.

"They do everything," McGreal explained. "Here, they will learn everything."

McGreal also pointed out, "We don't buy anything pre-done."

JJC students learn how to cook and prepare a wide variety of meals.

JJC is loaded with talent in the kitchen, and one of the college's sizzling stars is a Plainfield native, Emma Jo Prucha. On Saturday, Feb. 17, she will be competing in Madison, WI for the title of best student chef in the Midwest. "She is such a pleasant young lady," McGreal said. "It's hard to pick favorites, but Emma probably is one of our most sincere, professional and committed to learning."

If all restaurants had people like Prucha preparing meals in their kitchens, McGreal said, "it would change the face of restaurants and our restaurant industry."

Emma Jo Prucha competes Saturday for best student chef in the Midwest.

IMPRESSIVE FACTS ABOUT JJC's Culinary Arts Program

• Started in 1970. It's the fourth oldest culinary arts program in the country.
• In 2010 and 2014, JJC won the American Culinary Federation's national competitions.
• Spring 2018 enrollment is at 826 students - up 40 percent from spring 2017.
• Graduates have worked at famous Chicago restaurants Blackbird and Nelcotte, Marriott, Hyatt, Disney World and numerous country clubs across the Chicago region.

The new culinary arts building opened in 2017.

INTERESTING TIDBITS ABOUT JJC's CITY CENTER CAMPUS

• 13 commercial kitchens, plus indoor climate and humidity controlled chocolate and sugar lab and ice carving lab.

• $9 million investment in culinary tools and machines.

• 2 student-run restaurants plus 1 café.

Saveur is located on the second floor in downtown Joliet.

• Lavu Culinary Café (main level) offers coffee, breakfast foods, sandwiches, soups and desserts.

• Thrive (main floor) elegant cuisine that showcases fresh ingredients. Reservations are encouraged by calling 815-280-1201.

• Saveur (second floor) offers contemporary American and international cuisine. All meals made from scratch. All proceeds go to the Culinary Arts Department. Reservations are encouraged by calling 815-280-1200.

DID YOU ALSO KNOW?

JJC operates its Community & Continuing Education and Workforce Education Department programs from the downtown campus. JJC offers programs for students working toward their GED, high school credits, English as a Second Language and citizenship preparation. Literacy tutoring is also key component. Some of the lifelong learning culinary classes include healthy cooking, pierogies, beginning knife skills and junior chef classes for grades 4-8. To learn more, visit this JJC website.

"These are resources that are here for the community," said Melissa Lachcik, continuing education development coordinator with JJC. "We're here as a resource for the community and we want to help people to make a seamless transition, whether it's ESL or getting a GED or even transitions into college classes. Everybody has got a different reason why they're here."

Images taken by John Ferak, Editor for Joliet Patch