For students who want to learn how to cook or take their cooking skills to the next level, Culinary Arts may be the class they are looking for.

Taught by Chef Lubin, Culinary Arts 1 and 2 teach a back history of the hospitality industry, including lessons on plating, flavor profile, and overall customer service. 

With his prior knowledge in the restaurant industry, a catering company, and a culinary degree, Lubin uses his skills and his love for teaching to educate his Culinary students about the art of cooking.

“I signed up for Culinary for the experience,” senior Darlene Mora said. “It allows for me and other students to interact with new people over something that everyone loves, which is food.” 

When joining Culinary 1, students mainly learn about food safety and are taught things like sanitation, kitchen equipment use, basic cooking skills, knife skills and culinary terminology. 

“Once I am comfortable with the student’s knowledge of cooking safety, that’s when they start brainstorming and prepping what they are going to cook in the kitchen,” Lubin said. 

In Culinary 2, it is expected that students already know their way around the kitchen, and are therefore allowed to cook more freely and more often. The class is more fast-paced than Culinary 1 and students learn how to cook more advanced recipes. 

The first stage of cooking in Culinary 1 or 2 is to prepare the ingredients and watch Lubin cook the meal you are prepping for. The second stage is to start cooking, mimicking Lubin’s demonstration. 

Students cook a meal every other week, but some holidays, like Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, give students the opportunity to bring homemade meals.  

“For students that are thinking about taking the class, do it,” senior Knoah Harris said. “Not only do you learn how to cook for yourself, but you gain stuff that you will be able to hold on to for the rest of your life.”  

Through Culinary, students can obtain their Servsafe Manager Certification, which gives them certification needed to be a food manager. 

Besides the multiple field trips throughout the year, students are also given the opportunity to compete in cooking contests, including Taste of Education. This February, Culinary students competed and won 1st place in multiple categories.

“The one thing I love about food is that it’s a global language,” Lubin said. “With this class, I am able to help my students understand how to take a raw product and turn it into something amazing.”

stand how to take a raw product and turn it into something amazing.”