Among these individuals is Saipan’s very own Benjamin Babauta who graduated last May.
The 19-year-old describes the establishment in his own words: “Le Cordon Bleu is a college for Culinary Arts. They have several locations in America including Portland, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco and Orlando. They offer an Associates Program for Culinary Arts, a Certificate Program for Culinary Arts, and a Certificate Program for Baking and Pastry.”
Along with two others from Saipan, Derek Vilagomez and Joseph Flores, Babauta completed the associates program for culinary arts at the Las Vegas campus. He received an associate degree in occupational science.
“Le Cordon Blue taught me a lot,” he says.
He discusses the training he received.
“They taught me everything from classic French techniques to modern cuisine. They had many chefs from different backgrounds and different working experiences so we were able to receive a variety of information from different perspectives.”
Babauta describes how he and his peers learned most of what they know “by working in the kitchen.”
He continues, “We had a variety of classes that taught us different cuisines. One class, Cuisine Across Cultures, taught us the different areas and which foods originated from that area. It also covered the styles of cooking and the different spices that go together.”
“Le Cordon Bleu doesn’t only have hands-on kitchen classes,” he explains.
“They also have lecture classes including communications, culinary math, college English, psychology, hospitality, and Nevada politics. Aside from that, we also took classes to help us in the kitchen like sanitation, nutrition, cost control and wine and beverage. We have to learn to balance the kitchen classes with the lecture classes.”
Babauta shares one lesson he learned while at Le Cordon Bleu that he will never forget.
“Moving from a small island to the big city is always challenging. Going to Le Cordon Bleu helped me gain more confidence and better myself. The friends we make in culinary school are the same friends we are going to be networking with in the industry. We are proud to come from a small island and represent the CNMI,” he says.
When asked how it feels to graduate among elite cooks, Babauta replies, “It feels really good. We feel like we accomplished a lot by graduating from a renowned school.”
