LA CityView Channel 35 debuted “Preparing for a Career in Hospitality,” on March 7, 2018, a 6-minute video sponsored by EWDD highlighting how aspiring chefs can receive culinary training through the City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Department and the Los Angeles Hospitality Training Academy (LAHTA).
The video includes testimonials from a successful LAHTA graduate who now works in the kitchen at the Sheraton Gateway LAX, along with interviews from executive chefs at area hotels and the Staples Center outlining opportunities in LA’s growing hospitality industry.
“Culinary arts is particularly exciting because it has no boundaries on age. Young or old, you are able to work in culinary arts,” said EWDD General Manager Jan Perry, who was also featured in the video. (more…)
Updated: AUGUST 18, 2017 — 2:56 PM EDT
Damon Roundtree, 18, carefully removed charred skin from a roasted red pepper, slicing it into narrow strips.
That one simple act had ramifications well beyond embellishing a sandwich, which looked delicious: job readiness; opportunities for underemployed city minorities; union growth; union relevance; schools serving communities; employer savings on training; plus a crew of cooks, servers, bartenders, and dishwashers ready to work at a new Philadelphia International Airport restaurant.
Lots loaded onto that sandwich.
“To me, it’s a new start,” Roundtree said this week. As a teenager, he got into trouble. As a young father-to-be, he wants a career built on his passion for cooking. “It’s fun. It tastes good, and it keeps me occupied.”
CLEM MURRAY / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Wearing a black cap, Penny Greenberg, 62, the head of the culinary program at Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School, conducts a training program sponsored by hospitality union Unite Here as students gather around the stove.
On Tuesday, 75 graduates of the first class of the Unite Here Philadelphia Hospitality Academy will be honored at City Hall. Students range in age and capability from recent high school graduates such as Roundtree, a novice, to longtime chef and manager Anthony Cunningham, 53, who was laid off from his job at a Japanese restaurant in June.
“I’ve put in resumes, but I can’t afford to wait for a vacancy,” Cunningham said.
