ProChef Success Stories – Igniting Inspiration
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"Each
segment of the ProChef Certification programs showed me a new perspective of
true cuisine and taught me important lessons—ones that I could learn only at the CIA, with the help of the
ProChef mentors, teachers, and judges."
Francisco Vintimilla |
ProChef Level III Success
Story:
Francisco Vintimilla, P.C. III,
C.E.C.
Some might say to become a better chef; one must study new
techniques, follow new cooking trends or philosophies, and/or even use ingredients
from other cultures. For me, though, the secret to becoming a better culinary professional
was revealed when I heard someone say, "The true measure of a great chef is not
how good he is at what he does, but instead how much better he can make the people
who work around him."
Since that moment, my ideology changed dramatically. I
searched for the best way to become this person: a chef who can not only cook,
but also guide and inspire people to follow their culinary paths. The Culinary
Institute of America offered me what I was searching for with the ProChef®
Certification program—it tested my skills and taught me the true passion and
professionalism of a chef.
When I enrolled in the ProChef Level II program, I had no
prior formal culinary education. But I decided I was ready to take on the
challenge and go to the mecca of classic and modern cuisine in the
United States, meet master chefs and prominent
culinarians, and follow the path that guides so many great chefs in their
careers. My expectations were soon exceeded and my knowledge was put to the
test. Each segment of the ProChef Certification
programs (I took both the Level II and Level III
programs and exams) showed me a new perspective of true cuisine and taught me
important lessons—ones that I could learn only at the CIA,
with the help of the ProChef mentors, teachers, and judges. Each one of them
brought a different perspective on food, yet all shared a common knowledge of
techniques and traditional cuisine, and all were skillful in both the art of
cooking and the art of teaching.
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