Culinary Open House
Culinary open house, tasting event, ribbon-cutting
Holyoke Community College will host an open house and free community tasting event on Wednesday, April 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, 164 Race St.
Visitors will be able tour the state-of-the-art kitchens at the college's culinary arts facility, meet HCC culinary arts faculty and staff, learn about the college's culinary arts certificate and associate degree programs, noncredit job training, and personal enrichment classes, and play "Food Bash Bingo" for a chance to win prizes. Various HCC programs and community partners will have informational tables in the dining room so the public can learn about their programs.
"We will have food in every kitchen, showcasing the work of our talented students and instructors," said Stacy Graves, the culinary arts institute coordinator.
The event is free and open to the public. At 4 p.m., representatives from HCC and the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce will celebrate the launch of the college's new culinary arts truck with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the parking lot outside.
The culinary arts truck, purchased and equipped with funds from a Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant, will be used as a mobile kitchen for both community outreach and education.
"It's not our intention to sell food out of the truck as a means to generate revenue," said HCC Professor Warren Leigh, co-chair of the Culinary Arts program. "We are absolutely going to cook in it, but the main purpose is to engage in community service. At the same time, our students will learn about food truck operations and how to work in that smaller space."
Staff from the HCC Admissions office will also be on hand to discuss enrollment options.
In 2021, HCC placed 50th among the Best Culinary Schools in America, a list that also includes such esteemed schools as the Culinary Institute of America. HCC's culinary program ranked third in New England after Johnson & Wales in Providence, R.I. and Southern Maine Community College in Portland. Best Choice Schools cited HCC for the quality of its one-year certificate and two-year associate of arts in science degree programs in culinary arts, as well as its 20,000 square-foot culinary arts facility, which opened in downtown Holyoke in 2018.
The HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute is equipped with four modern kitchens, a bakery, hotel lab, and student-run dining room. For more information about HCC's Culinary Arts program, please visit hcc.edu/culinary
PHOTO: Holyoke Community College will celebrate the launch of its new culinary arts trunk with a ribbon-cutting ceremony during an open house and community tasting event on April 24, at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute.
