FOR a lot of aspiring chefs, becoming a successful professional in the field entails looking for a school that offers first-rate instruction.

The First Gourmet Academy (FGA) promises to be just that kind of school. It opened six months ago with the vision to provide adequate training and the expertise one needs to begin a career in the culinary industry.

?There has been a great demand for chefs and cooks around the world,? states Swedish chef Mats Loo, FGA director. ?Whether in hotels, restaurants and cruise ships, people with extensive culinary background are always sought after.?

Indeed, the rise of numerous celebrity chefs, the popularity of the Food Network and the proliferation of books, magazines and television shows on cooking has triggered widespread interest in getting into the culinary ballgame. But Loo says the craft involves more than mere cooking, or the glamour of wearing a spanking-white kitchen uniform.

?It?s a dirty job,? Loo says. However, it?s the pride and passion of creating great food that gives one a sense of fulfillment.

Students entering FGA, Loo says, will be trained in the disciplines necessary to be successful in the culinary world. FGA offers two diploma courses. The Diploma in Commercial Cooking and Culinary Arts is a six-month course for those who want to get a job at the soonest possible time. It?s followed by a three-month internship in any establishment that FGA has approved and acknowledged.

Students are taught Food Safety and Sanitation, Basic Culinary Skills and Food Science, Baking and Pastry, Garde Manger and International Cuisines.

The Diploma in Commercial Cooking, Culinary Arts and Entrepreneurship is an eight-month course for those who dream of opening their own restaurant, bar or catering business. It?s also followed by a three-month internship. The curriculum covers Basic Restaurant Design, Wine Appreciation, Bartending, Service Styles and Kitchen Management.

Short courses are also offered for hobbyists who prefer to wear not white uniforms but aprons. There are eight sessions for baking and pastry and culinary fundamentals.

Practical training

The school, which has 14 students at the moment, is situated at the second level of the newly renovated Capitol Hills Golf Clubhouse in Old Balara, Quezon City. Both the lecture and kitchen rooms have a spectacular view of the golf course.

Students spend an hour or two at the lecture room, which is equipped with a plasma TV for visual presentations. A wall in the room is studded with framed pictures of great international chefs, including Mario Batali, John Burton-Race, Paul Bocuse, Pierre and Michel Troisaros, Marco Pierre White, Verner Vogeli, Alain Ducasse and Gordon Ramsey.

After the lecture, students move to the kitchen next door for the three-hour hands-on training. The kitchen boasts of five stainless rolling tables and five top-of-the-line cooking ranges with six burners. The setup is similar to a restaurant kitchen layout. For each table, there are three students working together.

The kitchen also has a veranda where the school grows its own herbs and spices.

Loo, who handles most of the classes, is assisted by a sous chef to help him keep an eye on the students. Here, Loo teaches ingredients familiarization, cooking methods and techniques, basic stocks, soups, sauces, appetizers, dishes and desserts.

Following the European style of teaching, the kitchen is run like a real restaurant operation, with the students wrapping up the preparation and cooking at a designated time.

Experience

FGA?s curriculum offers intensive, practical and comprehensive training taught at succeeding levels under the technical guidance and close supervision of skilled chefs and instructors.

Loo joined the restaurant business at age 14 as a pot washer in a small restaurant in his hometown of Hallstahammar, Sweden. From his humble beginnings, he worked his way through some of the most prestigious restaurant kitchens in Europe.

By 1996, he was the executive chef on the legendary cruise ship MS Caledonian Star. He stayed at sea until 2007, working for two other cruise lines and seeing the world many times over.

Loo also had a stint as an instructor at the Academy for International Culinary Arts last year until he opened FGA.

Noted pastry chef Emy Ramos is also part of the faculty. Ramos, who finished culinary arts in Le Roches in Switzerland, teaches baking and pastry.

Romy Mercado and Dennis Nakpil, who are also part-owners of the school, handle the entrepreneurial subjects.

?We?ve added the entrepreneurship course because we notice that most students who take up culinary arts also want to open their own food business or start something like catering. We want to share what we?ve learned from our own experiences,? says Mercado.

Mercado used to run Red Ribbon, while Nakpil conceptualized Dencio?s restaurant. Aside from FGA, good friends Mercado and Nakpil are now partners in a fast-food store, Pupung and Friends (soon to be renamed Dennis? Grill), at SM Mall of Asia.

?One of the best ways to teach the students is through our experience,? says Mercado. ?Loo has been to a lot of kitchens from all parts of the world. His connections and the people he worked with are all masters of the craft.?

Loo adds: ?If I were a student, I would like to learn from someone who has done it many times. I?d like to find out where those instructors have worked, where they went to school and how experienced that person is. Experience is very important when you teach in this kind of school. We have the right experience in this school.?

Rigorous

Students and staff agree the educational experience at FGA is rigorous but highly rewarding.

?To be honest, the students here are not having fun all the time, but they are learning,? says Mercado. ?You won?t believe that a culinary school would be strict with attendance and tardiness. Sometimes they come in with the wrong shoes, and Matt won?t let them in. They have to go home, because in the real world, that?s how it is. They cannot even borrow the jacket of another person. They have to go home to get theirs.?

To keep the school updated on the latest culinary trends, the FGA has an advisory board composed of Loo?s contacts from all over the world. These contacts correspond with Loo about the newest diets, recipes and food styles.

First Gourmet Academy enrollment is ongoing. Call 9511687, 9519655 or 0908-2592639.