A Recipe for Success

Chef Pulido’s journey in the culinary world and how her experiences shaped her passion for cooking

Pulido: When I was in high school, I took a culinary program. I took the courses during my junior and senior year. … They allowed me to take the course to see if I was serious about having a career in this field. Then, I moved here to San Antonio to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Information about St. Philip’s College's renowned Culinary Arts Program and the recent Paris culinary exchange program experience

Davis: We learned a lot about their hospitality . They are very hospitable. They're very sweet people and it just encourages me to be more hospitable. … It's also interesting to see their food there because it is a bit different, but also to compare their service to the restaurants here is interesting because I feel like we do take away a lot from the French service in the industry…. I have really enjoyed the teachers because they are so encouraging. When I first started doing culinary, I had Chef Woodard and she told me I was very good at baking a pastry, so I switched my degree over and now I don’t like culinary at all, but I like cooking pastry, so I really took that away from it.

Pequeno: We have programs in culinary arts, baking, and pastry. Additionally, we offer hospitality associate degrees. What's great about our program is that we also provide certificates. This means that if you don’t want to pursue a full degree, you can focus on a specific track. For instance, we offer a cake decorating certificate, which is perfect if that’s an area you’re interested in specializing in.I feel that we provide a lot of opportunities for different things, depending on what you’re wanting. I think ever since we got our new building, we are, I think, are taken seriously now. We can compete with someone like the Culinary Institute of America with our facilities. And so it allows us to really showcase that we can do a lot and our students are provided.

Advice for aspiring chefs

Pequeno: Traveling is crucial to see and how different cuisines use different cooking methods and you know spices all those kinds of things so I think you know for our students having that opportunity, I think it is going to ignite this excitement of like, I've just seen this great, beautiful place with delicious food.

Davis: Try it out. There are many different branches to go into, so if you don’t like one thing, there’s always something else.