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Chattanooga: The big leagues: Brainerd High graduate’s Cordon Bleu culinary studies include internship at Hennen’s

By: Anne Braly
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Sarah Malone

Kyle Hubbard, 20, grew up in the kitchen. In his younger years, he honed his cooking skills alongside his grandmother, Juliette Moore. Now, he’s set to graduate with a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta following an internship at Hennen’s in downtown Chattanooga.

“My grandmother is the best cook,” he said. “She did catering for parties and weddings. I learned a lot from her.”

Mr. Hubbard began living with his grandmother when he was 2, so she’s seen his love of cooking grow from a mere interest to a passion.

“He was always in the kitchen with me wanting to cook all the time,” Ms. Moore said.

It wasn’t until his sophomore year at Brainerd High School that thoughts of a culinary career began fermenting. By the second semester, his studies went from the classroom into the kitchen at Brainerd Bistro, a student-run restaurant at the school. The Bistro is open to the public from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. every Thursday and Friday. After school on those days, it becomes Bistro Express, serving students takeout orders.

“Working at the Bistro, I learned a lot about food safety, cleanliness and the importance of being organized before you even start cooking,” Mr. Hubbard said. “I got an overall feeling of what it would be like to work in a kitchen with a chef.”

Leon Rice, instructor of Brainerd High’s culinary arts program, said Mr. Hubbard’s passion for cooking was turned on at Brainerd Bistro.

“I had him for three years; he was one of the managers,” said Mr. Rice, who’s had six other graduates pursue careers in the culinary arts. “If I had to describe him, I’d say he’s very special, very polite, humorous and curious. All of those attributes fit him.”

Following high school graduation, Mr. Hubbard entered Le Cordon Bleu’s 15-month program, which includes his current internship at Hennen’s.

“I think I’ll get a lot of working experience here and learn how a high-volume kitchen should be run,” Mr. Hubbard said three weeks into his internship.

So far, he’s manned the salad station and plated desserts. He hopes to move up to the fry station soon.

“Over the course of the next three months, I’ll introduce him to all the stations, the whole kitchen,” said Hennen’s executive chef Michael Locascio, a graduate of Western Culinary, a school of the Cordon Bleu in Portland, Ore. “Plus, we’ll sit down at the end of his time here to learn a little about the business side — the larger picture — everything you have to worry about when you run a restaurant and/or own one.”

It was a Friday afternoon when Mr. Hubbard first walked into Hennen’s as an intern. “I didn’t have any experience in a high-volume kitchen. We had a restaurant at Cordon Bleu, but the most we had was 63 covers (reservations).”

Hennen’s seats up to 200 on busy nights. Friday nights are one of those.

“I was doing salads back to back,” Mr. Hubbard said. “But this was how I expected it to be.”

When he got home that night, he was still hearing the sounds of the kitchen in his ears, he said.

“We’ve all had to do an internship,” Mr. Locascio said of himself and other chefs. “We all laugh now about the first six months after we’ve gotten out of school that nothing seems to make sense. It comes to you eventually. We give a little leeway here and there, though. Like, I know Kyle’s going to burn bacon. He’s done that twice. We’ve all done that.”

Mr. Hubbard will finish his internship in the fall and graduate from Le Cordon Bleu in January. He said he plans to stay in Chattanooga for a while but eventually settle in Charlotte, N.C., where he wants to have his own, small restaurant/catering business.

“Every city needs good cooks,” Mr. Locascio said.

In September, Mr. Hubbard’s cousin, also a student at Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta, will work alongside him in the kitchen at Hennen’s. They will be joined by a European-trained woman from Russia.

“We have a really kooky but fun kitchen,” Mr. Locascio said.

Internships help build a base for the future, he added.

“Over the last year, my entire kitchen has evolved into a more professional kitchen,” Mr. Locascio said. “I don’t have to stand over them all the time. They all want to be a chef or a chef/restaurant owner, which is a good thing. We all can give Kyle a hard time because we’ve all had to do it. You remember it and appreciate it, and everybody becomes your mentor.”

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