New digs and big dreams for the Louisiana Culinary Institute

This month, Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Culinary Institute opens the doors of its new facility, a state-of-the-art space at the corner of Airline and Jefferson highways. The just-completed project is a bold statement for the institute as it aims to become a competitive regional training program.

“We want to produce the best chefs in the state,” says LCI Public Affairs Director Charlie Ruffolo. The new space features 29,000 square feet of test kitchens with Wolf equipment, classrooms, a baking lab and a 70-seat elevated amphitheater overlooking a live demonstration area.

The new complex will offer leisure cooking classes to the general public beginning this spring. Ruffolo says the first round will cover pastry, chocolate and king cakes to satisfy a growing itch among laymen to understand the fundamentals of baking.

The $5 million building is three times larger than the school’s previous digs on Essen Lane, which housed the culinary institute since its inception in 2003.

Among the school’s regional graduates are Lauryn Leger, owner of Leger’s Catering in Baton Rouge, Ben Jarreau, executive chef of Sno’s Restaurant in Gonzales, Christopher Cruse, sous chef at Jacmel’s Inn in Hammond, Jude Huval, executive chef of Pat’s Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant in Henderson and Justin Ferguson, executive chef of Baton Rouge’s Capital City Grill.

Leger, a 14-year caterer who started her business at the age of 19, decided to enroll at LCI to obtain formal training and to help her company compete with the growing number of caterers in the region.

“There’s nothing like the school in Baton Rouge, and there’s such a need for it,” says Leger, who finished the program in December 2008. She says despite the challenge of going to school while running an expanding business and managing a staff of 10, it was a worthwhile experience.

“It taught me the ‘why’ behind everything,” she says. “I really learned a lot. The only thing I didn’t like was not having enough room.”

Despite the expansion in size, the school won’t increase enrollment. Instead, it will continue to raise admissions standards, eventually accepting only about 12-15 students per semester, says Ruffolo. “Our goal is quality over quantity,” he says. “We want to perfect what we’ve been doing.” lci.edu