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. More…