The Freshmen – New Cooking Channel reality show shows off the Louisiana Culinary Institute

Ben Mitchell is a 41-year-old full-time taxidermist from Crowley. Like many in the southwestern Louisiana town, he loves to cook jambalaya, gumbo, shrimp Creole and wild game dishes.

After he and his wife purchased land to open a restaurant, Mitchell wanted to learn more about the ins and outs of the industry; so, he headed to the Louisiana Culinary Institute (LCI).

“I don’t know anything business-wise about running a restaurant,” he says. “LCI teaches you how to a run a business as well as cook. We want to build a solid business from the ground up. I knew I couldn’t do that on my own. I knew I would have to go to school and get that knowledge.”

Each morning, he wakes up at 4:45 a.m. He makes the hour-and-a-half drive to the Baton Rouge school. Then after a long day in class, he returns home, rereading all his notes.

There is an added bonus, or pressure depending on how you look at it, for Mitchell though.

Mitchell is one of four people who are highlighted on The Cooking Channel’s new show The Freshman Class.

For three months, LCI was filled with cameras, capturing the daily routine of students. The show premiered June 10 and airs Mondays at 9:30 p.m. You can watch the first episode of The Freshman Class here.

At first, Chef Instructor and Director David Tiner was concerned about conducting class without distractions.

“It took a little getting used to,” Tiner says. “They told us it would be strange at first, but then we wouldn’t notice, and they would be like a fly on the wall. And we did get used to them. They were a big fly on the wall.”

In the show, audiences see the rigors of becoming a chef as well as the daily life of these four candidates.

Mitchell is doing this to support his three daughters, and he’s low on income. Jasmine Simmons is a New Orleans single mother who is trying to balance time working at a club and going to school. Tiffany Theriot lacks the support from her husband in her venture. Jared Heine is a war veteran who has the body of a 60-year-old due to injuries suffered.

Life outside school aside, Tiner isn’t easy on the students, either.

“He’s tough,” Mitchell says. “But he’s great. These are structures that set you up to be successful. They aren’t set up to babysit you. They know what it takes to make it in the real world.”

Tiner, who has experience in the military and worked in the Sheriff’s office before landing at LCI, says in the restaurant industry, there is no time for being nice.

“After years of being in restaurants, you develop that way of speaking,” Tiner says. “You’re not being mean. You’re being direct and putting importance on what you’re saying. That’s how you run a kitchen.”

Seeing himself on TV, Tiner says it was interesting to see how they fit everything into 30 minutes. He added that he hopes the show elevates LCI to a more nationally-known map as well as puts a spotlight on how different LCI is from any other culinary school.

“We’re small,” he says. “We can focus on the students. We have time to go around to every student and make sure they’re understanding what’s going on. I know every student in this school—where they’re from, their strengths and weaknesses. That’s a quality we have. Every student is a name, not a number.”