Catherine Toth Fox: The Culinary Institute of the Pacific at KCC is growing

On Sept. 1, 2004, the University of Hawaii received a 65-year lease on the Cannon Club on the slopes of Diamond Head. The 7,878-acre property had been vacant and the buildings abandoned since the military closed it in 1997. It was a neglected area, overgrown with weeds and littered with trash.

Nearly 20 years later, the space has transformed into a vibrant educational hub for students from nearby Kapiolani Community College and other members of Hawaii’s culinary community.

This is the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, a carefully designed facility that aims to grow and elevate the state’s culinary industry beyond just awarding KCC graduates degrees in culinary arts and food service management.

Construction began in 2015, and the entire project will be completed next year – two stages in total. There are already two spacious culinary laboratories on site, each with eight stations equipped with restaurant-grade gas stoves, ovens, broilers and other kitchen equipment, as well as closed-circuit television screens.

About 150 students currently participate in KCC’s culinary program, a number that has remained steady since the pandemic. (In 2009, enrollment reached an all-time high with over 300 students).

The second phase, which includes a full-fledged restaurant, a state-of-the-art auditorium and a food innovation center for students, is scheduled for completion in 2025.

On Thursday, CIP launched a new program in partnership with the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, which focuses on workforce development and professional growth. Starting in September, the program will offer a weeklong, intensive workshop for culinary professionals, led by CIA instructors. The idea is that partnering with the world’s best culinary school will elevate CIP and attract more people, both culinary students and current professionals looking for ways to improve and learn.

“I want this campus, in this iconic location, to become a world-class center of culinary excellence,” says Chef Roy Yamaguchi, James Beard Award-winning chef, CIA alumnus and new executive director of CIP. “This is what we need.”

It’s no secret that Hawaii restaurants are in need of trained and dedicated workers. According to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, Hawaii’s workforce is still 3% to 4% below its pre-pandemic level, and restaurants are reducing hours or closing altogether due to staffing shortages.

Fewer and fewer people are now willing to work in extremely labor-intensive restaurant kitchens – or anywhere else, in person.

These are new problems that have blossomed in the wake of the pandemic. When the first phase of CIP construction was completed in 2017, the state was two years away from hitting a record 10 million visitors in a single year. In 2023, Hawaii had 9.6 million visitors, up 4% from 2022 but down 7% from 2019. The drop in visitors has also hurt Hawaii’s restaurants.

The new program with the CIA is a start in solving these problems, Yamaguchi says. Like lines outside a popular restaurant, he hopes CIP will inspire “lines at the back door,” indicating that people want to work there, too.

The new campus is sure to generate interest, even excitement, in the culinary field. Just listen to KCC instructor and food scientist Lauren Tamamoto talk about the cool science-based classes she teaches in the lab—she has a doctorate in food science and human nutrition—and you’ll be inspired. She’s figured out how to make miso from jackfruit, turn cauliflower into chocolate pudding, and freeze-dry everything. She teaches a class on pig butchering and is planning a class on foraging. Even for someone like me, who has no illusions about a career in the kitchen, these topics are intriguing.

Part of Phase 2 is what Tamamoto calls a “food prep space,” where students can learn to bottle sauces, test products and try new things. It’s an inspiring place, and Tamamoto says it’s more important to create a safe space for students to experiment and learn.

“I tell them you can’t make a mess,” he says. “It’s really about exposing students.”

CIP features an array of engaging classes led by an intelligent and enthusiastic instructor, a partnership with CIA on programs for working professionals, a full-service restaurant with stunning views of Waikiki, and a James Beard Award-winning chef at the helm to lure people into the career culinary and hotel industry.

And it just might work.

“It’s just like cooking,” Yamaguchi says. “All these different ideas come together to create something wonderful. That’s what makes (CIP) so special.”