Jon Sloan To Be Chef De Cuisine At New San Diego Restaurant

The highly sought-after job at one of the most talked-about restaurants in San Diego has been filled. When the restaurant opens its doors in March, Jon Sloan will be the chef de cuisine at Juniper & Ivy.  Sloan, who until recently was the executive chef cum partner at Roy’s San Diego Waterfront, has been a chef in San Diego for the past six years. He spent the biggest part of his formative culinary years in the Pacific Northwest, working in highly-regarded kitchens. Chef Sloan will be working along Richard Blais, a native of San Diego and Top Cheffer, who will be the executive chef at Juniper & Ivy.

In a recent press interview, Sloan gave his thoughts about the food scene in San Diego. He said that as a whole the industry is growing. Where in the past this mentality existed only in very small pockets, nowadays more chefs are seen foraging for ingredients. The microbrew industry is also playing a role in bringing people along; in an indirect way it has raised standards in the food scene.

As a foodie, Sloan said, it is easy to notice that there are a lot of new things happening in San Diego. He regularly goes to Convoy Street and Clairemont Mesa, which he regards as possibly the best location for food in the San Diego area. Sloan thinks that there has been exponential growth in the San Diego restaurant scene. Four years ago the city might not have been ready for Juniper & Ivy; now it is.

Regarding the new restaurant, Sloan says that Juniper & Ivy will not try to be Alinea or to reinvent the wheel. Instead it will concentrate on what he calls “left coast cookery” – without being trite about it. The food will truly be ingredient-driven. The menu will change on a daily basis, with at least 15% to 35% of the content rotating.

Juniper & Ivy does not plan to source any ingredients from outside the West Coast area; over anything else it is determined to stay true to this. It wants to offer its patrons fine dining and the type of focus on service that would normally be found in New York City, but without any of the pretense and without taking itself too seriously.

What Juniper & Ivy will really take seriously is the wine, the food and the cocktail program, as  it regards these as the cornerstone of a successful restaurant.

California is home to many outstanding culinary cooking schools. A qualification from one of these institutions could be the beginning of a rewarding career in the world of culinary arts.

Prepare for Your Culinary Career at a San Diego Chef School

The city of San Diego is located right on the coast of Southern California, which puts it in one of the warmest and most beautiful destinations in the United States. Of course, being situated next to the Pacific Ocean and offering plenty of sunshine means that seafood is one of the top options for diners in the area. Tourists come to San Diego for business, to attend one of the great schools in the city, to visit Sea World and to relax on the beach, but almost all of them will enjoy some fresh local seafood while they are in town. Discover how attending a culinary school in San Diego can help you become a successful seafood chef.

What is the Appeal of San Diego?

It’s impossible to narrow down the appeal of San Diego, but it has a lot to do with the frequent sunshine and the perfectly warm temperatures throughout the year. Of course, the stunning coastline and the inviting blue waters also lure people to San Diego chef schools. No culinary student will spend all of their time reading recipes and studying in the kitchen, and having the opportunity to see tourism attractions, visit amusement parks and relax at the beach is a great way for aspiring chefs to spend their free time in California.

Why Seafood in San Diego?

San Diego has an ideal location on the border of the United States and Mexico, and it is right next to the Pacific Ocean. With this environment, climate and location, it is in a prime position for harvesting seafood throughout most of the year. Since it can be tough to find fresh seafood in much of the United States, having access to it in San Diego is wonderful. Chefs in the city often know how to prepare items like whole boiled lobster, mussels, oysters, shrimp, tuna, salmon and scallops.

What Cuisines are Most Popular in San Diego?

Although seafood is a popular main ingredient to be used in recipes within San Diego’s culinary scene, there are countless preparation styles that come from around the globe. With a location close to the Mexican border, it should come as no surprise that Mexican cuisine is alive and well. Asian food hailing from China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea is also wildly popular throughout much of San Diego and Southern California in general.

What Career Possibilities are Available in the Area?

It may seem obvious that for aspiring chefs, there are countless potential positions in the many restaurants within the city. However, you aren’t limited to working in a busy restaurant kitchen. Some culinary professionals find work as menu developers, food researchers or even restaurant managers. If you want to open your own business and cook according to your own terms, you might open a bakery, become a caterer or even run your very own food truck.

Chef schools in San Diego are rapidly increasing in popularity. The appeal of the area and the number of hospitality careers make it a prime location for aspiring culinary professionals.

Want to Become a Celebrity Chef in San Deigo? The Process Starts with Culinary Arts School!

If your dream is to be able to cook food for a living or own your own restaurant, then you’ve probably spent some of your time watching the Food Network. Here are a group of men and women who have managed to take their love of cooking and not only turn it into an ability to cook great food in their restaurants, but they also got a TV program out of it as well.

Becoming a celebrity chef doesn’t happen overnight, however. These men and women worked hard to get where they are today.

While many people think of celebrity chefs as men and women that are on TV, this is not the only kind of celebrity chef. A celebrity chef can refer to a chef that serves the stars. This can also refer so someone who is the chef at a popular restaurant and the restaurant remains popular because of that particular chef.

Where to Start

It’s important to note that not all of the people that you see on the Food Network are chefs. Some are what a chef would call a cook. Someone who cooks for a living but has had no formal training. It’s much harder to be successful without a formal culinary education than it is with one.

If you want to achieve this kind of success, whether it’s to be in high demand as a chef in the “real world,” or you want to shoot for having your own television program someday, you need to start by researching culinary arts schools in San Diego. Culinary school is where you’re going to learn how to be a chef.

Programs to Consider

Cooking school is more than just going into class for a few days to learn a few tips and trick for the kitchen. Culinary schools take their programs seriously and they plan on producing top chefs via their programs.

What this means is that you can actually get a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts. There are opportunities for associate degrees and certificates in the culinary arts as well. Programs can range between six weeks and four years, depending on the program that you choose.

Learn more about your choices to find a cooking school in San Diego.

Choosing the Right Chef School

You will find that there are a number of chef schools in San Diego and the surrounding areas that offer a culinary arts program. Selecting the right school is important for a couple of reasons.

First of all, if you choose a school that has a bad reputation or has no reputation at all, then you could potentially be wasting your money going to culinary school. Selecting a school that is recognized in your community or, better yet, around the country, can help improve your chances of being employed after you finish school.

Choosing the right cooking school is also important because everyone learns differently. You might need a different teaching approach than someone else aspiring to be a chef.

As such, you will want to research the teaching techniques used in each school. Take the time to visit a few schools and audit a couple of classes to see what school appeals to you most.

Running a Restaurant

If you’re not interested in becoming a celebrity chef, but you want to run a restaurant that appeals to celebrity chefs, then you need to consider hospitality management and restaurant management programs. These are also offered by culinary arts schools and will provide you with the education that you need to be successful in these fields.

Be Patient

Becoming a celebrity chef doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to be on TV, you might want to consider taking acting courses and networking as much as possible. Also, send in regular videos to the Food Network with different ideas for shows. Alton Brown used to do just that, which is how he got his show on the Food Network.

Most importantly, be patient. Don’t focus all of your attention to being a celebrity chef. You need to remember that you love to cook too! Continue to hone your skills, take new specialty courses occasionally and enjoy yourself as much as possible.

Discover your culinary future and the right cooking school to help you reach your goals at www.cooking-culinary-arts-schools.org.