Page 38 - March & April
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36
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MAY | JUNE 2013
my grandfather had, so I came back to Thibodaux. At
Rouses I can still be creative with food but I get to work
in a place where I can help people.”
Ward is one of more than a half dozen JFCI graduates
at our Canal Boulevard store, including two others who
also work in seafood. Across the store, Chef Dustin
Pellegrin, the deli manager, is preparing to graduate from
JFCI with a bachelor’s degree. “I’ve always cooked,” says
Pellegrin. “Cooking is in my blood. I wanted to go to Folse
because it felt familiar. I’m from Houma, and I grew up
on homegrown in-
gredients. JFCI was
a place where I could
get a great education
and keep cooking the
food that has always
been a part of my
life. It’s been a great
training ground.”
JOIN OUR TEAM
If you are
interested in a culinary
position at Rouses, and have
formal culinary training
or comparable restaurant
experience, apply online at
or email
.
John Folse Culinary Institute Graduates
Chef Michael Gulotta:
Embracing Local Flavors and Education
by
Steve Galtier, Director of Human Resources +
photos by
Frank Aymami
by
Caroline Robinson +
photos by
Frank Aymami
Where the Chefs Work
W
hile most graduates
of culinary schools
end up working
behind the scenes in restaurant
kitchens, at Rouses, they’re out
front and center interacting
with customers. We have over
200 professional chefs work-
ing in our stores, and they’re as
popular as the food they create.
“Everyone loves a chef in a white
coat,” explains Jack Treuting, our
Culinary Director. “People see a
chef cooking, and they want to
know what’s for lunch or how to
prepare the ingredients they see
in the produce department.”
Chef Terry Ward, who man-
ages the seafood department at
our store on Canal Boulevard in
Thibodaux, says working at his
grandfather’s butcher shop in
Shreveport inspired him to go to culinary school. “My grandfather’s
place was a step back in time, a true landmark, and my grandfa-
ther was a real master at the art and craft of meat cutting. After he
taught me how to make the different cuts, I wanted to know what
to do with them.”
WhenWard got out of the service, he went to the John Folse Culinary
Institute ( JFCI) on the GI Bill. “I graduated, and cooked at a few dif-
ferent restaurants, but I longed for the kind of customer experiences
Chef Terry Ward
Chef Dustin Pellegrin
A
s one of the first students using the
Taylor Opportunity Program for
Students scholarship (“TOPS”), Chef
Michael Gulotta, Chef de Cuisine at
Restaurant August, knew that attending
the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at
Nicholls State University, or JFCI, was “a
no brainer.” Gulotta said: “To find a four
year culinary degree that was state funded
in Louisiana was a godsend. It made it
feasible for me.” What made JFCI special
for Gulotta, however, was the extra effort
from instructors. He recalls how “they
would figure out the people who would put
in the extra work and show us the lengths
they would go through to help us out.”
Instructors assisted Gulotta in planning
and creating a class around a trip to Italy
to keeps costs down, and they helped him
get jobs in restaurants including Lafitte’s
Landing in Donaldsonville. JFCI is one
of few four-year state funded culinary
programs, and Gulotta recognizes the
“amazing” quality of education he received
and uses all the skills he learned in his
restaurant. Gulotta says cooking is “not
only physical, [but] its mental and creative.”
JFCI gave him the tools to move ahead.
Chef Michael Gulotta, August
