George Brown College in the News

…. “When you’re an aspiring young chef the sage words of a respected and successful chef can be inspirational; such words can also open your eyes to the reality of the frenetic hospitality business. With that in mind, the Culinary Theatre at George Brown College was packed with excited students last night, Sept. 27. The would-be toques were eager to hear top Toronto chef Mark McEwan talk about a career that has spanned more than three decades. In addition to running three successful restaurants (North 44, Bymark and One) and an eponymous grocery store, the 53-year-old chef also stars in the Food Network’s reality series Heat and is behind the highly touted new Canadian version of Top Chef. And, if that’s not enough to keep him busy, he’s just published a cookbook featuring 156 of his top recipes….” [More... ]

…. “The city’s celebrity chefs converged at the George Brown cooking school yesterday at a media launch for Chef’s Challenge, November 20’s Hell’s Kitchen–esque fundraiser for Mount Sinai hosted by Gordon Ramsay. The premise is that five of the city’s top chefs—Mark McEwan, David Rocco, Jamie Kennedy, Massimo Capra and Lynn Crawford—will head up a team of 10 (consisting of the top 50 fundraisers) and cook the same three-course menu. Ramsay and a panel of yet-to-be-announced judges will determine who cooked it best….”

…. “Employers and young people have different expectations around what is the most important skills for new graduates to possess, which means generation Y could have a hard time meeting employers' needs, according to a new survey. Most employers cite communication skills as the most important skill for a candidate to possess, while generation Y (aged 18 to 35) believe employers are looking for experience, found the survey by Toronto's George Brown College….” [More... ]

…. “At 24, Shayne Claringbold is one of the youngest students in his apprenticeship class at George Brown College. But like his classmates, he ended up apprenticing to build up his credentials and improve his career prospects. Claringbold became a sheet metal worker apprentice at D&S Sheet Metal Products in Barrie after spending four years as a machine operator in a food processing plant..... Rolf Priesnitz, director of apprenticeship and skilled trades at George Brown College's Casa Loma campus in Toronto, observes that unlike the old days, it's not just people fresh out of high school that are taking apprenticeship programs. Now it's a mix of business professionals making a career change, older skilled workers who need to update their credentials, or graduate students looking for practical skills….”

…. “If you really want to know how to cook Italian, go to a little slice of Toronto relocated to Italy. That's what a group of grad students from the Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts at George Brown College did when they left Toronto to attend their school's campus away from home in what's considered one of the top cooking institutes in Italy. The college's renowned culinary school and the famed ALMA Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana in northern Italy became partners several years ago, at a time when they were both looking to extend their reach…” [More... ]

…. “With 23,000 full-time students and 68,000 part-timers, George Brown is a big school. But this is no monolithic institution. Its classrooms are spread across two campuses and 10 training centres in downtown Toronto. At Casa Loma campus, where Murray Windross, 24, is completing a two-year tool-and-dye program, he’s part of a family….” [More... ]

… “Career seekers and employers across the country could be slipping increasingly out of sync, says a new study focusing on changes in what are perceived as key employment skills. A report from Toronto’s George Brown College shows employers are placing increasing importance on knowledge-based skills or the ability to communicate and work innovatively in teams. But the people they are supposed to hire don’t share the same opinion….” [More... ]