The Western Culinary Institute is the best kept secret in Portland.

ood food can break your bank.  Portland plays host to a number of restaurants that cater to the discriminating palate, but few are terribly affordable.  Soup alone can cost $8.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  If diners want to spend $50 or more per person for a meal out—not to mention any wine they might consume—more power to them.  This is what distinguishes liberal democracies from command economies like China or Vietnam, who might point to $8 bowls of soup as evidence of capitalist excess.

Whether fine dining is part of your routine or an infrequent pleasure, you probably don’t want to mortgage your home to afford a meal.  The Western Culinary Institute International Dining Room is ready to lend a hand.  For $9.95, you can enjoy a five-course gourmet lunch, featuring a rich selection of soups, appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts.  The menu changes daily, though a handful of dishes are staples, with variations in presentation, sauces, and cooking methods.  Tipping is not permitted, since students serve meals as part of their training.  Coffee, tea, or a soft drink comes free with the meal.  For food this good, there is no better value in the city.  Dinner is twice the price at $19.95, but offers seven courses and larger portions.  Even wine is priced to move; a typical bottle is $15, roughly half of what you might pay elsewhere.  “I have been coming here for more than a decade, and they do a marvelous job.” said PSU student Homer Hodge.  “I don’t know how they pull this off.”

According to Western Culinary Instructor Mike Maxwell, the Institute feeds 50 to 110 people at lunch and dinner every Tuesday through Friday.  In a metropolitan area boasting hundreds of thousands of people, those numbers suggest the International Dining Room is one of the best kept secrets in the city.  “We are more popular now because of articles people have read around town. You need a reservation to be guaranteed seating, but for the kind of food we prepare and the affordable prices we charge, it surprises me that reservations are not required weeks in advance.”  Lunch is served from 11:30 to 1pm, dinner is offered from 6pm to 8pm, with special hours on Thursday nights to accommodate an International buffet.

It's fun going into a field that is male-dominated.  I'm going to help turn that around.  I don’t know exactly how many women are executive chefs or own their own restaurants, but I believe it's less than one in ten.

“On a scale of one to ten, our lunches and dinners are an eight or a nine.” said student Brady Fleming, 23, a native of Whitefish, Montana.  Fleming is in his second month of training at the intensive 14-month Culinary Arts program.  Tuition is $32,000 sans room and board, though financial aid is available for those who qualify.  “As part of your tuition the school provides knives, books, equipment, everything you will need,” said 18-year old Evan Brent-Fulups, now in his fourth month at the Institute.  New students enter the program every six weeks.  Roughly 800 people attend the Institute at any given time, in various stages of learning.  Students work long hours absorbing recipes, cooking techniques, and business training.

Founded by Portland businessmen Horst Mager and Donald Waldbauer in 1983, the Western Culinary Institute is formally affiliated with Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu, where Julia Childs earned her chops.  When students graduate from the demanding 14-month program, they receive a Culinary Arts Associate Degree from Le Cordon Bleu, a stamp of competence that opens doors in the private sector.

At the conclusion of their training, most students are on track to become restaurant entrepreneurs or executive chefs.  “Our placement program gets results.” said Chef Instructor Jon Wirtis, “Nine out of ten students will find jobs if they are dedicated.  I always tell my classes that cooking is not a job if you love what you do.  Your workspace is your playground.  I come out of the CIA in New York (Culinary Institute of America, not the intelligence service) and our motto is ‘sharp knives, sharp minds.’  It is fulfilling to take these students through the entire process, turning them into professionals.  I have been here roughly three years now.  I like the fact that the program is accelerated; that we constantly challenge students to stay focused and rise to the occasion.”

Montana native Jessica Whalen, 23, is enjoying her time at the college but hopes to see more women running restaurants and kitchens.  “It's fun going into a field that is male-dominated.  I'm going to help turn that around.  I don’t know exactly how many women are executive chefs or own their own restaurants, but I believe it is less than one in ten.  I work for a woman who runs her own restaurant here in town, but she is the exception that proves the rule.  We need more balance in the industry.”  Demographics at the school boast two women for every three men, but global recruitment efforts look to balance those numbers in the years ahead.  Students currently attend the Institute from all over the world, including Europe, Central America, South America, and Canada.

Salem-based student Dave Wiebe, 39, is also impressed with the school. “This is a very good program.  The chefs seem to really know what they are talking about.  They are passionate about what they do—passion is the essential quality you need to succeed as a chef.”  Well, passion and a good accountant.  No matter how inspired graduates may be, eight out of ten restaurants fail in the first three years.  “We run a separate Hospitality and Restaurant Management program, in addition to specific courses in purchasing, cost controls, and finance,” said Maxwell.  “Our program emphasis is 80-20 culinary, but the business side of the industry is something we focus on.”

Maxwell is optimistic the Institute will enjoy continued success in the years ahead.  “Food is good.  People have been eating since there were people.  Every day there are more people.  More people need more food.  More people who need more food need more people who prepare food.  This is a growth industry.  If you have a passion for food and the right training, you will never be without a job.  In fact, people who graduate from the school find themselves in all kinds of exotic places.  It turns out people in the Caribbean eat too.”  For more information, visit the Western Culinary Web site.