From the classroom to the griddle, students at Trinity University and the Culinary Institute of America’s San Antonio campus are putting their entrepreneurial skills to the test by creating and serving up grilled cheese sandwiches at the Pearl this Sunday.
Over the course of a weeklong pilot program, roughly 20 students from Trinity and the CIA collaborated as five teams in an intensive bootcamp designed to foster teamwork, creativity and innovation.
The project will culminate at the Pearl Farmers Market from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. this Sunday, where guests can taste the students’ finished concepts. Each team will operate a booth to show off their unique takes on a griddled sando paired with two sides. Tickets are $25 and benefit the San Antonio Food Bank.
“I was impressed with the collaboration,” said Mar-y-Sol Salinas-McCoy, Trinity’s senior director of academic success. “I’ve seen a lot of smiles, heard a lot of laughter. They have been deeply invested in the project through the week.”
Participating students spent time in Trinity classrooms developing business plans and brainstorming marketing strategies. Then they jumped to the CIA’s campus at the Pearl, where they experimented in the kitchen, fine-tuning their dishes and bringing them to life.
Top culinary and business experts including chefs Johnny Hernandez of La Gloria and Kevin Fink of Emmer & Rye Hospitality and Marise McDermott, president emeritus of the Witte Museum, offered insight along the way.
Jose Frade, associate dean of degree programs for the CIA-San Antonio, said he was impressed to see the Trinity students, who represent a diverse array of majors, and his culinary students willing to swim outside of their lanes. As they collaborated, the Trinity scholars weren’t afraid to offer their opinions in the kitchen, while the CIA students eagerly offered up marketing and financial input.
“It was good to see they weren’t just staying inside the comfort zones of their own fields,” he said.
That kind of collaboration is valuable for chefs, Frade added, noting that culinary pros don’t work in siloed kitchens. They regularly interact with guests, staffers, investors and vendors, and they collaborate on ideas and business ventures with people of varying backgrounds.
Both educators said they’re eager to expand the program based on the success of its first run.
Salinas-McCoy said she’d love to see the bootcamp offered annually or once a semester, potentially expanding to include other campuses. Meanwhile, Frade thinks it could grow in length so students are able to tackle multiple projects over the course of weeks or an entire semester.
“I think that would allow for more ideation and also more time to develop great ideas,” Frade said.
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