Oct. 29, 2021 – Six years ago when Chef Tony Parker joined the faculty at Renton Technical College (RTC) in Renton, Washington as a Chef Instructor in the Culinary Arts Program, he thought he would be trading years of 16-hour days for a more relaxing eight-hour day. But academia proved just as challenging as a bustling kitchen. For the first two to three years at Renton, he questioned his decision but there is no doubt now that he made the right move at the right time. “I really enjoy it and I love watching people succeed,” Chef Parker, member of the Chaîne Seattle Bailliage, said to Chaîne during a May 3, 2021 telephone interview.
Tony’s path to a successful career as a professional chef began in high school at age 15 when he took a part time job as a bus boy at a large Inn. The Inn was a microcosm of the culinary industry with everything from fine dining, a coffee shop, a lounge with live music to a 500-seat banquet hall. He quickly learned the ropes and before long was running the front desk. At school, he took mechanical drawing courses to prepare for an engineering career.
He continued along those parallel tracks after graduation, working at the Inn and studying engineering as a college freshman.
At the Inn, he found himself back in the kitchen as a breakfast cook under the tutelage of a woman who came to the Inn from a stint running a kitchen at a camp in the Alaskan oil fields. “She was a task master,” Tony said. She drilled into him the importance of being organized and keeping everything clean. Being set and ready for the day set him up for success in the kitchen, an early lesson he internalized that ultimately set him up for success as a professional chef.
In his sophomore year, he took stock of his future. He was having more fun in the kitchen than in engineering school. “Going to work and not wanting to go to work is something you never want to do in any job,” Tony said.
South Seattle Community College Culinary Arts
He informed his parents he wanted to drop out of engineering school to become a professional chef. With their support, he enrolled at South Seattle Community College. Their culinary arts program had a long waiting list with most students waiting more than one year to begin their studies. Each quarter the college held a roll call to admit 30 students. Tony arrived 90 minutes early to a December roll call during a snow storm. Even though he was number 150, he was admitted when few students showed up. He started the next quarter.
Just two months into his first quarter, one of his instructors sent him for an interview at The Westin Seattle Palm Court restaurant. For the next two years, he went to school Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then worked at The Westin from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. so Tony’s 16-hour days began very early in his culinary career. “I was doing everything all at once on the fast track when I was young,” Tony said.
The fast track included gaining ice carving expertise after hearing a chain saw on Westin’s loading dock only to find out it was a cook transforming a block of ice into a beautiful sculpture. Tony found any reason he could to go to the loading dock when ice was flying. The cook finally told Tony to buy a some ice carving tools and he would teach him how to carve. Tony borrowed $1,000 from his grandmother for the tools and he was on his way. Leveraging his training and aptitude for engineering, Tony was a natural. He can visualize a sculpture and then bring it to life. The cook was able to sell Tony’s fourth ice sculpture so Tony’s grandmother quickly recouped her investment in her grandson’s future and then some as he progressed to a master ice sculptor.
He has created ice art for clients throughout his career and recently began offering guests a fire and ice event with ice carving lessons followed by a wood-fired pizza dinner. What a very hot and very cool evening out!
After graduating from college in 1987, Tony became one of three apprentices under Chef Joseph Sir at Seattle’s Rainier Golf and Country Club. He worked long hours six days a week, soaking up the experience and opportunity to learn everything he could. “That was a really great choice to do that for me. It really helped me,” Tony said.
Always giving back, for 10 years while working with the Compass Group, Tony managed the food procurement operation for the Summer Special Olympic Games held at Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord. With the help of the Washington State Chefs Association (WSCA), he built 5000 boxed lunches for the athletes and families.
From 2014 to 2017, he served as WSCA President and has served the organization, an American Culinary Federation (ACF) chapter, in many other capacities.
“It’s really all about education, giving back, helping young culinarians and sharing knowledge,” Tony said. Early in his career, if he had asked a senior chef for a recipe, the answer would have been no but today, chefs are more supportive. “Young chefs need to benefit from our knowledge,” Tony said.
Pandemic
All of his work experience and education prepared Tony and other professional chefs for the unforeseen challenges as the pandemic developed in spring 2020 and continued through 2021.
While many industries were in panic mode, the hospitality industry quickly adapted. “In the culinary industry, we wash our hands constantly. We clean our stations constantly. We’re already using these chemicals constantly. It was truly no change for us in the pandemic other than wearing masks and being conscious of your social distancing in the kitchen,” Tony said.
The college went 100 percent online at the beginning of the pandemic but by summer 2020, the culinary arts program transitioned to a hybrid model with one-half of the students attending in person classes two days per week and the other half attending two days. Each Friday, all students were online. As of fall 2021, students are back in person five days per week.
To support students during the pandemic, the Chaîne Seattle Bailliage took the initiative to reach out to the program early on. In addition to their ongoing scholarship commitment, the Seattle Bailliage set up a separate fund to help students remain in school knowing that some parents were losing their jobs.
“The Chaîne came straight to me. I thought that was incredible foresight to think about those things then when all the craziness was going on and say, what can we do for the students. They helped a lot of students here just at my school alone,” Tony said.
Seattle has not been immune to nationwide labor shortages. “I get phone calls every single day from businesses that are starting to get back on their feet and they are looking for culinary individuals because a lot of people left. We just don’t have the people to fill the need,” Tony explained.
Community college culinary programs are an industry lifeline. Tony reports that their program is at about 90 percent capacity but it doesn’t begin to address labor needs. “We don’t have anywhere near the number of people to take care of what’s going on out there now and we’re not yet in full swing,” Tony said.
The combined efforts of community colleges, the ACF, and Chaîne to support the next generation of culinarians bodes well for the future even in these uncertain times.
“There are opportunities if you’re smart enough and you have a little fortitude to take it on to grow your business right now and be ready,” Tony said.
But first and foremost from the lessons of Tony’s career path, fortitude mixed with fun is a reliable recipe for success.
LINKS
Renton Technical College Culinary Arts Program