Jae Gruber-Price

Jae Gruber-PriceCHEP

About me

Jae Gruber-Price instructed more than a dozen classes in culinary technique and hospitality education. She served as a member of the Academic Leadership Team for Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta for 13 years and completed her service to the organization as Interim Director of Education. Her responsibilities included: conducting bi-annual employee evaluations; faculty observations; classroom, syllabus, rubrics and student customer service quality control; curriculum development and enforcement of syllabus standards; student worker management; payroll responsibilities; coordinator of faculty development activities; talent acquisition; retention initiatives; records management; accreditation preparation; regulatory compliance; scheduling for an average of forty instructors during four shift periods for over 70 classes.

Additional experience includes the role of Executive Chef for several fine dining restaurants, as well as an extensive background in high-end exclusive catering, kosher catering, a personal chef, and the opportunity to cook at the James Beard House. She worked as a restaurant consultant in Atlanta and Central America, specializing in menu and wine list development, training, and sanitation improvement.  Jae is currently the owner of Life Cuisine, a Personal Chef and private home culinary and wine instruction service.  She is also a professor at Underwood University, for the Bachelor of Hotel Management degree program.

Jae was the recipient of the 2016 Distinguished Educator of the Year award for Academic Leadership from Career Education Corporation. She has earned several professional certifications, such as CCE, FMP, and CHEP. Jae is a Culinary, Hospitality, and Events Specialist evaluator for ACICS and ACCSET.

Jae was previously the host for the Le Cordon Bleu Radio Show and later, her own culinary talk radio show. She contributed articles to Le Cordon Bleu publications, has had recipes published in Dine Out Atlanta and Lisa Boalt Richardson’s Book, The World in your Tea Cup, and she has also had a stint as an online syndicated food columnist.  She is also the author of the online MaxKnowledge course:  Introduction to Culinary Instruction.

Activity

Mark, It is fun to go back into the industry and help out and/or observe. Many Chef Instructors pick up side jobs on weekends or volunteer for culinary events so that they can keep their skills sharp and refresh their knowledge of current trends. Jae Gruber
Matt, The 2 plates during production is an excellent idea. In addition to your reasons for doing so, it is also a good exercise should they chose to be in a future competition as more than one plate is usually a requirement at those venues. Jae Gruber
Mark, I definitely think that if the students can provide constructive feedback, that a guided roundtable discussion can be a good exercise. This helps not only in the future execution of production, but also to develop teamwork and leadership skills. Jae Gruber

Matt, I do think it is important to describe the realities of the industry. Often students want to know a pay range and I encourage them to do research in that area as there is no concrete answer. The amount of income that can be made can vary, depending on if the individual will be working in a chain restaurant, hotel, privately owned restaurant or numerous other options...not to mention by state. What seems like a lot of money per hour in New York is not necessarily so, due to the cost of living. Sometimes students want to know "how… >>>

Sharon, This is an excellent idea. If the students know your verbal and written standards ahead of time, there are no surprises at the time of grading. Both the student and the instructor benefit from very specific rubrics. Jae Gruber
Nathan, That's fantastic! It sounds like you are truly involved in sharing excellent topics with the students - one that will help them both in their personal and professional lives! Many Chef educators are bringing this important topic to the classroom or doing workshops outside of class to engage students in this important culinary direction. Jae Gruber
Nathan, As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words: whether it be a picture from a book or the internet, and definitely helps solidify principals. Taking pictures of each of the students production or station set up for review during the next class period can give the students the benefits of seeing many scenarios, rather than simply an individual critique/feedback. Jae Gruber
Nathan, Guided discussions are thought provoking and grab the interest of the students. Such discussions also help the instructor to more specifically direct their lessons to the current students in their class, rather than always using the same methods and materials. Indeed faculty members also need to be entertaining, fun and inspirational for the students, as well as for their own teaching enjoyment! Jae Gruber
Nathan, You have some excellent points. Using the latest forms of technology, particularly phone research to engage students in the classroom, is an avenue that can truly enhance learning. Verbal presentations can help students to break out of their "shells" and build confidence. Jae Gruber
Lisa, It is so important for Chef instructors to do this. Sometimes instructors believe that students are investigating these subjects when they are not in school, but this is not necessarily the case. In addition to informing the students, I believe there is the added bonus of keeping the Chef instructor current as well, while adding interesting content and over-delivery to the course content. Jae Gruber

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