Opportunities Industrialization Centers (O.I.C.), which was born right here in Philadelphia before it went national, continues to be relevant and very important to our community in 2024 and beyond.
To tell the full O.I.C. story, I would need to at least do a four-part series. However, for the column today, I’m going to shine the spotlight on O.I.C.’s award-winning culinary arts program. Chef Geoff Allen leads the culinary arts program at O.I.C., and he shared with me some of the specifics of how the program works. “Our culinary arts program is a ten-week program. The only thing that candidates are responsible for daily is to show up, be ready to learn, and be ready to work. You can go onto our website, oicphilly.org, and there are links there for how one can apply to be a part of the culinary arts program. There is a vetting process. We don’t just take anyone off the street. You have to demonstrate that you really want to be in the program. Those seats are important to everyone involved–the community, your neighbors, and the industry itself. Through the process, our students get hands-on training. We teach you everything from how to hold your knife to how to clean a fish to how to make a stock for a sauce for a soup. We get our students involved in tremendous events like a “Taste of O. I. C.” We go on field trips. We bring in guest speakers. We‘ve got tremendous working relationships with our employer partners. We do a lot of work with catering. We work with the Lowes Hotel. The all-in-all end game for the culinary arts program, as it is with all our programs within O.I.C., is to prepare people to join the workforce and have them prepared not only with a skill set but also we take a holistic approach to everything. I’m talking about financial literacy. We offer mental health services and counseling therapy sessions, so it’s not just teaching a person the technical skills in whatever subject choice it is they have selected–it’s also imparting that sense of responsibility not only to yourself but to your community as a whole.“
“Kitchens can be a lot of action and some stress too,” said Geoff Allen as he continued to share his version of what the culinary arts industry can be like. “When you’re working in a kitchen, you are moving–kitchens do not stop moving, day in and day out. You’re also dealing with a wide variety of people day in and day out, and that’s a good thing. In the hospitality industry, in and of itself, there is a rainbow of people that you are going to deal with on a daily basis, and that is amazing. Chef Crystal Bryant (who hosts one of those cooking shows), whom I had the pleasure of working with when I worked on the line at a restaurant called Restaurant 19. She’s going to be one of our featured Chefs at “A Taste of O.I.C.,” slated for Friday, October 4, 2024.“
Friday, October 4, O.I.C., will be observing the 35th anniversary of its culinary arts program. Over the 35 years, Chef Geoff says the O.I.C. Culinary Arts program has had a tremendous amount of success with a good number of its students on multiple levels. “We’ve not only had success with individual students who’ve come through our program successfully but O.I.C. as a whole. We’re nothing without each other. We’re featuring five of our all-star standout chefs from previous classes from previous years at Taste of O.I.C.
We have Chef Tracy Bordan, who is an O.I.C. graduate. She is our current Executive Chef at O.I.C. Without her, my day-to-day work would be much more of an adventure and challenge than it is. She’s amazing.
We have Chef Ernesto Venturo, he is the owner and operator of La En Granada in Camden, New Jersey, and he’s about to open a second restaurant. The last time he and I were chatting, he was also talking about opening up a food truck, so he’s doing great.
Chef Darlene Jones is the owner of Star Fusion Express, and she’s had tremendous success launching her brand and herself over the past few years.
There’s Chef Daliah Solomon, and she’s the owner of Cilantro Restaurant and Chef Crystal Bryant, Chop Champion, and she hosts a cooking show on Inspire TV.”
These five Chefs will showcase their talent and success through their food at Taste of O.I.C. on October 4. The event will take place at Billy Penn Studios, located at 1516 N. 5th Street in Philadelphia.
The Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America were founded by Reverend Leon Sullivan, the senior pastor at Zion Baptist Church, back in 1964. The hospitality training institute opened its doors in 1989. This year, in 2024, O.I.C. is observing 60 years of being in existence. I’ll be writing more about O.I.C. in some future columns. They have a story worthy to be told.
The next culinary arts class at O.I.C. starts October 28, so if you are interested in signing up, now would be the time to log onto the O.I.C. website or call 215-236-7700.
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