April 2, 2019
At Rouxbe, we take pride in partnering with chef leaders to help them build stronger, engaged culinary teams. One such partner is Chef André Natera who oversees seven restaurants and bars at the Fairmont Austin, an AccorHotels property, in Austin, Texas.
We recently sat down with Chef André to hear how the Rouxbe training program is setting his team up for success, and how training leads to limitless creativity in the kitchen.
Online training is the future for most industries — why should culinary learning be any different? Cooks are on the go and navigating the online world when they’re not at work. Rouxbe’s online training speaks to the needs of the current generation by making culinary training relevant, fresh and simple to use.
What are you hoping to achieve at Fairmont Austin by bringing the Rouxbe training program to your culinary team?
We hope to strengthen the fundamentals of cooking on all levels and develop consistency across our team so everyone is on the same page. As a large operation, we are trying to eliminate variables so we can provide a consistent experience. Rouxbe helps develop a baseline of knowledge for our culinary team members.
For me it is a simple equation, if you want to produce better food then you have to provide your team with better education.
How does the Rouxbe training program help your team build foundational culinary skills?
Like most kitchens, some of our cooks are very junior and benefit greatly from additional culinary education. Other more senior team members may just need a refresher on certain items. Rouxbe reestablishes the fundamentals for everyone and gives us something to build upon.
As chefs, we can take the knowledge we have accumulated over our careers for granted. We sometimes forget that a new cook still needs the why and the how. Rouxbe helps circumvent this issue while hastening the learning curve. In the end, a more educated cook benefits everyone, including the cook themselves.
Why is culinary training important?
Cooking is an immeasurable accumulation of techniques, recipes, traditions and experiences. This means training should be ongoing and evolving. In today’s culinary world, we need to be quicker and more efficient than ever. As chefs, we have the ability to create but as creators, we can only rise to the ability of our training. With better training, our creativity is limitless.
What is your take on online training?
Online training is the future for most industries — why should culinary learning be any different? Cooks are on the go and navigating the online world when they’re not at work. Rouxbe’s online training speaks to the needs of the current generation by making culinary training relevant, fresh and simple to use.
Rouxbe is proud to partner with AccorHotels to provide online culinary training for their associates. With a focus on foundational training, these training programs offer teams a scalable, affordable and flexible solution to attract, develop and retain their staff. Click here to learn more about professional online culinary training.
