By Hayden Seder
The nonprofit Sun Valley Economic Development and its executive director, Harry Griffith, want to bring a culinary institute to the former Globus restaurant space in Ketchum. Griffith has already appeared before both the Ketchum City Council and the Ketchum Urban Renewal Agency to seek donations to boost his current $750,000 fundraising campaign, which will provide funding for the first five years of the institute’s operation.
While the lease contract for the space is still under negotiation, the project has a letter of intent from the landlord and should meet all of the development deadlines. With minimal work needed to be done to the space, a retrofit is expected to take place between January and March, with a formal opening of the Sun Valley Culinary Institute in April.
“We don’t need to do a lot of remodeling work—the facility has great bones,” Griffith said. Griffith stressed that the next stage is gauging the community’s interest in the institute. “We’ve started a fundraising campaign because the institute will be structured as a nonprofit. It’s going to require charitable support from the community.”
Already the institute has three to four major donors that have committed funds in addition to funds from the City of Ketchum. The institute is also in the process of applying for grants. Griffith said he expects the institute to be profitable by its fourth year with an estimate of bringing in $600,000 in revenue by year five.
The potential benefits for both the community and those utilizing the institute are numerous, Griffith said. The vision is for a cohort of 15 students to attend the institute for a year, participating in a unique educational model where two months are spent in intensive learning modules. The modules include entry-level culinary life skills suitable for those just starting out, or those seeking a career change. The next two months would be dedicated to practical work, before a final four-month paid apprenticeship with a hospitality provider in the Valley.
“The learning intensive periods correspond with slack in the Valley and the apprenticeships correspond with our peak seasons,” Griffith said. “These students will get real-world experience.”
During the year-long modules, students will be provided housing options depending on their apprenticeship sponsor. Those working with Sun Valley Company would have access to the dorms, while those working for other employers could get help from the Blaine County Housing Authority.
The use of apprenticeships in the institute’s curriculum has benefits that are twofold; students get experience while restaurants in the Valley that struggle to hire and retain staff get trained employees in their kitchens.
“This is a new educational model that doesn’t yet exist in the U.S.,” Griffith said. “The current food education model is broken; students pay four digits for a culinary education on borrowed money, then get out of school in debt and have to start a job that’s at the bottom of the chain. With our program, they get unique experiences and connections in the industry at a much lower cost.”
Griffith envisions adding more mid-level to upper-level courses for chefs that want to take their careers a step further (like from sous chef to executive chef), or for professional chefs that are looking to continue their education.
The other branch of the institute’s educational program will be for food enthusiasts and geared toward locals and tourists interested in new skills in cooking, baking, and drink making. Courses might include pairing food and wine, doing regional cuisine, creating cocktails, and even cooking boot camps for kids.
And while the institute has no plans of becoming a full-functioning restaurant, there will be opportunities to utilize Globus’s liquor license to run a bar with small plates on weekends and during peak season. In addition to serving drinks, there may also be occasional fixed-price meals for small groups prepared by the institute’s chef. The space will also be available for rent for wedding parties and other events.
“We’re looking to provide a mix of creative activities to help with the bottom line,” Griffith said. “Restaurants struggle in this town because of seasonality and significant staffing costs, so we believe having a more diversified approach to the art and science of food that focuses on education is a really powerful business model.”
For more information about the institute’s fundraising campaign, contact Griffith at harry@sunvalleyeconomy.org or (208) 721-7847.