North Miami Campus Honors Bloise '98 & Morale '02 as Distinquished Visiting Chefs

The College of Culinary Arts honored two of its alumni as Distinguished Visiting Chefs last month, giving them the opportunity to serve as guest instructors and produce a dinner with current culinary and baking & pastry students.

The honorees, Michael Bloise ’98, executive chef of Wish in Miami Beach and Jason Morale ’02, now a pastry chef at the Four Seasons in Houston (previously pastry chef of Wish), discussed their memories of being students at J&W, gave tips for a successful career in the food service industry and shared their knack for using ordinary items to create extraordinary dishes (i.e., black pepper in foie gras PBNJ).

“As chefs we have an important responsibility to open people’s minds, especially here in the United States where people don’t always understand fine gastronomy,” Bloise said during one of the two demonstrations he gave to more than 100 students on Wednesday, January 10.

The two chefs each used Wednesday’s demonstrations to share a dish from the public dinner on Friday, January 12. Bloise showed students how to make the Seared Diver Scallop with Arugula, Tangerine, Basil and Cauliflower and Morale demonstrated his Kataifi Roasted Pineapple Tart with Thai Basil Ice Cream.

Bloise stressed the importance of understanding and respecting the products you’re working with. “Food is first and foremost a science,” he said. “Once you understand it, you can manipulate it, and then it becomes an art.”

The chefs also discussed their passion for food at the event they prepared for 60 guests on January 12. The duo prepared three hors d’oeuvres and four courses, including the scallops and pineapple tart from the demonstrations; Crispy Wild Salmon with Raspberry-Tomato Fondue and Lemon-Soy; Guinness Braised Beef Short Rib with Farro, Cinnamon, Coconut and Pickled Pumpkin.

Proceeds from the Distinguished Visiting Chef dinners benefit J&W’s scholarship fund. Dorothy McCoy, a junior culinary arts student from Pittsgrove, N.J., had an opportunity to work with the chefs and received a $2,000 scholarship at the January 12 dinner.

“I was shocked and honored that I was selected for the award,” McCoy said. “It made me glad that I have put forth so much hard work in my time at Johnson & Wales.” Although only 31 and 26 years old, Chefs Bloise, and Morale have accomplished a lot in their relatively short careers.

Chef Bloise was selected as one of the country’s “Rising Star” chefs by Restaurant Hospitality. With Bloise at the helm since December 2003, Wish has maintained its coveted Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Award and the AAA Four-Diamond Award. The restaurant has also been rated as one of the 50 best new restaurants in the world by Conde Nast Traveler and one of the top 20 restaurants in America by Esquire magazine. Before coming to Wish, Bloise worked under chef Frank Randazzo as an executive sous chef at The Gaucho Room, the restaurant formerly located in Miami Beach’s Loews Hotel. He also served as executive sous chef to Wish’s former executive chef, E. Michael Reidt, from November 2001-2002.

Morale, who received degrees in culinary arts and baking & pastry arts has a passion for food that grew from countless nights spent with his family around home cooked dinners at this grandmother’s house. Chef Morale was pastry chef at Wish until last month, and has transitioned into a new role as an assistant pastry chef at the Four Seasons in Houston. After studying at J&W, Morale traveled to Vienna where he worked at Do & Co., a well-respected, high-end catering company. With them, he worked on events ranging from the King of Spain’s birthday to the Austrian version of the Academy Awards.

Tips from Chefs Bloise & Morale

• Learn the science behind each product you’re working with and then experiment with them. Two flavors may not usually go together, but it’s always worth trying.
• Always read to stay current on the industry.
• Once you stop learning at a job, it is time to go.
• Don’t take a job because of the money. Chef Bloise said he took a pay cut with many of the job offers he’s taken.
• The best lesson Chef Bloise learned at J&W was to never settle for mediocrity. Always do more than what’s expected of you and remain humble enough to know you’re not the best.
• Chef Bloise includes all of his chefs’ names at the bottom of the menu and therefore expects all of his employees to bring something to the table and share their ideas with him.
• Chefs Bloise and Morale recommend that students travel to learn more about international cuisine to see how the people of different cultures experience their food.
• Always taste the food you’re making.
• Try to stick with simple, clean bases like rice and beans to let other flavors in your dish stand on their own.
• Interview your employer and ask what he or she can teach you.
• Look at dishes like a movie. Each one has a theme, a star and some supporting actors. If you have too many stars, your dish becomes confusing.
• Get a variety of experiences and don’t get too comfortable.
• With each job or experience, take the good and leave the bad.