Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– Fifteen Stephen F. Austin State University students in the School of Human Sciences and Professional Studies’ hospitality administration culinary program were recruited to staff the Masters Tournament kitchens April 3-12 at the Augusta National Golf Club in an exclusive experience to work alongside world-class experts in the culinary field.
“I’ll be honest. Midweek, I thought, ‘What in the world did I get myself into?’” said Todd Barrios, chef and professor in practice for the School of Human Sciences and Professional Studies. “This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done professionally because of the timelines and the mind-boggling number of people who attended.”
Barrios, who was recruited as head sous chef and worked alongside his students, said they were elbow to elbow with executive chefs from all over the world.
“In the kitchens, I really wanted to push the students to excel so people would notice and see those kids were from SFA,” Barrios said. “You could tell they stood out and people started to notice our students.”
Recruitment
Months ahead of the tournament, interns and industry professionals are painstakingly selected to work behind the scenes to prepare everything from the classic concession sandwiches to the opulent fine-dining experiences.
Of the 19 SFA students interviewed, the following 15 were hired: Alejandro Acosta, Lauren Bailey, Sharlyn Cisneros, Haileigh Durland, Kayce Ford, Colleen Galler, Abby Lee, Braxton Luna, Kaley Perdue, Jordan Robinson, Brandon Rodriguez, Kolton Scarbrough, James Stephens, Michael Walker and Te'Shawn Winters.
Most of the SFA interns were stationed at Berckmans Place, the premium hospitality facility at the tournament. The exclusive 90,000-square-foot venue, located just off the fifth hole, has five high-end dining options for attendees, enabling the students to try a little of everything, from production kitchens, upscale sports bar fare and classic southern dishes to Scottish pub eats, seafood and wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas.
In the back of the house at the luxurious dining options, SFA students joined the hundreds of food and beverage interns and professionals working in prep kitchens, running inventory, expediting orders and even managing stations.
A lifetime appointment
The students’ selection for the ANGC food and beverage internship is a lifetime appointment that allows them and Barrios to return to the Masters each year. The internship guarantees these SFA students at least one paid opportunity following graduation and connects them with important contacts in the culinary field.
“One person had just celebrated their 50th anniversary working the event,” Barrios said. “Our current students have the opportunity to go back, and the majority of them have already said they would.”
Despite the intensity and long hours, this year’s ANGC food and beverage internship team had a 76% return rate, and, according to Barrios, some colleagues in the kitchens had served in their roles for over 10 years.
Experiential learning with the elites
Several SFA students walked away transformed by their week in Augusta. Winters, a first-year hospitality administration major from Chester, spent the internship cooking about 1,000 pounds of shrimp. After gaining an interest in meat-cutting while observing the sous chef, he also learned how to prepare veal, chicken, steak and wagyu.
“I did my best to learn, learn, learn, and I was studying quickly,” Winters said. “The sous chef was impressed by that and allowed me to be his apprentice, which was game-changing. I had a moment when I realized I had to learn fast and adapt fast while trying my best to have fun while I was there. I most definitely plan to go back, and will try my best to keep going each year.”
Although Winters has just begun his hospitality administration program coursework, his experience on SFA’s Axes and Embers barbecue competition team gave him a strong foundation for the Masters internship. After working alongside the sous chef, he was told a position would be waiting for him after graduation.
Robinson, a senior hospitality administration major from Sherman, used the limited free time interns had to visit one of the many other kitchens and study the greats. During her exploration, she found another kitchen needed her to operate its omelet station, according to Barrios.
“She said she had never done it before, but she told me, ‘If you show me, I can do it,’ and that’s a testament to the confidence of our students — they just need you to show them, and they can do it,” Barrios said. “The sous chef she worked under was so impressed that they want her back running sauté next year.”
Robinson said that no one can really prepare students for the intensity of the internship. She described feeling exhausted and unsure if she wanted to return, but, upon reflection, she knows she can handle of the heat of the kitchen.
“Chef Todd talked to us a lot about what to expect and what we’ll experience, but then you go there, and it is 100 times what you’ve been prepared for,” Robinson said. “I think people believe they can’t do this or they are not emotionally strong enough to handle it, but it is going to change you and you’re going to feel so good after, and you’re going to be so tired and hurt so bad — but you’re going to love it.”
Next year
For students interested in the opportunity, the ANGC food and beverage internship team will be back in September as they travel through the region for another recruiting session, offering new students the chance to experience the process and potentially visit the unique culinary convention.
“We encourage this partnership,” Barrios said. “Students who graduate this year will have a chance to go back next year, even after graduation, and we will have a support network to guide incoming SFA students who are interested in attending in the future.”
At the end of the tournament, executive chefs from each food and beverage area award a staff member with a coveted Masters chef jacket, and SFA’s own Chef Barrios received one of the jackets.
“I just wanted to prove that I could do it, and I wanted to be there for my students in the first round,” Barrios said. “I sent them all a message while I was on my way back in the airport saying that they did it, and I was so proud of them and the work they put in and the sleepless nights. Whatever they decide to do moving forward, I was so proud of them and how they represented SFA and represented themselves.”