Miami Culinary Institute Offering Free Tasting Tours

Themis Almonte believes that food brings people together.

So when she heard that the Miami Culinary Institute was hosting tasting tours, she didn’t hesitate to attend.

“Whether it’s going to a restaurant with a friend, or cooking for the holidays, you just feel closer when you are eating the same food as others,” said Almonte, a first-year student at Miami Dade College working toward her associate’s degree in music business. “This event offers that for the MDC community.”

Tasting tours are held every month at noon at Wolfson Campus in Room 9202. The purpose is to share information about MCI’s curriculum, program requirements and allow visitors to taste the dishes of MCI students and instructors.

During the tour, which is led by MCI’s program coordinator chef Patrick Syka, attendees visit the institute’s food labs where students cook for their classes.

“Tasting food brings more excitement to those wanting to join the institute,” Syka said. “A lot of people think we are just a program that is one class where anyone can come in and cook. This tour opens their eyes and makes them see we are not one classroom. We are a building with different food labs and classrooms.”

Due to the pandemic, tours have a capacity of only 15 attendees.

“This event is to welcome potential new students into the MCI facility,” said chef Patrick Mccurry, an assistant professor at the MCI. “I hope it opens up new doors to students that may not have thought of a career in culinary.”

During the first tasting, attendees feasted on arepas filled with tuna and vegetables, tres leches (a sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream), and Pork Banh Mi (a Vietnamese recipe for a grilled pork sandwich).

“The tour offers a diversity of food and a variety of choices,” said Jahkyra Belony, a first-year Miami Fashion Institute design student who attended the tour. “I’m sure not a lot of people have tried the different foods they have cooked, so it really encourages people to try out new foods.”

In the future, chef Syka hopes to show attendees the Institute’s organic garden.

The next event will be on Nov. 10. Admission to the tours is free. To sign up, visit Eventbrite.

For more information about the MCI or the tours, contact chef Patrick Syka at psyka@mdc.edu.