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CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Culinary arts students at Clintondale High School had a special day in class on Nov. 6 when Clintondale grad and Meadowbrook Country Club executive chef Nathan Oldham returned to his old stomping grounds.
Oldham spoke with students about what it is like working as a professional chef, answered questions from students and guided them through cooking gourmet pizzas.
“He discussed career opportunities for students in the advanced classes and explained to them that in the culinary arts field you can make a decent living, that you need to be committed to it because it is quite grueling sometimes,” said George Malfroid, director of Clintondale’s culinary arts program. “He went through his schedule, how many hours he worked and potential pay, and then he offered the students internships at Meadowbrook Country Club.”
Before Oldham became the chef he is today, he got his start in the Clintondale culinary arts program. Oldham worked his way through various steps of the program and became one of the cooks in the Dragon Cafe, an on-site lab that allows culinary arts students to simulate a live kitchen by taking and making orders for students and staff.
“It’s kind of like an upscale home economics class where they actually cook food for teachers,” Oldham said. “I know when I was in the Dragon Cafe, we (served) teachers and if students won an award, you could order food from the Dragon Café. … Students come, and they learn basic understanding about culinary.”
Oldham graduated from Clintondale High School in 2007 with a culinary achievement award. He was impressed with the state of the program and had an “amazing” experience returning to the high school.
“It’s the first time I’ve been back inside the Dragon Cafe since I graduated,” Oldham said. “It’s amazing. It’s very clean. It’s legit. I was impressed with how involved the students were, how involved the teacher was, how interested they were in the industry. … I can see some of the students inside of that class wanted to be chefs in the future. I think it’s amazing.”
Malfroid, too, was thrilled to have Oldham for the day.
“It was awesome,” Malfroid said. “He was trying to give back to the kids from his roots, trying to explain to him that it is a path they can take, and he’s been very successful in it. He was trying to show them they have every possibility that he did.”
While Clintondale’s CTE program is staying its course on raising the next generation of chefs, Oldham is getting ready for a massive change to his kitchen.
“We’re actually going through with a huge renovation at the club right now where we are putting new facilities on the club grounds,” he said. “We are adding on to our kitchen.’
As for coming back to Clintondale in the future, Oldham says he’s jumping at any opportunity that presents itself.
“Because I came up through that same situation, anything I can do to motivate the kids to see that there are ways to be successful inside of this industry, that’s what I want to do,” Oldham said.
