SPOKANE, Wash. — Well, it's no secret that Spokane is home to a dynamic food scene full of restaurants and bakeries many residents can rave about to their friends. Being surrounded by that type of environment is precisely what the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy takes pride in.
The program is creating future chefs throughout the community.
"There's not a day where my alarm goes off that I'm not like, ahhhh, I get to go to school today," smiled Tiffany Bubna, a student at the school.
Bubna is also a local business owner.
She and her husband run two New Love Coffee locations in Spokane County and the Bean & Pie bakery in Coeur d'Alene.
"There's so much from this program that I can apply directly into the business that I'm doing," explained Bubna.
For students like Bubna, the passion she continues to build each day in class is an opportunity she's grateful to have.
Joice Ferwerda shares those same feelings and can recall the moments she first knew food was her passion.
"I started messing around in the kitchen when I was three," Ferwerda laughed. "I grew up with a huge family of 11 brothers and sisters, so whenever I got the chance, my mom would let me help cook for all of us," she continued.
As a pastry chef in training, Ferwerda plans to work with a local catering company once she graduates from the program.
Further down the line, there are plans to open a bakery of her own.
"I want to learn as much as I can before I dive in," she said.
Students like Ferwerda and Bubna work several days weekly to help run Spokane Community College's bakery.
Many of their other classmates prepare meals at Orlando's restaurant right across the hall.
All of them are getting experience in the field of their dreams.
"We are learning things here about how to work in a kitchen and as a team," said Bubna.
The student-run bakery is open Tuesday through Friday from 7:00 am until 1:00 pm.
Orlando's serves lunch from 11:45 am until 1:00 pm.
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