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“THE FIRST THING YOU HEAR FROM THE CHEF’S MOUTH IS ‘IF YOU’RE HERE TO BE ON TV THEN YOU SHOULD LEAVE RIGHT NOW.’” “We started our Apprenticeship Program when we had a labor shortage in Colorado Springs,” says C.W. Craig Reed, The Broadmoor’s Director of Food and Beverage. “It was becoming difficult for us to recruit the high level of talent that we wanted working in our restaurants and hotel at the time, so we decided to raise our own, if you will.” “Raising” culinary talent that under- stand and execute The Broadmoor’s Five-Star, Five-Diamond approach to din- ing and service is just part of what makes the Apprenticeship Program unique. For the budding chefs taking part, it’s an alter- native to traditional culinary school at a fraction of the cost. “I was going to spend $64,000 on culinary school, and that didn’t include the lab fees or my books,” says 21-year old Emily Strempke, a third- year apprentice. The Broadmoor’s program costs $3,300 for three years, with a fourth- year option that focuses on baking and pastry at no additional cost. But ap- prentices are also treated as employees averaging 40 hours of work each week and receiving a biweekly paycheck. “They actually get paid instead of just paying for school, and we supply the knives and books, too,” says Executive Chef Siegfried “Sigi” Eisenberger. Once a week, apprentices travel to WarrenTech, outside of Denver, for five hours of kitchen classroom training in courses like food safety, nutrition and management. At the end of three years, an apprentice will have dedicated more than 6,575 hours to the program, rotating every three months through each dining venue at The Broadmoor—including nine restaurants, and all banquet and catering facilities. “We learn from different chefs in a variety of settings, ranging from Five- Star, Five-Diamond all the way to our cafeteria. We know how to cook for 76 The Broadmoor Magazine | 2011 • 2012 different people and how to sell the menus to different types of customers. That’s something I probably wouldn’t get in a college setting,” says 24-year old Amanda Sinclair, who finished her apprenticeship in 2010, and now lives in Aspen, working in pastry. Reality Show There are approximately 30 appren- tices at The Broadmoor at any given time, and that number can fluctuate due to attrition with first-year students. A class of 15 can drop to 10 or 11, for example, once the gravity of day-to-day culinary duties sets in. “It’s a lot of growing up to be in the Apprenticeship Program. It’s a lot of responsibility to make sure you come to work on time, get your hours completed, and show up to class once a week,” Sinclair says. Anyone who has worked in a pro- fessional kitchen knows that glamour is not part of the equation. It’s physically demanding, with long hours, working on holidays, and the pressure of never allow- ing a customer to leave disappointed. In essence, it’s the opposite of how chefs are portrayed on television. And while many students at culinary schools across the country have the ultimate goal of being a TV chef someday, at The Broadmoor, “The first thing you hear from the chef’s mouth is, ‘If you’re here to be on TV then you should leave right now, because that’s not why we’re in this industry,’” says Strempke. “We’re