By Nikka Garriga
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – For over a decade now, Joel Crispino has been pursuing his love for coffee as a full-fledged barista.
“One of the things I love about coffee is the latte art. I began to learn more about it just through self-learning until I got the opportunity to learn the craft in-depth at school,” Joel says.
Joel was among the pioneer Filipino baristas who underwent rigorous training under the Coffee Academy of the William Angliss Institute in Australia.
This Melbourne-based specialist center has partnered with the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) Manila, which recently launched its very own Coffee Academy.
The CCA is considered the first in the country to highlight culinary education for aspiring Filipino chefs and culinary professionals-to-be. The Coffee Academy forms part of its structural expansions including the CCA’s Grand Kitchen and Culinary Research Studio.
These new training facilities aim to raise the standards of culinary education in the Philippines, which is expected to boost related career opportunities from here and abroad.
Joel, who now works for The Cravings Group and will also be tapped to teach at the Coffee Academy, believes Filipinos can benefit greatly in the culinary industry owing to our inherent passion for food.
“Job opportunities for Filipino coffee baristas are almost ceaseless because one, we have a deep appreciation for coffee and two, there’s almost always a new coffee shop in need of one,” he says.
Besides a two-year diploma program in culinary arts, CCA Manila now offers its four-year course on Culinary Management. The course is designed to provide students a strong foundation as culinary professionals to becoming managers of commercial kitchens in hotels and restaurants.
The program merges accredited diploma courses of the American Culinary Foundation (ACF) on culinary and baking, and pastry arts with the prescribed general education classes and special electives such as culinary tourism and food manufacturing and technology.
CCA Manila is located at 287 Katipunan Avenue in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. For more information, call (02) 992-2520.
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