Sizzle - Winter 2010

JAVAN SMALL WAS A 10TH GRADER WHEN
HE DISCOVERED HIS CALLING IN THE KITCHEN.

BY VICTORIA ENGLEMAN, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, CENTER OF APPLIED TECHNOLOGY NORTH

JAVAN SMALL’S culinary career has taken him to several venues in the Northeast and across the world. At age 16, he worked at Maryland Club in downtown Baltimore. At 18, he worked in Frisange, Luxembourg. By the time he was 20, he was back in the U.S. working at the InterContinental Boston, and at 22, he was sous chef at Hyatt Regency Cambridge in Massachusetts. Now, at just 24, he is executive chef at The Farmhouse, a high-end, farm-to-table restaurant in Emmaus, Pa., which has served seasonal, local, organic, sustainable, farm-to-table cuisine for more than 20 years.

“Small is an excellent fit in
this venue,” says Bruce Davis,
chef-instructor at the American
Culinary Federation Education
Foundation (ACFEF)-certified
Center of Applied Technology
North (CATN) in Severn,
Md., Small’s former teacher
and mentor. “He brings his
finely honed craft that favors
European styles, techniques and
offerings from the farm-to-table
movement to The Farmhouse.”
Born in Misawa, Japan,
Small traces his passion for
culinary arts back to the 10th
grade when he was a student
at CATN. He was the first
culinary-arts student to take and
pass the exam that earned him
the title of ACFEF Recognized
Secondary Graduate.

“The ability to apply the skills I learned in my high school culinary-arts program and at the Maryland Club encouraged me to pursue my passion for this industry,” says Small. "The opportunities CATN provided me with are unparalleled.

“Competing in SkillsUSA was the greatest thing I could have participated in because it showed me that I can take my career in any direction I want, using what I have learned through school and real-world experience."

After graduating from high school, Small attended Johnson & Wales University, Providence, R.I., and graduated magna cum laude with degrees in culinary arts and foodservice entrepreneurship. He worked under Lea Linster at her Michelin-rated restaurant in Luxembourg and trained under world-renowned chefs in the U.S. and Europe.

Recently, Davis and Nancy Davis, a baker and Bruce Davis’ guest for the evening, visited The Farmhouse to try Small’s cuisine. “We thoroughly enjoyed our experience,” says Davis. “The food was exquisite. My entrée was sustainably sourced halibut served with gingered kohlrabi and roasted new potatoes with lobster, vermouth and basil pistou.” Nancy Davis tried the sustainably raised Colorado lamb chops with smashed sweet peas, caramelized fennel, sweet roasted summer tomatoes and squash.

“To see a former student not only succeed but excel in our industry encourages me as a teacher,” says Davis. “Students who attend career programs in high school receive a competitive edge that jump-starts their careers and puts them on a fast track in the industry.”

ABOUT CATN The Center of Applied Technology North, a career and technology center in Severn, Md., opened in September 1974 and services students in grades 9-12 at seven local high schools and one alternative high school. The school also operates an adult education program. Since 2003, 60 culinary-arts students have received secondary graduate recognition from ACF. In addition, the first three Certified Junior Culinarians (CJC) in the U.S. were from CATN. Since 2008, 17 CATN graduates have earned their CJC certification. For more information, visit www.aacps.org/aacps/catn/ index.html.