Doyle Orlando, former Jacmel Inn chef, entered the culinary realm as a college job. After finding he enjoyed the work, he became a chef at Jacmel Inn. In 2015, he moved on to Edward Jones. The 2017 Culinary Arts Series will be a brief return to the professional culinary scene. Zachary Araki/The Lion’s Roar
Jacmel Inn celebrates 40 years with the Hammond Regional Arts Center’s 20th annual Culinary Arts Series.
The July 10 dinner was held at the Alack Culinary Equipment & Supplies Superstore. Joshua Garic, the original chef, was unavailable due to a time conflict. Former Jacmel Inn chef Doyle Orlando took his place.
“We’re really looking forward to this installation of the Culinary Arts Series,” said HRAC Media Coordinator Tara Bennett. “It was a natural fit for us to collaborate and work together to bring Hammond a dinner that recognizes the city’s culinary history.”
Orlando last participated in the Culinary Arts Series in 2012. The July dinner will be a brief return to professional cooking.
“I still love to cook and part of my job now is I do a lot of presentations, so it kind of bonds something I love doing, cooking and presentations,” said Orlando. “Even when I was a chef, I did quite a few presentations or cooking demonstrations. It’s nice to go give back and see a bunch of people that I used to see at the restaurant a lot. I’m actually excited about it.”
Orlando left Jacmel to work for Edward Jones in 2015.
“My idea was owning my own restaurant, building a business or just being involved in the whole restaurant industry, maybe getting out of the kitchen and going to more of a management side or corporate side,” said Orlando. “What prompted me to make the change from culinary back to strictly business was once I had kids, needing to be off nights, weekends and holidays became important. Working as a chef, I couldn’t do it anymore. I needed to be home with my kids and my wife.”
Orlando entered the culinary world as a way to pay through college. After realizing his love for cooking and graduating from the university with a business degree, he attended the Culinary Institute of America.
“I didn’t really have a clue what I wanted to do, and I fell into the restaurant just because I needed a job,” said Orlando. “I learned that I just like being busy. I like working. I just have to have something to do. Restaurant and cooking offered that to me. There’s always something new to learn, always something to do, and it just fit my speed.”
Working at Jacmel Inn helped prepare Orlando for his current job.
“When I worked as a chef, I basically ran my own business,” said Orlando. “I ran a kitchen, from controlling costs to hiring staff, training staff, management, making improvements, setting goals and achieving those goals, working with a budget, building a business and approving that business to be successful, and I feel like over nine years there, we climbed a slow ladder. We eventually got to be really efficient. We got to the best we could be.”
Orlando’s love for cooking continues past his culinary career. His favorite thing to cook was fish.
“There’s always a new fish out there, never eaten before, and there’s an opportunity to bring it in, learn about its texture and qualities of the meat that it is and learning how to cook it, how to pair it with something,” said Orlando. “Fish was always ever changing.”
Tickets are still available for the last Culinary Arts Series “Coming Home” dinner that will be taking place on Sept. 11.
