Prison's chefs-in-training toil over tasty gourmet creations

UTAH STATE PRISON — Thomas Powell has a dream he wants to live when he gets out of here.

"I plan on opening up my own restaurant, 'Fat Tom's,"' he said, smiling. "I've already got it pictured in my head what I want it to be. I want to serve southern Cajun."

The inmate, who has three years left on his aggravated assault sentence, said he is turning his life around in part because of a culinary arts program offered at the Utah State Prison's Promontory facility. Inmates are training to become chefs.

"They'll graduate with a degree. They'll have an associate of applied science and a certification from the National Restaurant Association," said chef Jackie Pappas. "You're going to be a chef. You're more than just a cook."

Tonight, the inmates will be put to the test: cooking Christmas dinner for dozens of corrections officers and employees.

"It's gonna be hectic," said inmate Joe Aiono.

The menu will include prime rib, chicken cordon bleu, a winter white salad, white asparagus with a white truffle sauce and a chocolate truffle cake. All of it will be made from scratch.

On Friday, the inmates were cutting endives, hand-breading chicken and putting cloves in oranges. Inmate Kevin Begay was carving butter sculptures. The gym down the hall was being decorated to serve as the dining room.

"It's gourmet. This is high-end stuff here," said inmate Jake Barney, who is serving time for robbery.

A culinary arts program has been in place at the Utah State Prison since 1995. However, this is the first time it is being offered for male inmates.

"We have a nationally accredited culinary program, under the guidance of the American Culinary Federation," said Ricco Renzetti, the program coordinator. "They have the same textbooks, the same curriculum as the students have on the outside."

The inmates pay tuition as they go through the two-year program. They have lab and nutrition classes and will learn about menus, business and marketing. They learn the hierarchy of the kitchen, addressing Pappas as "Chef!"

"When we come down here, it's like we're not even in prison anymore," Barney said. "When we come down here and we're with the chef, we give respect and we get respect. It's almost like we get to leave prison for a few hours each day."

The kitchen looks like a typical restaurant, but there are signs you are still in a prison. There's a wall with outlines of the knives that are used in the class. They have to be issued, and the knives are tethered to the counters. The pots and pans are also inventoried, and Pappas sports a police radio over her chef's smock.