 Sean
Eckman, '00
(left)
Banquet Chef
The Breakers Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
photograph
courtesy of The Breakers Palm Beach
I am
Sean Eckman, a proud graduate from the IUP Academy of
Culinary
Arts, Class of 2000. I am the
Assistant Area
Chef in charge of banquets at The Breakers Hotel in
Palm Beach Florida. As assistant chef, I oversee prep
work and functions, usually in the P.M., on a
day-to-day basis. I have experience ranging from
preparing an elegant, candle-lit dinner for
two at a
private Palm Beach estate, to hosting a Hawaiian Luau
for
800 people. I have fed up to 2000 people at a
time, and was even fortunate enough to personally cook
for Bryant Gumbel’s wedding. I love my job; a new
challenge awaits me every day. At the age of
twenty-four, I share responsibility for approximately
20 million in banquet revenue annually. I really
enjoy working at The Breakers simply because of the
variety and number of food outlets that we
have all in
one place; we have eleven venues from which we serve
food on a daily basis. With the wide-variety of
restaurants on The Breakers Palm Beach property, I
have had opportunities as varied as serving a
hamburger on the beach or Strip Loin of Bison A’Pointe
at L’Escalier—our signature four star, five diamond
restaurant.
I would
not be where I am at today without the education I
received at IUP. The academy helped me to build a
solid foundation of knowledge and experience on which
I have been able to build a
great life and career.
The instructors at the academy helped me to realize
that a career in culinary arts is not just about
cooking; there are specifications for uniform attire,
standards for professional behavior, and computer
training that I never expected to be as
useful as it
has been! I would like to tell anyone that is in
culinary school, or considering it, that with hard
work and a lot of determination, you can go as far as
you want to. If you have your mind set to it, you
will achieve. I still cannot believe sometimes,
how
far I have come in the five short years since
graduating from
the academy. I hope that one day in
the future, I might actually be able to return to the
academy as an instructor. |
