2008 Woodie Awards
French cuisine is spice of life for this Culinary Arts graduate
Kirkwood graduate contributes her success to the great instructors at KCC and her love for cooking.
Dodie Kauffman
Issue date: 4/29/04 Section: Feature
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Connie Kokontis said she has always loved to cook. After being laid off from her accounting job after 13 years, she said she enrolled in the Kirkwood program in hopes of someday owning a fine dining and carry out gourmet restaurant. She said by starting her own business she will have the freedom to be creative in preparing food such as French cuisine.
Kokontis said she has always been intrigued by French food. One of her favorite dishes is from Normandy. Pork loin sautéed in butter from a Bon Appetite issue contains cream, apples and Calvados liquor. "That's one of my favorite dishes," she said.
She also said she enjoyed making Chef Dave Ditman's Chicken Kiev recipe from scratch during her first lab final. Kokontis said, Chef Dave makes everything from scratch. It takes longer but the results are great. "Chef Dave is a really great instructor," she said.
As a 1985 Mt. Mercy graduate in Accounting and Business Administration, Kokontis seemed the natural choice to keep the ledger for the Culinary Club. She said money taken in from tips and certain special events are put in the account and later used for things like paying students for some non-lab work and for competition team expenses.
After graduating, Kokontis wants to work in a restaurant because she said she needs the experience managing a kitchen before going into business for herself. She said, she wants to make the right choice because she is really loyal and picky.
Her dedication and commitment were recently rewarded when she was picked by Chef Amy Wyss to participate as the alternate on a five-person culinary arts team in Chicago.
As the alternate, her job was to organize equipment, warn teammates to stir the food when needed, and suggest ways to keep things moving, she said.
Strict competition rules said she could not taste, cook or touch any food. She said she was there as a support person to the others on her team and to deliver the plates of food to the judges. "I did a lot of dishes, too," she said.
According to Kokontis, her friends and family reacted with jealousy to her new career as a chef because they also love to cook but have to remain in other professions for various reasons. "They are very supportive, however," she said.
Her husband and mother are very encouraging. She said her mom lives in town and will be turning 80 this year. Since Kokontis is not working full time, she said she is now free to cook for and help her mom. "She's my guinea pig. She loves everything I make and likes learning from me," she said.