Sullivan University culinary students help prep for Taste of Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Culinary students at Sullivan University are getting the unique opportunity to work with several professional chefs at the exclusive Taste of Derby party.

The Thursday evening event is a delicious start to Derby weekend. Fourteen professional chefs are serving dishes at the event, which will feed more than 1,300 people. Students spent two days doing prep work alongside the chefs.

Chef Vishwesh Bhatt, a graduate of UK and the Executive Chef at SNACKBAR in Mississippi, said he was impressed by the students. He said their teamwork and skills are very helpful when preparing for a large event like this.

“Sometimes you have volunteers who don’t have a lot of experience or knowledge and you spend most of your time just trying to teach them something,” he explained. “But here, even the first and second quarter students have a good working knowledge of what needs to be done.”

Kyla Davis is one of the students getting this hands-on experience. She wants to move to New York City after graduating from Sullivan. In order to do that, Davis needs to build her skills, connections, and resume.

“It’s so important to me that I get out there and I can build my resume and say that I’ve worked with chefs - some of the top chefs in the country,” Davis said. “It’s just amazing that I get to do it through Sullivan and that I get to also learn about these chefs’ experiences and what they went through because some of these chefs here have been to Sullivan before. So, it’s awesome to know that I could have a future like these chefs one day.”

Leftover food from Taste of Derby will be donated to Dare to Care.

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