By Gina Joseph
The Macomb Daily
MACOMB (AP) - Most inmates avoid talking about prison food as it can leave a bad taste in their mouth but for the men in Macomb Correctional Facility's food technology program it's a source of pride.
"It's all good and it's all homemade," Tore Price, 43, holding up a plate of appetizers that his culinary team created during a recent glimpse inside the facility, said to The Macomb Daily.
Normally, he and his team cook for the prisoners and officers but their culinary skills were recently put to the test by Macomb Correctional Facility (MCF) Warden Pat Warren and several dozen guests. Their patrons included local restaurant owners and media invited to learn about the program; taste the cuisine and in the case of the owners, consider the Lenox Township prison a source for potential employees.
That is, once they're released.
"It's a great program," said Price, who has served six of his 10 year sentence for unarmed and armed robbery related to a substance abuse problem. Since starting the program, Price has worked his way up the culinary ladder from an inmate on the list, to a chef, tutor and someone in charge of others.
"I've always been a front person, a server or waiter," Price said. "Now I can work in the front or the back."
He can cook a gourmet meal for two or organize a banquet for hundreds. He can manage a kitchen or lead a team, and when friends of his 5-year-old son ask about his dad, he can say he's working as a chef and general manager.
"I'm a father, so I have to be a good employee for him," Price said, before popping back into the kitchen to check on his team, who could be seen from behind a glass window featuring the name of the prison cafe, Aiolis II, preparing everything from chicken scaloppini with mushroom scallions and fettucine to blackened fish with rutabaga risotto and braised Swiss chard.
Standing in the wings listening to Price was his mentor, Matt Dunaj, certified executive chef and MCF food service technology instructor. Dunaj, who trained under famous chefs like Jimmy Schmidt of Detroit's Rattlesnake Club, has always loved cooking and has been a member of the industry since he was 15. However, when he found out the corrections system offered benefits and a pension, he left the private sector and went to work for the MCF, where he's become the Chef Ramsay of Michigan's state prisons.
"I love that I have the freedom to push these guys to become employable, by teaching them current culinary techniques they can use to go out and get a job," Dunaj said.
And he's not talking short order cooks.
His charges know how to cook everything from flamed sauces and fluid gels made from cabernet sauvignon to green pea fusilli or pasta fused with vegetable juice.
"Classical cooking, to me, is dead. Cooking with lots of butter, high fats and big portions, that stuff is all gone," Dunaj said. "Now it's what can I put out there that's going to turn the customer upside down?"
Almost on cue, a prisoner walked out of the kitchen carrying a platter of green leafy vegetables that looked like Stonehenge made out of food.
"It's a work of art," said a guest, eyeing the fattoush salad placed in front of her.
Standing up on the platter of fresh greens and grilled chicken were four deep fried pita strips stuck into little mounds of humus. On this day it was the warden's guests who enjoyed the food but Dunaj has also created a pilot program, in which his class runs a restaurant that other prisoners can attend, provided their behavior has been good and they can pay for their meals.
"It's positive reinforcement. They have to learn to pay for things," said Mona Golson, a patron of the restaurant and the warden's administrative assistant.
Among the guests invited to the warden's event was Steve Gadzinski of Sterling Heights, who earned his culinary arts degree while working as an electrical design engineer for Ford Motor Company. After retiring he went to work as a volunteer cook for St. Leo's Soup Kitchen and St. Patrick Senior Center in Detroit.
"I'm interested in finding out if someone from the prison system would be able to manage a kitchen," Gadzinski said. "I'm thinking they would want to humble themselves by serving people in need. I am sure they'll want to move on, eventually, to a better-paying position, but this would be a good start because this is a population that would really appreciate their skills."
Julie Selonke, representing Oakland Community College, was impressed by what she saw and glad to see a program that will help inmates while also filling a void in the industry.
"We're training our students to be leaders in the industry and they're going to need staff," Selonke said. "It's absolutely necessary. Our industry is desperate for people. Every single day I have someone calling me for help because there are not enough people to work."
Also dazzled was Janina Jacobs.
"I had no idea they had something this extensive. It's phenomenal," said Jacobs, who owns Capers Steak House in Detroit and has had several great employees who were parolees. "It's a great way to help these men transition from prison life to the real world. It's very forward thinking on the part of the prison system."
In the end Jacobs and other guests who attended the gourmet luncheon seemed pleased by what they ate and genuinely excited by the prospects.
"This class is meant to prepare these men for the workforce. They really work hard to master their culinary skills so you will hire them," Warren said to his guests. "But we really need your input as to what you need. So, we can mold a culinary program that makes our returning citizens employable and successful."
Published: Thu, Mar 14, 2019
