Walt Disney World hosts up-and-coming New Orleans chefs
Attractions Magazine takes you behind the scenes of Walt Disney World, where up-and-coming female chefs spend three days learning about Disney culinary and catering alongside four trainees from the New Orleans Career Center.
FOUR NEW ORLEANS CAREER CENTER GRADS GIVEN MAGICAL TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD
Four recent New Orleans Career Center culinary grads are heading to Walt Disney World for an all-expenses-paid culinary adventure. Aniya Bailey-Kelly, Madison Black, Brianna Blunt, and Heavan Hall are among 22 aspiring chefs selected for the "Culinary Dreams Come True" experience. The four-day trip includes behind-the-scenes tours, fine dining experiences, and theme park visits. Inspired by "Tiana's Bayou Adventure," the program celebrates New Orleans' culinary legacy. NOCC Chief Programs Officer Carlin Jacobs praised the students' passion and dedication. Bailey-Kelly, eager to expand her skills, will soon start an apprenticeship at Zea. The NOCC offers free career and technical education to prepare students for in-demand industries.
Aniya Bailey-Kelly ’24, Madison Black ’23, Brianna Blunt ’24 and Heavan Hall ’24 will meet Disney’s culinary experts and tour kitchens at the world-renowned destination
NEW ORLEANS, LA., July 23, 2024 – Four recent grads of New Orleans Career Center’s (NOCC) Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management training are headed to Walt Disney World on an all expenses paid trip behind the scenes at Disney World’s culinary offerings. Aniya Bailey-Kelly, Madison Black, Brianna Blunt, and Heavan Hall departed New Orleans today along with 18 other young aspiring female chefs. The “Culinary Dreams Come True” excursion results from a collaboration between New Orleans & Company, Southwest Airlines, Visit Orlando, and Walt Disney World Resorts. In addition to insider experiences at some of Orlando’s top fine-dining restaurants, the four-day trip includes complimentary flights, accommodations, and theme park tickets.
The trip was inspired by the recent opening of “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure,” the newest attraction at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The late Chef Leah Chase inspired the Disney film “The Princess and the Frog,” on which the attraction is based.
“Our goal at the New Orleans Career Center is for trainees to gain the skills, the knowledge, and the networks to succeed in their chosen careers. Having four of our trainees on this Disney adventure exactly dovetails into that goal. Each of them has demonstrated the kind of culinary passion, personal connection, and desire to achieve that Chef Leah Chase herself always exemplified. We’re very proud and truly elated for these young women,” said Carlin Jacobs, Chief Programs Officer at NOCC.
For Bailey-Kelly, who earned three industry-based certifications and two career and technical certificates from Nunez Community College while at NOCC, the trip offers the chance to spread her culinary wings. “I expect to gain a new outlook on things I can do in the kitchen,” she said of the trip. “I always look for ways I can expand what I can do and how I approach my culinary career.”
All four NOCC grads are already taking the next steps to further their culinary careers. Bailey-Kelly and Hall start Louisiana Restaurant Association Apprenticeships at Zea and Gianna, respectively, shortly after their return from Orlando. Blunt currently works at Cochon and Black at the French Quarter location of breakfast favorite Wakin’ Bakin’.
New Orleans Career Center offers career and technical education in five high-demand industry sectors: healthcare, building trades, digital media/IT, engineering, and culinary arts/hospitality management. Both high school students and adults attend at no cost and earn industry-based credentials tied to careers with opportunities for further learning and financial stability.
TIANA'S BAYOU ADVENTURE: Aspiring New Orleans chefs head to Walt Disney World to learn from Disney Culinary Team
Culinary and hospitality trainees got a magical surprise! In a visit to the historic Dookey Chase Restaurant trainees learned about an exclusive trip to Walt Disney World to experience Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — 24 young, aspiring chefs from New Orleans are heading to Walt Disney World to learn from the Disney Culinary Team. They’re going on this educational vacation because of the city’s connection with the brand-new ride, “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.”
“Thanks to Southwest Airlines, Visit Orlando and New Orleans & Company, as well as Walt Disney World, we are surprising these young women with a trip of a lifetime. To us, they are the future culinary greats of New Orleans,” said Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Company Mark Romig.
Speaking of greats, the late and great “Queen of Creole Cuisine,” Leah Chase, is the inspiration for both Princess Tiana and Disney World’s new ride.
One of Leah’s daughters, Stella Chase, is instrumental in keeping her mom’s legacy alive.
“I’m so honored that these young ladies have decided to go into the career of culinary service to New Orleans. That would make my mom so happy, because when she started, very few women were in the industry,” Stella said.
“I just wanted to come back with different experiences and outlooks of things to do in the kitchen,” said Anaiya Bailey-Kelly, an aspiring chef.
“I think it is pushing me out of my comfort zone, and I think it’s good for me,” said another aspiring chef, Zoey Kenney.