It’s about 1,000 miles to New York City from the Beloit-Janesville Campus of Blackhawk. That’s how far Culinary Arts student Quinn Vegter traveled for an internship during his second year in the program.
Quinn, a 2019 graduate of Milton High School, had the opportunity to work in the Korean-inspired restaurant Nōksu last fall after hurricanes derailed his original plan to head to Florida for an internship.
Even though Quinn says he cooked in high school for fun, his first real kitchen experience came with a job at the Genisa Wine Bar in Janesville in 2021, working alongside a few Blackhawk’s Culinary Arts program alumni. After spending the next two summers working at ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit, Quinn enrolled in the program.
“At the end of the second season [in Beloit], I was like, you know what? I’m just going to go to school because I’ve been doing this for a couple of years and I think I could see a career out of it,” Quinn said.
During the second half of their third semester, students in the Culinary Arts program are expected to complete an internship to apply the skills they’ve learned so far to a real-life restaurant setting.
Offered a place to stay by his cousin, who lives just outside of Queens in New York City, Quinn set about finding a restaurant in the area using various online resources, including the YouTube channel Bon Appétit, which has nearly 7 million subscribers. Quinn found out about Nōksu on the channel’s “On the Line” playlist, which gives viewers a glimpse inside restaurants all over the world.
A fan of Asian-style cuisine, Quinn felt that this restaurant was right up his alley. He looked up the restaurant’s sous chef on Instagram, contacted him and got his foot in the door.
Nōksu is a restaurant that runs about $200 per person over 11 courses. It’s located on 32nd Street, a block from the Empire State Building.
Nōksu Chef Dae Kim was recently awarded a Michelin star, a highly sought-after award given to restaurants that offer exceptional food, service and dining experience. It's considered the pinnacle of culinary achievement.
A student's internship requires 52 hours of work time. While some students complete the hours over a few weeks, Quinn completed his in about ten days. He worked mostly 6-hour shifts, with a 12-hour shift on his last day.
In terms of culinary experience and new dishes to try, Quinn feels he got a lot out of his internship, including learning how to pivot when necessary. He applied this knowledge during a dessert fundraiser held on campus for California Wildfire Relief in January.
Quinn and his group had planned to make Cannolis for the fundraiser, but after their dough didn’t turn out as they wanted, they pivoted to Churros.
Participants were asked to vote on their favorite of the three desserts offered and the Churro dessert won the most votes.
“We weren’t expecting to take a victory, but we did and I was impressed by my group,” Quinn said.
Quinn’s experience in New York also helped him realize he’d rather be doing tasting menus and catering since they’re a little more predictable.
“Having that knowledge of how many people you’re going to be serving that week or that night is definitely beneficial compared to prepping for an unknown amount of people that could come in,” Quinn said.
Quinn plans to graduate in December and would like to stay in the area and maybe start a catering business.
“New York is great and all, but the bustling city is not my type of vibe,” Quinn said.
For information on our Culinary Arts program, visit Blackhawk.edu/CulinaryArts.