407.297.4900 ext 6192628 christopher.bates@ocps.net
Wekiva Culinary

Wekiva Culinary

Ten Years of Culinary Excellence

  • About
    • What makes us “Premier”
    • Vision & Mission
    • News & Media
    • Chef Christopher Bates
  • Students
    • Calendar
    • Current & New Students
      • 2026 Welcome Letter
      • Course Guide: Syllabus and Kitchen Contract
      • Pay: Culinary Equipment & Supply Fee
      • Uniforms
      • Answers to Questions You’re Embarrassed to Ask: Culinary FAQs
    • Future Students
      • Open House: Feed Your Passion For Cooking at Wekiva Culinary
      • How to Apply for a Spot in our Magnet
    • Wekiva Culinary Summer Internship Program
    • What You’ll Learn: Four Years of Culinary Arts At-A-Glance
  • Learn
    • Get in the Kitchen: Safe Students, Safe Food
    • Getting Hired: the Culinary Students’ Guide to Finding Work
    • Customer Service Basics: Mastering the Art of Hospitality
    • Restaurant Management Challenge
    • Student Leadership
    • Food Safety Training
      • YouTube Food Safety Playlist, Study Guide, and Handouts
      • The Ins and Outs of Registering Your Account with ServSafe
      • The Gamification of Food Safety Review: Quizizz and Kahoots
  • Cook
    • Culinary 1 Recipe Book
    • Culinary 2 Recipe Book
    • Culinary 3 Recipe Book
    • Culinary 4 Recipe Book
    • Cooking Methods
    • Catering and Volume Recipes
  • Bake
    • The Great Donut Sale
    • Quick Breads: The Chemistry of Speed, Sifters, and Stopping the Over-Mix
    • Mom’s Kitchen to the Professional Bakery: How to Bake with Yeast
  • Mustang Enterprises
    • Christmas Cookie Gift Box Sale
    • Craveable Tapenade: Romesco Sauce
    • Order Your Next Amazing Boxed Lunch Right Here
  • Food Science
    • Create Something Delicious: The Art, Craft, and Science of Flavor
    • Make Your Own Ice Cream: Scoopable Art and Tasty Science
      • To Make Great Ice Cream, Understand What’s In It
      • Gelato: the LEAST you need to know
      • How to Make Great Gelato: Anatomy of an Artisanal Dessert
    • Wekiva Fire – Unexpectedly Good Hot Sauce
    • Wekiva Culinary Chocolate Factory
      • Fudge for You, Fudge for a Friend: Exploring the Greatest American Candy
      • Life Cycle of a Cacao Bean
      • Working with Sugar: the Magic of Crystallization
      • HOW TO: Make White Chocolate from Scratch
      • Chocolate Recipes 1
    • Boba Tea Cafe
      • Boba Tea: The Chewey Origins of the Worldwide Beverage Sensation
      • Tea History for Boba Lovers: Six Things You Didn’t Know (But Should)
      • Tea Primer for Boba Lovers: Eight Things To Learn
      • THE RISE OF BIG TEA: OWNERS AND INNOVATORS
      • Boba Science: Ten Things to Know
    • Panda Express: The Science, Technology, and Engineering Behind Chinese-American Wok Cooking
  • Partnerships
    • Our Students Need Your Support: How You Can Help
    • Volunteers, Parents, and Partners in Education
    • How to Post Job Opportunities for our Students
  • Video Introductions to Wekiva Culinary
  • Video Introductions to Wekiva Culinary
407.297.4900 ext 6192628 christopher.bates@ocps.net
Wekiva Culinary

Wekiva Culinary

Ten Years of Culinary Excellence

  • About
    • What makes us “Premier”
    • Vision & Mission
    • News & Media
    • Chef Christopher Bates
  • Students
    • Calendar
    • Current & New Students
      • 2026 Welcome Letter
      • Course Guide: Syllabus and Kitchen Contract
      • Pay: Culinary Equipment & Supply Fee
      • Uniforms
      • Answers to Questions You’re Embarrassed to Ask: Culinary FAQs
    • Future Students
      • Open House: Feed Your Passion For Cooking at Wekiva Culinary
      • How to Apply for a Spot in our Magnet
    • Wekiva Culinary Summer Internship Program
    • What You’ll Learn: Four Years of Culinary Arts At-A-Glance
  • Learn
    • Get in the Kitchen: Safe Students, Safe Food
    • Getting Hired: the Culinary Students’ Guide to Finding Work
    • Customer Service Basics: Mastering the Art of Hospitality
    • Restaurant Management Challenge
    • Student Leadership
    • Food Safety Training
      • YouTube Food Safety Playlist, Study Guide, and Handouts
      • The Ins and Outs of Registering Your Account with ServSafe
      • The Gamification of Food Safety Review: Quizizz and Kahoots
  • Cook
    • Culinary 1 Recipe Book
    • Culinary 2 Recipe Book
    • Culinary 3 Recipe Book
    • Culinary 4 Recipe Book
    • Cooking Methods
    • Catering and Volume Recipes
  • Bake
    • The Great Donut Sale
    • Quick Breads: The Chemistry of Speed, Sifters, and Stopping the Over-Mix
    • Mom’s Kitchen to the Professional Bakery: How to Bake with Yeast
  • Mustang Enterprises
    • Christmas Cookie Gift Box Sale
    • Craveable Tapenade: Romesco Sauce
    • Order Your Next Amazing Boxed Lunch Right Here
  • Food Science
    • Create Something Delicious: The Art, Craft, and Science of Flavor
    • Make Your Own Ice Cream: Scoopable Art and Tasty Science
      • To Make Great Ice Cream, Understand What’s In It
      • Gelato: the LEAST you need to know
      • How to Make Great Gelato: Anatomy of an Artisanal Dessert
    • Wekiva Fire – Unexpectedly Good Hot Sauce
    • Wekiva Culinary Chocolate Factory
      • Fudge for You, Fudge for a Friend: Exploring the Greatest American Candy
      • Life Cycle of a Cacao Bean
      • Working with Sugar: the Magic of Crystallization
      • HOW TO: Make White Chocolate from Scratch
      • Chocolate Recipes 1
    • Boba Tea Cafe
      • Boba Tea: The Chewey Origins of the Worldwide Beverage Sensation
      • Tea History for Boba Lovers: Six Things You Didn’t Know (But Should)
      • Tea Primer for Boba Lovers: Eight Things To Learn
      • THE RISE OF BIG TEA: OWNERS AND INNOVATORS
      • Boba Science: Ten Things to Know
    • Panda Express: The Science, Technology, and Engineering Behind Chinese-American Wok Cooking
  • Partnerships
    • Our Students Need Your Support: How You Can Help
    • Volunteers, Parents, and Partners in Education
    • How to Post Job Opportunities for our Students

Panda Express: The Science, Technology, and Engineering Behind Chinese-American Wok Cooking

February 17, 2023 Chef Bates

The Science of Panda Express You've stood in that line. 2:30, the one at Panda Express down the road, twenty other Wekiva students in front of you waiting on fried rice, Mongolian beef, orange chicken.…

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Cooking with Dairy: Everything You Need to Master Milk

January 3, 2023 Chef Bates

People have been milking domesticated farm animals as far back as 6,000 years ago. That cow, goat, or yak milk (and the things which are made from it, like cheese or ice cream) are collectively…

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The Line Starts Here: Finding a Job While in High School

December 30, 2022 Chef Bates

Looking for your first job - whether it is part-time or full-time - can seem like an overwhelming task. Finding a job is hard enough to begin with, but when you have not had any…

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Legal Stuff: Limitations and Opportunities for Working High School Students

December 28, 2022 Chef Bates

There are a LOT of laws which regulate how managers hire, employ, and terminate their workers. While most restaurants and restaurant chains have policies and procedures which closely follow the laws, it is not uncommon…

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Marketing ROI – What it is and how to figure it out

November 27, 2022 Chef Bates

Restaurant ROIs can be scary things if you don’t know what they are all about. Let me explain how ROIs are used to make marketing decisions in a way that doesn’t make you hate everyone.

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Thinking big picture from the beginning: How to complete a SWOT analysis (on a restaurant which doesn’t exist yet)

November 26, 2022 Chef Bates

Creating a SWOT analysis for a restaurant is a challenge – creating one for a restaurant that hasn’t even opened? That’s a real trick. Let’s me show you how.

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Menu Design – How to Make Your Concept a Reality

August 28, 2022 Chef Bates

A restaurant’s menu is its biggest magnet. In order to build a loyal group of patrons, restaurants need to create a unique, fairly priced menu that offers fresh and reliable food and drink options.  According…

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Building a Successful Restaurant: Understanding Sales Mix Analysis and Menu Engineering

August 28, 2022 Chef Bates

The key elements of menu mix and sales analysis applied to initial menu design

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The Generous and Genuine Cuisine of Italy

August 21, 2022 Chef Bates

The history and heritage of the world’s most popular cuisine; Overview of Italy’s 5 Culinary regions; Key flavors and products

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The Culinary Student’s Guide to Making Great Pizza

October 31, 2021 Chef Bates

Everything you need to know to master pizza – the perfect crust, toppings, and sauce to make ’em swoon.

Read More

Posts pagination

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Chef Bates Receives his 4th National Recognition: The CAFE Technology and Innovation Award, Presented by RATIONAL

Coming Soon! Our Tenth Anniversary T-shirt Goes on Sale August 15th

Visit Orlando! Comes to Wekiva Culinary

https://youtu.be/LC2vB9CJW-4?si=qabW_yEsml_bWNxN

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Wekiva Culinary Magnet Information

Wekiva Culinary is now the Magnet Academy of Culinary Arts at Wekiva High School.

This means students from all over OCPS may apply to be admitted, regardless of what school they are zoned to attend. If your student is passionate about cooking and a career in the Culinary Arts, is interested in owning a restaurant one day, or is just curious about what the food and beverage industry is all about, apply for admission today!

You can always contact Program Director and Lead Instructor Chef Bates for more information. Email christopher.bates@ocps.net. To make sure your email is given a priority response, please put “magnet inquiry” in the subject heading of your email.

For more information, watch the orientation videos below.

For Future Parents

https://youtu.be/L44kcZGt_k0

For Future Students

https://youtu.be/NXDJsOMO2aE

Support our students with a financial gift here.

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Wekiva’s FCCLA Chapter opens this year – keep an eye out for registration and sign up details!

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