'We are going to create the next generation': Chefs are cooking up culinary program for Milwaukee students ages 14 to 18

Setting his sights on some of the culinary world’s most rigorous competitions, Daryl Shular combined his love of food and sports to reach the top of his game, literally.

As a young chef he became a member of the American Culinary Federation’s olympic team. Participating in the Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung meant competing with chefs from about 60 nations.

Next, he set out to become a certified master chef. Completing the eight-day challenge in 2014, he became the country’s first African American to receive the certified master chef designation and in 2017 was named a member of the African American Chefs Hall of Fame.

Rising to challenges and setting goals is a learned skill in Shular’s eyes, one he aims to pass on to the next generation of chefs in Milwaukee.

In 2019, he founded the for-profit Shular Institute and FarmED in Tucker, Georgia. This summer, he and business partner Sean Rush, a graduate of Milwaukee's Riverside University High School, are expanding from Shular Institute to launch Brigade MKE.

Beginning with culinary boot camps, the goal is mentoring and training, starting with students ages 14 to 18. Based at Parklawn Assembly of God, 3725 N. Sherman Blvd., the program is aimed at culinary development and inspiring entrepreneurs.

During a recent phone interview, Shular and Rush shared their inspiration and why they’re focusing on Milwaukee’s next generation of chefs. For information on the program, go to brigademke.com.

RELATED: Upstart kitchen, in Sherman Park, has a line of entrepreneurs eager to start food businesses

Question: What got you started in the kitchen? How did you decide on a culinary career?

Daryl Shular: I’m president of the Shular Institute in Atlanta. I’ve been in the industry since I was 19. My inspiration in cooking began at home with my mother. I always said that if she took the role of being a professional, she’d be an executive chef.

I entered the Culinary Institute of Atlanta in 1993. … By 22 I was executive chef at a large hotel. At 24 I opened my first restaurant in New Jersey. In 2008, after spending many years in culinary competitions I tried out for the culinary olympic team and represented the U.S. team in Germany. That was the platform I needed to become a certified master chef, and I took the test that took eight days.

Q: Why choose the culinary olympian and master chef path?

Shular: I decided to take that path for the same reason we are here today. I saw the ultimate goal as a successful businessman with a lot of concepts throughout the United States. I wanted to be an expert at my craft.

When I graduated from culinary school there was a chef, Darryl Evans. He was the first minority on the culinary olympic team. It was a combination of my passion for sports and the culinary world. … I knew that if I successfully became a master chef certified, it would unlock a lot of doors in my career. ….That is why I wanted to take that role, it wasn’t for money, but to obtain the skill set and knowledge that not too many of the chefs of my color, or chefs period, have obtained.

Q: How did the two of you connect, and what brings the Shular Institute to Milwaukee?

Sean Rush: I was raised in Sherman Park near Upstart Kitchen. I was a graduate of Riverside (University High School) in 1993. I traveled to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College. I worked in different verticals in branding.

It wasn’t until I started at Le Cordon Bleu in 2004 that I got a love for education and culinary arts, and what the culinary arts does for a person’s career path ….Le Cordon Bleu was the largest culinary program in the world. At the same time, Johnson & Wales and Culinary Institute of America were pumping out a lot of graduates. We were flooding the market with kids who were also coming into a lot of debt. The culinary industry is not equipped to pay them to pay the loans that they have for college.

During that time I got to see chef Shular go through the certified master chef program. … He gave me his lifelong vision of creating this institute. The core mission was getting these kids and young adults ready day one for the reality of the industry. Also, on the flipside, not burdening them with the student loan debts. It is our mission to provide a top tier master chef level education to people who are passionate and earn a spot, but they come out pretty much debt free.

Q: Currently, both MATC and WCTC offer well known culinary programs. How does your program compare?

Rush: The beauty of MATC and WCTC, even with these two schools, even with our institution and you could put two more, it is not enough. The culinary industry … the labor has been reduced.

I did look at those programs. That’s why we created Brigade MKE as a bridge rather than a competitor. … We envision uplifting the city, starting with the youth ages 14 to 18.

Q: Tell us about Parklawn and the space you are utilizing.

Rush: It is a beautiful, fantastic kitchen that will house Brigade MKE and other initiatives. We recently received a grant from Milwaukee County, specifically a juvenile correction facility … they’ve been our first financial support system to allow us to develop this kitchen.

Parklawn has also taken on investment since the kitchen will have other uses. … We will bring in new equipment, flooring, refrigeration, shelving, smallwares, and we will be reaching out to sponsors and organizations. … This is a long-term investment. We have meetings with Prostart Wisconsin and MPS, and we are working with members of Upstart Kitchen. We plan to kick off with a three-day camp in June.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you faced creating this program?

Rush: This conversation in Milwaukee started two years ago, during COVID. … At that time people were just trying to save their businesses. The conversation in Milwaukee originally started as a higher level program like we have here (in Atlanta). As we talked, workforce development training was more essential. … The Brigade MKE program for kids ages 14 to 18 is about getting these kids ready at a younger age.

Q: Chef Shular, how do you approach teaching culinary arts?

Shular: It goes back to culinary arts and hospitality is reflective of sports. You have to work as a team. The more you work on your skills, the better you become. … This is really early levels of early leadership academy. Even your baseline employees should have leadership qualities. …

We are going to create the next generation of the industry.

Table Chat features interviews with Wisconsinites, or Wisconsin natives, who work in restaurants or support the restaurant industry; or visiting chefs. To suggest individuals to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Shular Institute chefs bring culinary lessons to Milwaukee students