It’s Friday at Bellingham Technical College, and the hallways are fragrant with coconut milk and lemongrass. Apron-clad students sear meats and assemble summer rolls in the kitchen. Hungry diners take their seat in a nearby dining room; meanwhile, Nicole Carter oversees the procession with a smile and a watchful eye.
BTC’s weekly international buffet is about to begin. The week’s theme is Southeast Asia: When waiters remove lids from silver platters, patrons pile plates high with succulent chicken satay, pineapple fried rice, green papaya salad, Burmese-style curry and more. Portions are abundant, but it’s tempting to go back for seconds.
For these diners, the hottest culinary ticket in town isn’t an upscale restaurant or farm-to-table bistro: It’s the dining room at BTC. These international buffets are one of several opportunities to taste food from the college’s prestigious Culinary Arts Program. (The program’s next project is a three-course “restaurant,” and reservations open the first week of April on BTC’s website.)
Carter said most people find out about the buffets through word of mouth — but when reservations go live, seating sells out in “about 14 seconds.”
“It’s a different kind of dining experience than a restaurant,” Carter said. “ … They call it the best-kept secret in Bellingham — but it’s not that good of a secret, I guess, because enough people know about it.”
Everything ‘necessary to be a chef today’
BTC’s immersive, two-year Culinary Arts program walks students through “every facet of the culinary industry,” meaning students do more than simply learn how to make food taste good.
Chefs-in-training study not just cooking, but real-world skills like nutrition and hospitality. They learn how to brew beer, pull espresso shots, make pastries, taste wines and learn culinary techniques from every corner of the world. The program also teaches administrative skills including human resources and kitchen management.
“The second year is a lot more focused on management, whereas the first year is focused on fundamentals,” Carter said. “So when you do the whole thing, you have a pretty well-rounded little nugget. You can go on to your jobs and say, ‘Hi, pay me more!’”
Some culinary schools — including the one Carter herself attended — make students cook for the public from day one. But at BTC, “We’re very fortunate, because we have an operations budget,” Carter said. “We make sure our students have all the skills so they don’t cook for the public until their third quarter of culinary school.”
Most (but not all) attendees at public-facing events are affiliated with the college. Former BTC chef and instructor Brian McDonald was a patron at the East Asian buffet on March 7. Despite retiring in December 2024, he and his family still dine here on a regular basis.
“I think it’s very practical,” McDonald said of the Culinary Arts program. “[Students] learn a lot, not just about how to cook — obviously, a key part — but also how to manage sanitation, safety, nutrition, all the backbone things that are necessary to be a chef today.”
The makings of a mock restaurant
International buffets are a practical application of Carter’s International Cuisine unit: a culinary tour-de-force, exposing students to ingredients and flavors from a variety of cultures. This year Carter said the cohort began their so-called “travels” in Germany, then hopped over to France, the Mediterranean and Italy.
“Then we take a week off, and we take the students on a field trip to Uwajimaya in Seattle,” Carter continued. “We do a dim sum lunch [and] then we go to China. Following that, we do Japan and Korea, Southeast Asia. Then we move on to East India, and then Mexico, and South America is where we end up.”
Carter has a 20-year background in hospitality and started at BTC as an adjunct in 2011; now, she oversees the entire program. When planning the menu, she ensures each dish is “authentic and not Americanized.” Carter also researches and extensively tests new recipes to ensure they hit the right marks.
“All the recipes have to be orchestrated to have enough different techniques in it, enough prep work that needs to be done, enough knife cuts and enough skill level,” she said.
Carter also handles the program’s purchasing: During Caribbean week, for example, she trekked to Seattle to buy tropical fruit in the middle of March. Carter is also no stranger to tracking down foods that some might deem unusual.
“We do one day of exotic meats,” Carter said. “You got your frog’s legs and your rabbit and that kind of stuff that’s a little more mainstream, but we order water buffalo and alligator.”
But these lessons are just a prequel to the program’s ambitious final quarter: First, students run a mock restaurant and serve a three-course Pacific Northwest menu. Six weeks later, they conceptualize and execute their very own restaurant concept. (The end-of-year concept restaurant is not open to the public; however, the Pacific Northwestern restaurant is.)
For final capstone projects, Carter said students handle all the cooking, manage two assistant chefs, run front of house, perform a cost/yield analysis and build an entire menu. Since students get a “carte blanche” on ingredients, the project is an exercise in creativity — and on occasion, eccentricity.
“Sometimes [restaurant concepts are] very personal: It’s like, ‘My grandma’s chicken dinner,’” Carter said. “I’ve had some that are brilliant, like: ‘Vaguely French’ … I’ve had one where they did, like, an upscale barbecue, and they literally put [out] those picnic table red-checkered linens and brought mason jars on stems. I’ve had people put a water feature on their table. It’s insane.”
Creativity, discipline and reward
From mixology to the many uses of liquid nitrogen, the Culinary Arts program covers expansive ground — but Carter’s main priority is to give students a realistic sense of what it’s like working in the real world. Some folks enter culinary school with preconceived notions, only to discover the industry is more intensive than expected.
“It’s a lot of work: it’s creativity, it’s discipline, you need to be pretty accurate, right?” Carter said. “ … And then you make something gorgeous on a plate, and it’s gone in two and a half seconds. And I’m like, ‘Nope, this is the gig!’”
The final capstone project illustrates these points in real time. For this reason, Carter said the unit is by far her favorite. “Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and a lot of times it’s just ugly,” Carter said.
But even when things go sideways, Carter continued, “How they fix those ugly situations I think is what they’re most proud of.” And as an added perk, students exit the program with a fully-formed business plan.
Those familiar with Bellingham’s dining scene might recognize a few BTC graduates: Ashley Kovacevich, head chef at Keenan’s at the Pier, and Bryan Matamorosa of Bry’s Filipino Cuisine are Culinary Arts alums. Matamorosa’s wife, Jennifer Worthley-Matamorosa, owns It’s the Sweet Things and is also a graduate of the college’s pastry program.
In a February 2024 review of Bry’s Filipino Cuisine, Matamorosa raved about his experience with BTC’s Culinary Arts program. “I knew how to cook,” he said, “but they taught me how to cook.”
Carter, for her part, loves seeing where her students land. One former student moved from Thailand to attend BTC and is now working at a Michelin starred New York restaurant. Closer to home, Matamarosa gives Carter a hug whenever she stops into Bry’s Filipino Cuisine — and his BTC degree is framed on the restaurant’s walls.
“Of course, there’s homework and deadlines and all that kind of stuff, but we genuinely have a really good time all together,” Carter said. “We all mesh. We’re in it for two years together.”
Info: btc.edu.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
