“GCI’s vision is groundbreaking. It enables individuals to explore the culinary industry uniquely. As a result, before committing to a specific career path that can take years, students will be able to assess the industry's realities better.“

Meet Dan Lerner, the mastermind behind the Bulthaup Culinary Academy, an experiential cooking school located in Tel Aviv. Dan is a highly experienced CEO and Chef with a demonstrated ability to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in a variety of highly competitive industries, cutting-edge markets, and fast-paced environments. In addition, he shares his love for food, his mother, and his deep connection with Israeli cuisine.

You’ve managed numerous restaurants worldwide; what would you say is the main ingredient to making a restaurant one- of- a kind?  

There is no secret ingredient for a restaurant to be successful. However, if you are going to open one, make sure you have the following in place: 

1. Good financial management – This starts with a solid business plan. Too many entrepreneurs fail in the last mile before opening or soon after opening. The passion for getting started blinds us from harsh financial realities. It is crucial to account for rent, payroll, and utilities, for the first six months to a year of operating. Lack of continuous financial management will lead to failure. 

2. Front Of The House Management - Strong floor management is crucial. A welcoming, professional team will be your sales team and ambassadors. Great customer service is vital before, during, and after the guests leave.

3. Back of the House Management- A strong kitchen team backing your chef and kitchen manager. This is the core of the business. 

4. If your production line isn’t functioning well, your products and customers will suffer the consequences. The marriage between the art of cooking and the art of managing people and assets is a very fragile one. 

5. Cuisine – The cuisine you offer your guests is crucial to your success. It will dictate the style of décor, service, ambiance, and pricing. More importantly, it will dictate your margins via food costs. Few chefs can invent and produce something "one of a kind." Instead, I like to ask the chef and his team to interpret a dish and give it a slight twist of their own. 

6. Raw materials - The bottom line is that the ingredients must be of good quality. They need to be fresh and of consistent quality. You can’t always afford the best of the best. Chefs and owners should always strive to get the most bang for their buck when outsourcing. 

There aren’t any formulas or secret sauces out there. Ultimately, it combines primarily controllable variables, and many aren’t. As a result, it usually boils down to the entire team. 

A one-of-a-kind team creates a one-of-a-kind restaurant. 

When did you decide to follow in your mothers footsteps, and what have you added or changed compared to your mothers cooking style? 

I could not escape my mother’s welcomed influence on me and the Israeli food scene, even if I wanted to. Her knowledge pre-Google days was phenomenal. We always joked that she was a walking, talking culinary encyclopedia. We traveled worldwide and wined and dined in “exotic” restaurants with non-existent cuisines in Israel as a family. Israeli chefs didn’t know these ingredients and cooking techniques.

The adventurous nature of our culinary explorations stuck with me. As a teenager, I realized I loved hotels and restaurants. Not just on the guest’s side. I was always intrigued to see what went on behind the scenes. So after my military service, I opened a gastro bar in TLV. The term wasn't even around in those days. The B-Square was modeled on the mythological Zanzibar owned and operated by Chef Chaim Cohen. I loved that place and worked for him at the superb Keren Restaurant prior to opening my joint. 

Eventually, I decided to go to Switzerland and study hotel and business administration, a 4-year joint degree program that combined Swiss Hospitality and American Management.

At the Bulthaup Culinary Academy, I kept it relatively basic and straightforward. It was more about the experience. My mother always said, "less is more." She combined basic cooking techniques with good ingredients and less fluff. 

My mother wasn't a trained chef. Although, she could cook better than most chefs. Not in a commercial setting. My mother was a Gastronomic Journalist who had a palate most chefs can only dream of. Specifically, I always kept true to her vision when I was involved in the culinary side throughout my career. 

"Less is More" was always my North Star.

How do you relate to the GCI vision and, what they are trying to do, how culinary arts are taught? 

GCI’s vision is groundbreaking. It enables individuals to explore the culinary industry uniquely. As a result, before committing to a specific career path that can take years, students will be able to assess the industry's realities better. 

It starts with the fact that the program is a 12-month culinary intensive. Compared to a 2–4-year program other institutes offer. The first six months are considered a discovery period, where students figure out what route to focus on. The following three months are spent engaging in 2-3 specific fields within the industry. The final three months are dedicated to a creative project or apprentice. 

By learning this way, students will be industry ready to know their chosen path and their skill set. Many culinary students can’t afford a 2-4 year culinary program, and with attention spans reducing collectively, this program offers the right combinations to today's modern students. 

Furthermore, GCI’s program mix is unique. Beyond the basic culinary intensive training, students will enjoy a program that will enable them to become more rounded individuals. Students will be participating in leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, courses, and workshops, just to name a few. 

I believe this specific academic structure has the potential to revolutionize training in culinary arts. A 12-month, intensive culinary training coupled with the ability to understand what is moving the food world today is the perfect combination for a solid academic foundation.

What's a fun culinary fact about you?  

I am a Certified Kansas City BBQ Society Judge. BBQ comes from the Caribbean word “Barbacoa” which is not a cooking method. Instead, it is a wooden structure that the Taino people used for smoking meats. 

Today the term BBQ is used loosely and incorrectly. Who hasn’t been invited to a “BBQ” at a friend’s house? However, you probably were never invited to an authentic BBQ. Instead, you were invited to grill. Grilling is the act of throwing slabs of meat over a hot charcoal fire. On the other hand, Barbecuing is the artful method or technique of smoking meats low and slow, at low temperatures for many hours. 

My certification was the fortunate result of being hired to work on a BBQ restaurant project. As part of my research, I had decided it was necessary to seek out the best BBQ in the Land. So, I jumped in a car and drove over 6,000 km through Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas for the next few weeks. 

The journey began in Georgia with the one and only Myron Mixon, one of the top barbecue experts. He won over 180 BBQ grand championships and 1,700 BBQ trophies and won the world championships several times. I spent three days with Myron on his ranch, smoking whole carcasses of various animals. 

My Final Goal  was to get to The American Royal World Championship Series. The largest BBQ contest in the world. I arrived in Kansas City several days before the event to get certified as a BBQ Judge. A day later, I was an official BBQ judge. For three days straight, I judged in all categories:  meats, sides, and sauces. I mainly ate amazing BBQ from 10 AM- 10 PM every day throughout my BBQ pilgrimage in more than 50 BBQ joints. Yes, my weight and cholesterol levels skyrocketed at the time. But, more importantly, I learned so much and met amazing people along the way.