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Virginia College News

Breakin' Bread is an annual event promoted by a group of Birmingham restaurateurs to bring attention to local eateries and to give back to the community that supports them. The event was held recently at Pepper Place on Birmingham's south side and students from Virginia College and Culinard, the Culinary Institute of Virginia College played a big role in its success.

The sponsoring group, Birmingham Originals, is a coalition of independent restaurateurs who band together to promote the local food community, from the farmers to the chefs who prepare it. As part of the offerings, students from Culinard prepared a dessert and served over 850 people. Their unique dish was Asian fruit salad with lychee jelly and coconut sweet corn ice cream. This dessert was well received and many people came back for a second helping.

Chef Antony Osborne, Dean of Culinard, and Chef Thomas Mair led a team of six culinary students through this real world experience. The students worked on all aspects of the recipe from the prep work to the plating.

Additionally, Virginia College was represented by students and instructors from medical programs such as Therapeutic Massage and Medical Assisting and were ably led by Program Director Morris Etheredge and instructors Adrian Ward and Mary Francis. They not only performed chair massages but also conducted basic health screenings for the crowd.

"I am very proud of the team spirit that was shown at this event by students from the various programs at Virginia College," Chef Osborne says. "Everyone did an outstanding job and represented the school beautifully."

The college also received kudos from the head of the Birmingham Originals, Franklin Biggs, who said, "As always, we appreciate the great effort by Virginia College, its students and instructors. The massage was a great benefit, and, surprisingly my blood sugar and blood pressure were both good when taken during the event!"