Amy Ahrensdorf
Love at First Bite, is Amy’s personal business as a Personal Chef. Having been featured on KTVK-3 evening news, Amy was able to share the importance of American families having access to good food at reasonable prices. After her graduation from AiPX, Amy set forth into other areas of interest too—all involving food!

Elizabeth Simek
Owner of Busy B’s Personal Chef & Catering Service, Beth was featured in a story in USA Today (2/9/01) written on the growing number of personal chefs in the U.S. Beth, active in the Culinary Arts program before graduation, hit the ground running with her business.

George Lambrakis
A graduate from the Culinary Arts program, George's career goal is to become the director of food and beverage in a fine dining establishment. With his current position as assistant manager in food and beverage at the Squash Blossom restaurant located in the Hyatt Gainey Ranch, he is gaining great experience.
While he was a student, George worked for Convivo where he learned all aspects of kitchen work. This experience helped him land his current job with the Hyatt. At the Squash Blossom, George is responsible for overseeing the Food and Beverage Department, forecasting, scheduling, staff development, marketing and promotions for the restaurant.
"AIPX gave me a solid foundation from professional training to thinking and performing as a successful manager."

Joseph Zaranski
Working toward his goal of owning his own restaurant, Joe started with Barmouche, a restaurant owned by Mark Tarbell before moving on to Angelo and Maxie’s as a Sous Chef. Angelo and Maxie’s is a location of a national steak house chain that opened in December 2000.
Joe is responsible for supervising the kitchen staff and for ensuring timely and precise cooking of all menu items. He is enjoying the field experience because he knows that it is preparing him for his quest for self-employment.

Lindsey Dailey
After working for prestigious locations in the Phoenix area such as, “Lon’s” at the Hermosa Inn and Marriott’s “Forum” at Desert Harbor, Lindsey was selected to work for the “Stars and Stripes” restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland. Serving in the front of the house as a manager in training, Lindsey hopes to eventually own her own culinary business.
Lindsey states that The Art Institute of Phoenix, “helped me develop more professional skills which helped me in this job in Switzerland.”

Lisa Oaks
A Sous Chef at Cocomo Joe’s, Lisa has been working for the owners of Cocomo Joe’s (the Mastro’s Group) that also own two Marco Polo’s, and three Maloney’s. As assistant to the Executive Chef, Lisa is helping open the new restaurant. Having started at the Camelback Marco Polo in February 1999, before graduation, Lisa hopes to continue to grow in responsibilities with the Mastro’s Group.

Rene Ybarra
Rene believes that The Art Institute of Phoenix has given him the basic skills necessary to succeed in the culinary field.
Graduating from the Culinary Arts program, Rene is working for the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Designed to capture the ambience of the legendary city of Paris, the hotel contains a 50-story Eiffel Tower replica and eight different French restaurants. Rene supervises three to four line cooks in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, eleven stories above the Strip. His duties also include quality assurance and management of the garde manger department.
Eventually Rene would like to move into a position as an xxecutive chef or a sous chef in a fine dining restaurant. For now, though, he is content with his great view of the world!

Robert Stevens
A Spring 1999 graduate, Robert is working at the Wyndham Hotel in Chandler as an Executive Chef. Robert is responsible for all aspects of the food and beverage departments of the hotel and looks forward to continued promotion in the future.

Tim Nelson
Tim is living his dream right now as an employee for the “Stars and Stripes Restaurant” in Zurich, Switzerland. Working in the “front of the house,” Tim is a manager in training for the American theme restaurant and bar.
Tim worked at the “Arizona Biltmore” as Tournant during school and had also worked for “Dad’s Catering,” in Phoenix, as Jr. Sous Chef He believes that The Art Institute of Phoenix, “helped me build a strong network of contacts and to obtain my current job.”
Always striving to expand his culinary skills, Tim hopes to own his restaurant at some time in the future. Maybe one with an “international” theme!