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
"You will certainly get out of this experience what you put into it...so go big, work hard, volunteer for everything you can."
Lindsey has experienced both national and international successes in the culinary field. Specifically, she was selected to assist in opening a new American restaurant in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She has also worked for the Arizona Biltmore, Mosaic Restaurant, and The Form. She has since committed to North, a Fox Restaurant Concept, as a Cook. In her role, Lindsey utilizes a variety of cooking techniques and her ability to replicate food quickly, and calls upon her experience with different types of cuisine. Lindsey graduated from the Associate of Science program in Culinary Arts in 2000.

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!

Victoria Babbitt
"Don't be scared to ask for help when you need it! You can make this the best educational experience of your life as long as you use ALL of your resources."
In March 2007, Victoria graduated from the Bachelor of Arts program in Culinary Arts. Shortly thereafter, she started her career with the Ritz-Carlton as the Food and Beverage Supervisor. In her role, Victoria works directly with the Bistro24 restaurant, room service, pool, fitness center, club bar, and business center. Considered one of the most luxurious hotels in the world, The Ritz-Carlton has more than 60 properties worldwide. Victoria attributes much of her personal and professional growth to her involvement with both the faculty and staff at The Art Institute of Phoenix.

Patrick Vaughn
"Study hard."
In Seotember 2006, Patrick graduated in the Baking & Pastry diploma program. He began his career with The Forum at Desert Harbor, a local retirement community. He serves as a Pantry/Line Cook. Patrick would define his education as a major accomplishment.

Jared Porter
"If you're serious about food, you have to surround yourself with it."
Following graduation, Jared worked at a number of restaurants, including Carrabba's, Vincent's, and Michael's at the Citadel. He then became Sous Chef at La Grande Orange. Jared believes that to be serious about food, you must surround yourself with it. In his job, he is responsible for taking impeccable care of this station while overseeing daily operations, purchasing, scheduling, and employee management. Jared's dedication and creativity helped him to achieve the goal of working at one of his favorite restaurants. "My education helped me to gain skills and knowledge, first-hand, from top chefs."