Blog

Rachael Ray's Feedback House Teams Up With The Art Institute of Austin

2017 was a milestone year at SXSW for The Art Institute of Austin Culinary programs and Rachael Ray. This year marked the 10th anniversary of Rachael Ray’s Feedback event and once again, the Ai Austin Culinary team was along for the ride! Rachael and her husband, John Cusimano, began the tradition in 2007 as a way to celebrate their love for food and music, and 2017 was the biggest celebration to date!

Our Culinary students and faculty were front and center assisting at Rachel Ray’s Feedback House for three days. On day one, we served up Chicken–Apple sausage with jicama slaw, candied jalapenos, and King’s Hawaiian original pineapple BBQ sauce with chilled broccoli, golden raisins, and ricotta salata salad. We honored the headlining band, Modern English, with a second dish, a “Melt with You” dog—chicken-apple sausage with homemade stout mustard, “melt with you” cheese sauce, and crispy onions.

Day two, our students and faculty served up Rachael Ray’s recipe of beer-braised brisket on a King’s Hawaiian Sweet Jalapeno Roll topped with bread and butter pickles and white onions with a side dish of Buffalo baked beans garnished with smoked bleu cheese and diced celery. The final day, we served Ai Austin’s own recipe of pulled pork sliders topped with homemade refrigerated garlic dill pickle slices with a side of sweet and tangy slaw.

The highlight for many of our students was the opportunity to meet celebrity Chef Anne Burrell.

For this great event, our faculty team, made up of Culinary Chair Chef David Holtzman, Chef Julie Busch, Chef Brad Harmon, Chef Lorena Legarreta, Chef Frank Johnson and Culinary staff member Andrew Felschow, were joined by the following rockstar student volunteers:

MacKenzie Belcher (Culinary Management Bachelors)
Cassandra Washington Johnson (Culinary Arts, AAS)
Hannah Canaan (Culinary Management Bachelors)
Jeremiah Resto (Culinary Arts, AAS)
Shane Tedder (Culinary Management Bachelors)
Lydia Gamboa (Culinary Arts, AAS)
Heather Braudaway (Baking & Pastry, AAS)
Willie Jones (Baking & Pastry, AAS)
Stevie Dawson (Culinary Management Bachelors)
Tommy Duerson (Culinary Management Bachelors)
Scott Yearwood (Culinary Arts, AAS)
Shawna DeButts (Baking & Pastry, AAS)
Shiella Burris (Culinary Management Bachelors)

A huge thanks also goes out to King's Hawaiian and Snappy Snacks Mobile Catering for working with our students. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!