By HANNAH O’DONNELL

Though the Gabelli School of Business has a reputation for producing accountants, financiers, analysts and business consultants, a different part of the private sector is experiencing an influx of Fordham talent.

“I love to cook,” Dan Kane-West, GSB ’13, said. “So as of now, my goal is to have a career as a cook under a talented or legendary chef.”

Over the summer, Kane-West worked in a fine dining restaurant in his hometown of Charlottesville, Va. under a reputable chef who specialized in French cuisine.

“I worked for free just to learn, and I learned a lot very quickly,” he said.

Though he was only there for a month, Kane-West left the restaurant with a new appreciation for the industry and a brand-new skill set.

“Mostly I learned how to use a knife, and I cut myself a lot in the beginning,” Kane-West said. “There is a lot more to it than most people understand. I also learned how to work in an organized and clean manner, which is crucial to any cook.”

Kane-West is not the only Fordham student to study the subtle nuances of the culinary arts. Before coming to Fordham, Madison Snider, FCRH ’15, took a gap year and enrolled in a 12-week course at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, an award-winning French technique cooking school located in County Cork, Ireland.

“[Ballymaloe] was on a massive organic farm and focused strongly on cooking and preparing food in time- honored ways, using top-quality ingredients,” Snider said.  “The school itself was very formal, with real exams and a strict curriculum.”

In addition to studying food, farming and cooking, Snider also studied wine.

“I was able to study wine there because I was of legal drinking age,” she said. “I lived in a courtyard of cottages with other students my age and had such a good time.”

Though earning a college degree is not the typical prerequisite for becoming a chef or enrolling at a culinary school, by pursuing their interest in fine food, Kane-West and Snider might be on to something.

The food industry is the nation’s second largest private sector employer, and according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2012-2013 Occupational Outlook Handbook, the number of food preparation jobs is expected to increase by nine percent from now through 2020.

As the need for chefs increases in years to come, food industry sales are expected to increase as well.  From January 2011 to January 2012, restaurants saw a 3.5 percent sales increase, netting $632 billion in that year alone.

In addition to being one of the only industries to expand during the nationwide economic recession, a Forbes Magazine study ranked executive chef as one of the 20 “happiest” jobs in America, tied for second with property manager. According toForbes, chefs cite the work they do and the people they work with as the main drivers of their happiness.

Alexander Casella, GSB ’13, already holds one of these “happy” jobs, working as a cheese monger at Murray’s Cheese, a high-end cheese shop in New York City’s East Village.

“I love working in the food industry, and I plan to pursue a career in food after college,” Casella said. “Food is an incredibly interesting thing. It’s an emerging industry that holds a lot of potential for career development, and my co-workers are great to work with and smart.”

Through the education program at Murray’s, Casella was able to spend a weekend with fellow food lovers tasting cheeses and learning the science behind pairings.

“I also spent four months working in the cheese caves located below Bleecker Street,” Casella said. “There I learned how to care and age cheese in a traditional style as well as experiment with possible aging techniques.”

Though being able to name and describe 300 types of cheeses may seem like an atypical skill for someone majoring in business administration, according to Casella, his degree is being put to good use.

“[My job] allows me to implement either past work experience in a point-of-sales situation, or in the meetings where I can suggest something I learned in class,” Casella said.

“My friends and family seem happy for me that I’m picking a discipline that I truly enjoy,” Kane-West said regarding his future career. “My advice [to other students] would be to always keep your happiness in mind, and pursue whichever industry inspires you the most.”

Casella, too, had a piece of advice.

“Be ready to eat a lot,” he said.