ECC’s Culinary Arts Department Raises Funds for Spring Italy Trip

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Elgin Community College’s (ECC) Culinary Arts & Hospitality department hosted its Flavors for Flights Wine Dinner in early November, raising $10,000 toward its Study Abroad program. In May 2026, a group of culinary students will head to Italy for a week-long experience.

The department plans to host a “Flavors for Flights” wine dinner each semester. The event series relaunched in spring 2025 after more than a decade-long pause, Chef Lucas Wagner said. 

This semester’s event included a five-course dinner paired with wines from Sokol Blosser Winery. Chefs Wagner and Chrystie Wojcik curated the dinner.

The menu included courses like “Study of Squash,” which included butternut, apples, goat cheese, and pickled beets. The bread course included croissant, duck bacon, sour pickled carrots, and microgreens. The “Ocean of Knowledge” dish included wild black cod, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and blackberries. The last course, “The Art of Indulgence,” included apples, pears, sorbet, brown butter cranberry cake, and pecan streusel. 

Curating the Menu

“I built it based on the taste of the wine,” Wagner said. “I take the wine and go, ‘What did that wine remind me of? What memories did it bring back? What flavors immediately stood out to me? What other things that I’ve eaten did this make me think of?’ ”

Wagner has taught full-time at ECC since 2020 and graduated from the college’s culinary and pastry arts program in 2002. Wojcik, also an alum, has worked at the college since 2010. 

“I have to make the food and taste the wine,” Wojcik said. “He has to taste the wine and then figure out the food. We complimented that way, but we pushed each other. We collaborated.”

She added that the event is great for the students to see the standard that chefs hold themselves to, and see the creative process, how they put everything together, and the timing. 

“I think it's really good for the students to experience because you can’t really teach that in the classroom,” she said.  “You have to live it. The night is just so fun. They were all eager to try things that we had put out in the back afterwards.“

Student Perspectives

“This one [dinner] was very special because Wagner is so passionate about his food that all of his courses were so intricate, and his wine pairing; everything went so well together,” said Maddie Moulton, culinary arts student. “I think this was probably one of the best ones we’ve had.”

Moulton served during the event and helped pour the wine. Moulton plans to graduate in December 2025 and will take more classes in spring 2026 before the Italy trip. Her sister is also an ECC student studying pastry arts.

“It's going to be a really good experience, because you learn about the different culture there and how they do things differently from you,” Moulton said. “I think it's going to be a great learning experience, and I’ll get to take things away that I wouldn’t learn here and help me be better as a chef later.”

Culinary arts student Danny Miller, who will also travel to Italy, was inspired to pursue the culinary field after he was encouraged to cook during his time in the Boy Scouts. Miller worked in the kitchen for the wine dinner. 

“I helped plate each plate and all of the components,” Miller said. “On our first plate, we had 17 components. They all needed to be placed exactly, very intricately.  It's fun seeing the intricacies that our chefs bring to the dishes.”

Miller said he’s nervous and excited about the upcoming Italy trip. It’s his first time leaving the country, he said, and he’s looking forward to learning how to make traditional pizza and pasta. Miller’s expected graduation date is summer 2026.

“I’m super excited to see their faces,” Wagner said. “The ones who have never flown or who have never been out of the country. It’ll be neat to be on the other side of that now as their instructor. It's a great opportunity for them to do something very few people will get to do.”