Culinary Center Named for Late Son of Restaurant Owner

Hennen’s Restaurant has been a popular steakhouse in Chattanooga for years.

But in 2011, the Hennen family was touched by tragedy when the owner’s 27 year old son Michael was struck by a train and killed.

In a tribute to Michael, the owner and his wife cut the ribbon Sunday on a brand new culinary school at Chattanooga State named after their late son: The Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center.

"It’s great because he loved hospitality and the culinary part of it," said restaurant owner Tim Hennen. "That’s what makes a tremendous difference to Corinne and I."

Investors and donors came together to build the center located in the CHIB building of Chattanooga State.

Complete with restaurant grade cooking equipment, classrooms and even a mock hotel room, the school is set to educate local students.

"Hundreds of friends in Chattanooga gave four or five hundred thousand dollars that’ll help start this thing," said Hennen. "We’ll keep doing fund raisers for scholarships for local kids that can come into this thing and get their associates’ degree and then get a job here."

And that is really the directors goal of this school: to educate students at the community college level in the hospitality arts so they can go and work in the many restaurants Chattanooga is building.

"It’s important that students are plugged into all the things that are happening here from a restaurant and hospitality standpoint because it’s part of the growth engine of Chattanooga," said center director Shannon Johnson.

Johnson began working for Hennen 25 years ago as a bus boy.

Now an award-winning chef, he will be the director of the center.

"Chattanooga hospitality represents a billion dollars a year to our community and so we need really, really strong talent to keep that effort alive and to keep it growing and there’s no better place to find talent then in your local area," said Johnson.