Enjoy internationally inspired cuisine, live cooking competitions and an evening supporting the next generation of culinary professionals
Psychology major Emerald Moreno is inspired by a passion for understanding and interpreting others, along with a deep faith that psychology is her calling. She plans to transfer to a university to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology, minor in Spanish, and continue exploring a future in law.
After a major surgery and months of recovery, Tracey Kushner faced a decision that would reshape her future. In 2024, she returned to San Diego Mesa College determined to finish the degree she had started years earlier.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — San Diego Mesa College proudly celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2026 during its annual Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 29, 2026, honoring 1,958 graduates who earned more than 2,017 academic degrees and 414 certificates. A total of 727 graduates participated in the ceremony, joined by family, friends, faculty, staff, and community supporters.
May 11, 2022
Mesa College Culinary Arts alum Inno Pamaran was recently gifted funds by the San Diego Mesa College Foundation. Each year, the Foundation provides funding for departments at Mesa College to use how they see fit. Tonya Whitfield, Professor of Culinary Arts at Mesa College, had kept in touch with Inno, and was aware that he was facing challenges in scaling his businesses.
Inno owns two companies, GudMudFud and Melk. GudMudFud creations are sold in restaurants around San Diego County, including Tambayan Filipino Bbq & Grill in Spring Valley and Machete Beer House in National City. GudMudFud uses the kitchens of these existing restaurants to serve customers in a “ghost kitchen” format. The company is known for producing creative dishes that reveal Inno’s zest for fusing Filipino and American cuisines, such as cheeseburger lumpia and ube Philly cheesesteak. Melk specializes in bakery items and sweets, including Inno’s popular ube bread, a traditional Filipino bread made from a purple sweet potato. Other Melk confections include the popular Filipino dessert “halo-halo”, ube jam bread pudding and rolls, and various sweets using pandan, a tropical plant that has a vanilla flavor with a hint of coconut. Inno’s creations, such as his ube bread, have been featured on the Kettner Exchange restaurant menu.
In addition to keeping these two bustling businesses going, Inno is also involved in the Sunday service at People’s Church San Diego. The Sunday service organizes one Sunday a month, and often includes various food and merchandise vendors. Alongside Provecho Coffee Co, Inno’s businesses provide cookies, pastries, and sometimes halo-halo French toast or loaded tater tots at these pop-up church events, serving customers café-style.
Professor Tonya Whitfield recently spoke with Inno
about what he was struggling with in scaling his businesses. Inno shared that he
was unable to get his special dough made in large enough quantities to keep up with
demand because he was doing everything by hand. Therefore, he was not reaching his
production goals due to equipment constraints. He was using restaurant kitchens after
hours in the beginning. Since his production capacity has increased, so has demand
for his creations. After speaking with Michael Fitzgerald, Professor of Culinary Arts
Management at Mesa, Profs. Whitfield and Fitzgerald agreed that their program could
help Inno reach his career goals by using Foundation funds to purchase a 20 quart
mixer and proof box, the two pieces of equipment that Inno requires to move his businesses
to the next level. Recently Whitfield and Fitzgerald worked with Inno in a cooking
competition for the National Chef's Roll. Inno won the grand prize for his original
dessert with plantains.
Follow Inno’s journey on the following Instagram pages: @gudmudfud, @melk_bread, and @sundayservic.
San Diego Mesa College offers the courses needed to earn a Culinary Arts Degree or Certification. As one of only a few culinary programs in the nation that operates a classroom-driven restaurant that's open to the public, students gain first-hand experience modeling food preparation techniques, food safety, sanitation, and menu planning while working with modern equipment in newly renovated facilities. Coupling professional development and technical adeptness with a foundation in business practice, students gain the culinary management skills needed to provide seamless service and run a lucrative business. Guided every step of the way by attentive program faculty, Mesa College’s Culinary Arts/Culinary Management program helps cultivate an appreciation for food that spans far beyond its physical construction to connect students to long-held traditions, cultures, and people from across the globe. Students discover their unique talents within the fields of culinary arts and hospitality and bring continued vitality to the culinary industry as they begin their careers and/or continue their education at another culinary arts college.
To find out more about Mesa’s Culinary Arts/Culinary Management program, please visit: https://www.sdmesa.edu/academics/v2/programs/culinary-arts-management/.
Founded in 1976, the San Diego Mesa College Foundation partners with San Diego Mesa College and passionate members of the community to support student success. Together, San Diego Mesa College and the San Diego Mesa College Foundation create pathways of opportunity by ensuring access to a college education for hardworking people from all walks of life to achieve their dreams for a better tomorrow. By investing in Mesa College and Mesa students, we can affect positive change in our community and transform lives.
To find out more about the San Diego Mesa College Foundation, please visit: https://www.sdmesa.edu/about-mesa/mesa-foundation/index.shtml.
Tags: Culinary Arts, Alumni, Michael Fitzgerald, Tonya Whitfield, Mesa Professors
Jennifer Nichols Kearns
Director of Communications
[email protected]
(619) 388-2759
Enjoy internationally inspired cuisine, live cooking competitions and an evening supporting the next generation of culinary professionals
On Monday, March 11, Mesa Dramatic Arts majors were thrilled when five Mesa College alumni came to speak with current students about their journey in the performing arts thus far. The panel, titled Life Post Mesa in the Performing Arts: Transfer and more, was organized by Drama Professor George Ye’. He explained that he wanted to show current students a “cross section of people with different pathways.”
San Diego Mesa College Alumnus Mario Romero made history as part of a team from Intuitive Machines’ whose uncrewed lander made history Thursday as the first privately owned spacecraft to touch down on the lunar surface. It was also the first U.S. vehicle to accomplish this in more than 50 years. After four years of preparations, the company’s 14-foot-tall Nova-C lander navigated to a spot near the moon’s South Pole. It was the 24th mission to softly land on the moon since 1966. And with it comes a new era of exploration.
