A Wichita restaurant industry vet has been hired to lead Butler’s culinary school
A familiar face in the Wichita restaurant industry is now at the helm of Butler Community College’s culinary arts program in Andover.
Les Padzensky has just been named the director of the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts — a newly created position. Padzensky, who has worked in the restaurant industry since he was 15 years old, also is a longtime friend and partner of the Redler Institute’s benefactor and namesake, Scott Redler.
His job will be to take administrative tasks off the plate of the soon-to-be-announced head chef instructor at the school. Padzensky said he’ll help guide that chef as well as the catering program at the school, and he also hopes to help students grow.
“By me being here now, it kind of takes care of all the things that go into an operation, and the chef just worries about getting the food out,” Padzensky said.
Previously, those tasks fell to the school’s executive chef, Luis Pena, who recently exited his job as the director of the culinary and hospitality program after three years.
Padzensky’s restaurant expertise will help take Butler’s culinary program into its next chapter, said Redler, who partnered with Padzensky and Bill Simon in the late 1990s to open Timberline, a Wichita-based steakhouse.
“It’s very exciting to see someone with his talent not only in management but also in culinary and someone with a passion for our industry take a leadership role to take us forward,” said Redler, who now works as the president of Mokas.
Padznesky, who was an adjunct hospitality professor at Butler for several years starting in 1998, also worked for Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers co-founders Redler, Bill Simon and Randy Simon as they developed the chain, which grew into a nationwide operation before the founders sold it in 2021.
His resume also includes an 12-year stint as the president of food and beverage with Warren Theatres; a tenure with Latour Management managing Piccadilly Market & Grill; and a job with Epoch Development, where he worked as a regional manager for Freddy’s.
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He’s also a past chairman of the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association and has served on the Redler Institute’s Industry Advisory Committee for three years, most recently as chairman.
Soon, Padzensky said, Butler will announce the identity of its new chef instructor, who starts on July 1.
Pena and his wife, Alicia, who also taught at Butler, are now preparing to reopen and run the Parlour 1886 restaurant inside the historic Elgin Hotel in Marion.
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