Las Vegas Review-Journal Nevadan at Work column.

By Chris Jones, Las Vegas Review-Journal Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 16--FOR CULINARY SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR, FEW TASTES SWEETER THAN STUDENTS' SUCCESS: Heinz Lauer has spent a lifetime learning his way around a kitchen.

Now he's showing others the way, provided they're willing to invest significant time and money to walk a career path Lauer considers priceless.

As executive chef instructor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, the native German oversees the more than 30 instructors and 650 students who pay nearly $40,000 to attend classes at the school's 55,000-square-foot Summerlin campus.

So far, two classes have graduated from the American Culinary Federation-affiliated college Lauer helped launch. Still, the American Culinary Federation's local 2004 Chef of the Year says he's thrilled each time he comes across a former student whose sacrifices eventually enabled him or her to land a job in one of the city's best restaurants.

"For the majority of people in this industry, you're going to be working nights, weekends and on holidays, and those are things a lot of people shy away from," Lauer said. "But our biggest …