Order up!
Students in the culinary arts program at the TBA-ISD Career Tech Center have a restaurant in which to hone their skills: the World Class Café. Serving a range of hot dishes, salads, soups and sandwiches for lunch Wednesday through Friday and a breakfast buffet on Friday mornings, the real-world experience is unbeatable.
"It pretty much teaches how to run a restaurant, all the pieces,” said Ernie Vasquez, a homeschool senior and a first-year student in the program. "They rotate us through everything, I like baking a lot but I like the hot line, too.”
The program's 90 students work under the guidance of Chef Karl Malin and other faculty to manage all facets of a restaurant, from taking orders, prepping food and cooking to bussing tables, washing dishes and managing the cash register. Students also learn to prepare cuisines from around the world and also give input on the specials offered in the café. They also learn all aspects of safety and sanitation on the job.
Any way you slice it, the World Class Café experience provides a solid foundation for continuing their education or pursuing a career in culinary arts.
"I'm planning on attending the Illinois Institute of Arts culinary school,” said Vasquez, who terms the student team a family.
The restaurant hummed busily Thursday afternoon as a dozen patrons celebrated a birthday and smaller groups of diners stopped in for a meal. Behind the swinging door, students worked quickly and efficiently to put together the orders. At various stations, they husked corn, cut up fruit, shredded cheese and made custard while the clean up crew scraped dishes and ran them through the industrial washer.
"It gets full, you've got to stay on track,” said Sara Karns, a senior at Traverse City West Senior High School. "I like the hot line the best, I had fun in the bake shop, but that's not for me.”
Karns noted that her experience in the café last year helped her land a foodservice job, although she has since moved on to another restaurant.
"That was the number one thing they were looking for,” she said of her getting hired at Mabel's because of her background. "I like this program a lot, it will help me in the future.”
The café opens every year in October and has been a mainstay of the culinary arts program for about 25 years. It existed when Malin joined the program as an instructor 24 years ago and is fundamental to the students' learning experiences.
Throughout the fall and early January, the students are getting up to speed with the restaurant. As the second semester begins, the students are ready and Malin invites the public in to dine at the café.
"The first semester, we kind of get our feet wet,” he said, adding: "The kids are great, I've got a fantastic group of kids this year.”
Skills learned in the World Class Café can be used by students in any job, not just in the restaurant industry. First year students serve stints in all the jobs while second year students may choose their station. In addition, second year students in the program master skills that can translate to any career.
"They have a lot of responsibility, they supervise and help train,” said Malin. "We really rely on our second year students.”
"At some point, it's not just about cooking skills, but the skills they learn are transferable, especially the management skills ” he added.
The public is welcome to dine at the World Class Café, located at 880 Parsons Road. Lunch is served between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday through Friday. A breakfast buffet is available on Friday mornings from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. For more information, call 922-6285.