Today students at the Allegre restaurant will serve their first official meal of the semester.
The menu's theme this week is the "Hunter's Table." The main course of the meal will feature rabbit.
Students prepared for today's meal by cooking a practice meal for their friends and family last Wednesday.
Allegre is the student restaurant operated by Quantity Food Production class in the Family and Consumer Science Department.
Mondays, students directly involved with the food preparation work between noon and 2 p.m. to ready the meal for Wednesday. If a part of the meal is served cold, it can usually be made ahead of time and refrigerated so students can focus more on the meal's presentation Wednesday. Hot dishes are made Monday and put in the oven Wednesday.
"Everything possible without effecting quality is done (Monday)," said Professor Lois Altman, the class' instructor.
"When we cook it can get stressful," Senior Megan Morrison said. "I feel like it's chef's (Altman's) restaurant, and if we mess up it looks bad on her."
The work for Wednesday actually begins on Monday with preparation day. Lecture runs from 10 to 11 a.m., and students regroup at noon to begin preparations for the upcoming meal.
Junior Sara Knarr, a student in the Allegre class, said everything is made from scratch and made completely by the students ahead of time to prepare for the meal.
The week's manager is a student, who occasionally works with a student co-manager. Each week, the manager distributes instructions outlining the other students' daily tasks. Everything from folding napkins, polishing silverware, preparing soups and making desserts must be completed.
"I never knew how much work it takes to prepare and serve a meal like this," Knarr said.
Altman oversees everything in the front of the restaurant and the kitchen. It is the week's manager, however, who tends to any problems in or out of the kitchen. Altman only serves as a back up for major problems.
While preparing the meal, students must measure the ingredients several times. Then they must measure the yield after the ingredients are combined. This allows students to see how many servings will result from a particular dish.
Students dress appropriately for Wednesday. Those working in the kitchen are allowed to wear jeans with their white lab coats. Servers and others working in front of the restaurant must wear black pants or skirts with a white, button-up shirt. They also don a maroon apron and bow tie. Students, regardless of their jobs, pull their hair up and away from their faces.
Wednesday customers will arrive between 11:45 a.m. and noon. Once the maitre d' seats them, servers greet the patrons with bread and beverages. After the customers have arrived, the meal begins with the choice of soup or salad.
The chefs plate, or arrange, the upcoming entrees for the servers while other students clean the kitchen. Once servers present the main course, everyone in the kitchen works to finish cleaning before the class ends at 2 p.m. All appliances used, as well as counter tops and dishes, are washed. Servers also try to clear the tables before customers leave.
When the meal is over and all work areas are cleaned, students evaluate the meal. The class's graduate assistant Renee Degraaf gives those working in the front of the restaurant feedback. Students working in the kitchen for the week are graded on how well they followed directions.
The class can evaluate the past week's manager after class. The manager also writes a report explaining how they thought the week went. This gives the managers a chance to correct mistakes. Managers are encouraged to explain what they would do differently if given the chance to be manager again.
The students are responsible for everything that goes on during each meal.
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