East Valley Institute of Technology Culinary Arts Students Opening
Fine Dining Restaurant Beginning on Oct. 1

MESA - August 18, 2009 - Most people associate high school students working in food service with bored teens flipping burgers, pouring sodas and cleaning counters at local fast food restaurants.

Just don't tell that to the culinary arts students of Mesa's East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT). These talented young people are more likely to prepare fine-dining gourmet, not fast-food take-out. The 260 juniors and seniors participating in the two-year program will soon put their burgeoning culinary skills to the test when the program opens a fine-dining dinner restaurant on Oct. 1.

The restaurant will operate once-a-month, with the menus becoming progressively more sophisticated and difficult to execute as the school year progresses, according to EVIT's Tricia Guerrero. The students will be completely in charge of its operation, doing everything from taking orders and bussing tables to assisting in the preparation of three-to-five-course meals.

"This is something completely new for us," Guerrero explained. "This is the first time we've done a fine-dining restaurant; before we've opened café-like setups serving sandwiches and salads.

"We will keep the menus very seasonal and very local, utilizing the freshest, highest quality ingredients. Guests will have a variety of items they can choose from."

Guerrero said the new program is the result of feedback from the program's advisory board as well as industry representatives. EVIT students were well-versed when it came to banquet-style preparation (limited number of entrees served in larger quantities), but Guerrero said the feedback the program received is that the students needed more practical experience in Ala Carte food service (multiple entrees cooked to order).

"This is really about helping students have more ease in the transition from the classroom to the industry and giving them a greater understanding about how a restaurant works," Guerrero said.

In addition to the Oct. 1 grand opening, the restaurant will also be open on Nov. 5, Dec. 3, Jan. 7, Feb. 4, March 4, April 1 and May 5. The service will cost $25 per person, and additional a la carte items will be available for purchase. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Guerrero at 480-461-4139, or via e-mail at tguerrero@evit.com.

Other EVIT Culinary Arts news: Culinary Arts teacher Mike Turcotte and five students from EVIT cooked Tennessee BBQ for 140 guests at Paradise Valley's Sanctuary Resort and Spa on Aug. 1. The group was part of the Sanctuary's "Lunch and Learn" program. The resort invites gifted chefs from across the country to prepare meals for the summer seminars.

Turcotte and his students were in charge of making the entrée - beef brisket. Other chefs participating in the program include Stephanie Izard, season four winner of the TV series "Top Chef," and Josh Emmett, executive chef of New York City's Gordon Ramsay at The London.