Amber Sadiq, Reporter
@asadiqcourant
For the past decade, Rams Cafe has been a source of real world experience for students. From preparing foods with authentic ingredients and materials, to serving dishes to individuals, the NCHS culinary program is truly something to pride itself on.
Donna Sapienza, head of Culinary Arts, started Rams Cafe in 2010 with the intent of serving the staff at New Canaan with a cuisine prepared by the students. Sapienza said, “the Rams Cafe program is open to students who have had the basic Food and Nutrition course first. After that, they can take a culinary class like this or they can take a baking class, or vice-versa.”
“In regards to what we serve, we usually change the theme of what we’re serving 5 times a semester, but because of COVID, we’ve only done three,” Sapienza said. “In the process of preparing the food, students usually prepare in groups of 3 or 4, each group working on their own menu. We talk about menu planning in terms of ‘What do you want your food to look like?’, Do you want all your food to be all the same color, texture?” she said.
The Rams Cafe program allows students to plan a menu, test out the recipes, decide what they want to serve, prepare it, and finally serve it for a price. “In the past, we’ve set up the room here as a restaurant; the students get the Back of House experience which is where the food is prepared in a restaurant, as well as the Front of House experience which is serving the food and presenting the tables,” Sapienza said.
Even teachers who have regularly attended the Rams Cafe events expressed their impression of the student’s ability. Darcy Smith, English Department Head said, “Pre-pandemic Rams Cafe experience was like no-other. It felt as if you were exiting the school and walking into a real cafe that has beautiful table cloths and set seating. I walked in and greeted all the students, they were dressed up in their chef and su-chef attire and the actual experience of being able to dine with my colleagues in a wonderful setting was also not the norm, and the food is so fresh and always delicious.”
New Canaan offers a half-year Culinary Program in which students learn the basics of knife work and other basic kitchen points. “It’s an authentic performance assessment where they get real world experience… a taste of what it’s like” Sapienza said. “The kids do pretty good, considering what we have to work with.”
In regards to COVID and social distancing, the Rams Cafe has had to make changes to abide by the safety guidelines. “We usually change the theme of what we’re serving 5 times a semester, but this year with Social Distancing, I had a smaller class so we have only been doing 3 themes” Sapienza says, “We’re not serving food this year, we’re doing a grab n go, which has been a whole other learning experience. The students are learning to properly package the food, prepare it, organize all of that so teachers could just come quickly and get the food already prepared and safely.”
Despite the setbacks caused by the pandemic, Sapienza and the students that make Rams Cafe have successfully been able to continue to serve our staff with delicious food whilst maintaining their, said impressive, professionalism, “I think that Rams Cafe has adapted just as well as any professional restaurant. When I walked in to pick up my meal, it was run the same way” said Smith. “The ambiance is fantastic and relaxing.”
“You feel as if you’re in a real restaurant. I walked in and greeted all the students, they’re all dressed up in their chef and su-chef attire” Smith said. “Everything was well-organized, well labeled, everyone wore gloves and masks. I felt as if everything was just as it should be professionally.”
