Culinary students gain experience at renovated STC restaurant

MAR LIN — Culinary students are serving up lunch in a recently renovated restaurant at Schuylkill Technology Center-South Campus.

The restaurant in the second floor of the building was renovated thanks to a Lowe’s Community Service/Campus Improvement grant. The grant program awarded $565,433 to 26 schools across the nation last year.

The grant was used for the material while the work was done by STC students in the electrical, carpentry, plumbing and masonry programs last semester.

“The dining room is going to have more foot traffic,” James Gurcsik, culinary arts instructor at the south campus, said Wednesday.

The dining area can now seat about 30 people, Gurcsik said.

The culinary students run every aspect of the restaurant, from cooking and cleaning to taking orders and operating the cash register. It is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The north campus in Frackville also has a restaurant that is open to the public.

Gurcsik has 21 students — sophomores, juniors and seniors — this semester in three different course levels. Each has a role in the restaurant, whether it is in the bakery, kitchen, sanitation or front-house skills. When the kitchen was being renovated last semester, the students made to-go lunches.

“There is no better way to teach than in a restaurant,” Gurcsik said.

He said they can learn theory in the classroom, but things like time management have to be taught in the kitchen.

“They learn everything as they go, as far as problem solving,” he said.

The restaurant has a staple menu with 40 to 50 items on it. There are also daily soups, desserts and specials, Gurcsik said.

“Everything is handmade from scratch,” Gurcsik said.

The students work in the classroom in addition to the bakery and new kitchen. On Wednesday, students were making sandwiches for a group renting the banquet room downstairs. Gurcsik said usually when a group rents the room, the students make them lunch.