OCM BOCES Culinary Program Serves in Style

On Thursday, October 7, OCM BOCES opened the doors to their school’s “Class Act” dining room at the Irvin E. Henry Campus in Syracuse. The dining room, part of the school’s Culinary Arts program, is open each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (when school is in session) from 11:00 AM until 12:00 noon. The dining room is open to the public and features elegant cuisine prepared by students and served a la’ carte on a buffet line. As part of BOCES’ Culinary Arts program, students participate in all aspects of the dining process, including menu selection, food preparation, presentation, customer service and clean-up.

OCM BOCES’ Culinary Arts program is a hands-on food preparation curriculum that incorporates the National Restaurant Association's two-year ProStart curriculum. Students are instructed on all areas of food production and dining room/customer service with emphasis on food safety, sanitation, and basic foundation skills necessary to work in the food service industry. There is also a great deal of emphasis placed upon building social skills, working as a team, following directions, and exhibiting positive work attitudes.

In addition to food preparation for the Class Act dining room, OCM BOCES Culinary Arts students learn food service at the “Electric Apple,” the school’s student run restaurant. The Apple, as it is known, serves café-type fare such as soups, salads, burgers and sandwiches. OCM BOCES students perform all food preparation and service aspects at the Electric Apple, with the largest portion of customers being other BOCES students. The Electric Apple is also open Wednesday through Friday when school is in session and serves breakfast from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM and lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 PM.

The public is invited to enjoy a lunch experience at OCM BOCES Class Act dining room. Reservations are encouraged by calling the school’s kitchen at 431-8518.

Top photo: High school juniors MicKenzie Williams (left) from the Marcellus School District and Samantha Oakley from the Chittenango School District are students in OCM BOCES’ Culinary Arts Program. The girls are pictured removing the food leftovers from the “Class Act” dining room’s buffet line on Friday, October 29, 2010.

Bottom photo: OCM BOCES Culinary Arts Program Junior Hannah Hillenbrand from the Westhill School District looks over the dining menu for the school’s Electric Apple dining room with customer Sasha Marohn. Ms. Marohn was at BOCES for a workshop put on by the organization.