School of Hospitality and Tourism Management offers gourmet lunches

If you’re growing tired of the same sandwich for lunch every day, maybe it’s time to add a little variety to your routine.

For a small price, students at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management will give you all the variety you can handle with a three-course gourmet lunch prepared entirely by students in advanced cooking, led by chef-instructor Michael Moran.

Moran walks his classes through the weeks-long process of planning the lunches, including creating and testing the menu and assigning leadership positions to his students.

“First we come up with an idea for a theme, and planning the menu. Today’s theme was Caribbean,” Moran said. “We then go through two rounds of refining the menus.”

On the menu the days the news.FIU.edu team visited was coconut fried shrimp served with pineapple chutney as the appetizer. Guests then chose from two entrees; pecan-crusted snapper or Jamaican jerk chicken with coconut rice.

“For desert we had our soon-to-be-famous banana cigars, a really neat item,” Moran said. “It’s just banana cooked in the oven, it almost comes out like a Caribbean cannoli.”

Moran expects this real-world experience to serve his students well when enter the workforce.

“The service industry, specifically the hospitality industry, is one-third of our economy here in South Florida,” Moran said. “This is a lot more serious from a philosophy stand point than taking someone’s order and serving them great food. It’s about being part of the service dynamic in our community.”

Students typically arrive at 7 a.m. on service days and are on campus until class gets out around 3 p.m.

Senior Silvia Lopez was in charge of the bakery during this event, working with other students to bake the meal’s bread.

“We all take turns, some events we’ll be cooking or on the line, some events we’ll be serving. Some events we’ll be cutting, prepping,” Lopez said. “So we learn a little bit about everybody’s job and what everybody does.”

Lopez is scheduled to be general manager of a future lunch, overseeing the entire staff.

“The class is basically an experience in restaurant management,” Lopez said. “It’s getting us ready for careers in the hospitality management and food service industry.”

Senior Emma Rojas appreciates her professor’s hands-on approach to learning. She hopes it gives her an advantage after graduation.

“This is an experience that you can tell anybody, that you were able to cook for a group of 40 people, and you were able to learn how to cook different things…” Rojas said. “I’m growing a love for the kitchen that I never knew I had.”

The lunches are held most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of the Spring semester. The cost is $18 per person. For reservations, call Roger Ledesma at (305) 919-4526.

Tuesdays:
Feb 1st
Mar 1st
Apr 5th
Apr 19th

Wednesdays:
Jan 26th
Feb 9th
Mar 9th
Mar 30th
Apr 13th

Thursdays:
Feb 3rd
Mar 3rd
Mar 24th
Apr 7th
Apr 21st

Fridays:
Jan 28th
Feb 11th
Mar 11th
Apr 1st

— Christopher Necuze