Cafe Tuesday wraps up the year

Over the course of five events this spring, Hospitality and Culinary students served between 200 and 250 guests during Café Tuesday.

The final Café Tuesday event this week had an All American BBQ Buffet theme, complete with western music and attire.

“It was really a fun atmosphere,” Hospitality and Tourism instructor Court Carrier said. “We were able to have the students get a very different style of service.”

The event was previously held on the Gresham campus but this year was moved to the University Place Hotel in Portland due to space needs.

“The challenge in being downtown is that we’re trying to attract a new category of guests, so we may not be receiving the same number we have in the past,” said Carrier. “We’re acting in a working (kitchen), live experience in a commercial establishment that doesn’t have a guaranteed number of guests. They have to be more involved in marketing and reaching out to the general public.”

The students posted flyers in the office buildings near by, handing them out on the street during lunch hours, and posted menus at the hotel front desk.

Although attendance was not as high as Carrier would have liked, he said the benefit to being downtown Portland is “now we’re looking at a hotel food service facility in addition to campus food service facility and I think it gives (students) a little more depth and breadth.”

Carrier said the new light rail line includes a nearby stop, so it will increase the potential for guests.

The program sent out all-staff emails before each event in hope that some faculty and administrators would be able to attend. “We did have some staff members come down, which was really cool!”

In addition to the hands-on learning experience of Café Tuesday, 20 students travelled to Seattle for their annual off site learning experience.

They alternate between in-region and out-of-region locations. On a volunteer basis, two students plan options and the rest of the students vote on where they would like to visit. Travel instructor Cindy Passannante oversees the trip.

They began their trip Thursday morning on an Amtrak train followed by a duck boat tour after checking in to their hotel. They were able to tour facilities such as the Space Needle restaurant, a Boeing factory, a Norwegian Cruise Line ship and Tillicum Village on Blake Island.

At the Space Needle, “Four of their top staff people talked to the students for about an hour” and the chef gave them a back-of-the-house tour, said Carrier. “It was a spectacular opportunity to look and see one of the highest volume restaurants in the country,” he said.

They visited the Boeing facility because “part of our industry is heavily reliant on airplane passengers.”

They were able to see new planes in construction and one of four Dreamlifter airplanes in the world. “It was really great exposure for the students,” said Carrier.

Students received a full tour of Jewel, a ship that was in port. “We were there just after their passengers disembarked and right before their new passengers embarked,” he said. “Just as we were leaving, they opened the doors and all these new passengers came streaming on board.”

The students ended their trip by checking out of their hotel and going shopping and taking the train home Sunday.

“Most of this was cost effective for them,” Carrier said. They received group rates and discounts. With the fundraisers throughout the year, the school pays about half of the costs and the students pay the rest, he said.

The previous out-of-region trip was to Hawaii; the destination for next year’s trip will be up to the students. “Every year it’s something new and different,” he said.

Carrier said, “We pride ourselves on giving the students value added learning outside of the classroom. That’s the goal, to expose students to the real world.”