Opening a restaurant requires many steps beginning with analyzing the competition, then developing a business plan, finding a location, developing a menu, hiring staff and finally securing financing. Students in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition’s (DHN) 342 Quantity Food Production class experienced all of those steps with a recent assignment that mimicked a competitive television contest.
DHN students from the winning team (from left to right) Saleyka Calvillo,
Alexis Scott, Bobby Powers and Asa Conkwright, teaching assistant for the class,
prepare vegetable omelets from their restaurant menu for the judges to taste.
Six groups of students, including dietetics and hospitality management and tourism majors, battled to win faux investment support from a panel of judges, with each group presenting a business plan for a start-up restaurant in Lexington. They developed creative menus and prepared diverse dishes for the judges to taste, including pizza, omelets, BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches, shrimp and mango slaw, and fajitas.
(From left to right) Alyssa Cox, Madilyne McDonald and Shelby Lowe,
all DHN students from the MAARSS team, kick off their presentation
with music and dancing, representing their modern diner concept.
The team that took home the gold, or the pseudo investment, planned to open a modern diner with a music theme, where menu items are named after popular songs. While MAARSS Modern Diner is a feigned concept, it would be a real joy to try an “I Want it That Way Omelet” or “Summertime Mimosa” while listening to the corresponding tunes from the Back Street Boys and Will Smith on the in-house jukebox. Congratulations to the MAARSS Modern Diner team, which included undergraduate students Saleyka Calvillo, Alyssa Cox, Shelby Lowe, Madilyne McDonald, Bobby Powers, and Alex Scott.
Alyssa Cox, dietetics major, shares the MAARSS business and marketing plan with the panel of judges.
“All of our students did an incredible job with this project, where they learned the complexities, uncertainties, and challenges associated with opening a restaurant,” said Aaron Schwartz, lecturer in the Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition and director of the dietetic internship program. “With real-world, experiential learning activities like this, our students gain skills to succeed in the food production and management industry after graduation.”
Jack Moreland, Katie Pierce and Aaron Schwartz, serve as judges
and sample omelets as they decide which restaurant start-up
to invest in for this mock contest.
In addition to this exercise, students in DHN 342 get first-hand restaurant experience by operating The Lemon Tree for the semester. Chef Bob Perry, food laboratory coordinator, and Schwartz lead students through hands-on activities covering food preparation, production and processing, sanitation, facility planning, waste management, and sustainability.