The Bakery and Bistro at Long Beach City College is located in the V-building. It is normally open to the local public and students at the college, but when the college fully reopens, the public, students and staff are able to eat at the bistro and bakery.
The LBCC Bistro and Bakery are both run by students who are in the Culinary Arts Department. Operation hours when fully open are Monday through Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m for the bakery. The bistro is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Culinary students are able to experience hands-on learning in the settings of a kitchen, bakery, and restaurant management while taking classes and working on campus.
Valentina Leslie, an LBCC Culinary Arts laboratory instructional assistant said, “Our hybrid classes are split into two parts, the lecture is the classroom part which is online. And the kitchen is considered the lab so our students only come to campus to cook or bake.”
Upon graduation the students are well informed and prepared for many careers and jobs in the culinary arts field. To name a few; line cook, personal chef, caterer, restaurant manager, baker or pastry cook and a food blogger.
“In order to follow COVID guidelines we currently have less students enrolled. This allows our students to safely social distance from one another,” said Leslie.
Chris Young, chef instructor at LBCC is in her third year teaching as the head of the department in the bakery, which was under Chef Pierre Jues previously.
Young teaches the advanced bakery operations and practicum courses, which are required before a culinary student can graduate and transfer.
Young said, “Amid the pandemic, the bakery donates items to the Viking Vault and it is honestly a wide variety of awesome sweet and tasty baked items and whatever students want to prepare.”
According to Leslie, the Bakery and Bistro has a lot of options to choose from on the menu.
It is divided into two sections, the bakery, which has a selected variety of pastries, eclairs, cappuccinos, lattes, fruit tarts, cookies, and croissants.
When the bistro is open, they offer different cuisines from different regions around the including Mediterranean, Asian, Latin American, French, Southern and West coast.
“A few examples would be Chicken Provencal (Chicken simmered in tomatoes, olives, rosemary, and garlic). Seafood Bouillabaisse (Shrimp, mussels, clams, and fish simmered in a saffron broth) and there are many other delicious entrees the bistro offers as well,” said Leslie.
The bistro is usually $15 for a three-course meal that mainly focuses on cuisines from the many different regions and it includes your choice of any salad or appetizer, an entree, and dessert.
Reservations can be made when the bakery and bistro open again. The phone number is (562)928-4757 and email bistro@lbcc.edu.