The Long Beach City College Bistro has finally opened for all students, faculty, and the public to give the food a try.
It took some time to open because the head chef thought it was a good idea to refresh all the students’ memories and train them a bit before they officially open.
“The main reason that the bistro does not open on the first day of the semester is because (head chef) Chef Haley wanted to use the first few weeks to train the students and refresh our memories on the very core basics of culinary arts so she can see the level at which we are at,” says culinary art students Mateo Peregrina.
The class goes over the fundamentals of front of house service, and back of house procedures, so that they are able to move efficiently in the kitchen, once that is established, the bistro opens for the public.
Students can now make reservations by sending an email to bistro@lbcc.edu with a date and time slot from 11:30-1pm. Students need to make reservations 2 weeks in advance.
“No-shows do happen, and we are encouraged to take walk-ins when they do. I recommend checking around 12:30, as both 11:30 and 12 time slots are usually filled in by then,” says culinary arts student Laura Watson.
The menu changes on a weekly basis, however the region the menu is based on is on a biweekly schedule.
“The bistro students can shoot out any ideas or recommendations to Chef Haley about the menu and we are given creative freedom to ensure that everyone creates a menu that we are all on board with,” says Peregrina.
Students are encouraged to come through and check out the bistro to see what these students have to offer.
“We’d love for students to come in and eat. Not only do we get a wider demographic of customers, they also get a three course meal for less than 20 bucks. We also hand out comment cards for the guests to fill out to help us improve, and we go over them at the end of service,” said Watson.
Students also receive a discount of five dollars from the original $20 price coming out to $15 for a three course meal.
Most of these students have a purpose of getting into the Culinary Arts program, it’s a big passion of theirs to move forward with the industry.
“I have always loved cooking as a kid. I feel like food is one of those few things that can bring people together and truly just sit down and enjoy each other’s company. As I have taken this course, I have grown as a person, and as a cook,” said Peregrina.
“Cooking is something I had always been interested in, despite not doing a whole ton of it, but it made me happy watching my friends enjoy the food I worked so hard for them so that is why I gave culinary school a shot.” said Watson.
The bistro is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with reservations and walk-ins welcome.