River Rush Bistro serves up “school lunch”
Inside the Campus Center down the cafeteria hall is the new River Rush Bistro, a student run gourmet restaurant with a side of educational benefit.
The culinary program is still quite young, with the Bistro as its newest innovation, one that sprouted from Obama stimulus money. “We knew we wanted a restaurant,” said Culinary Program Coordinator Phil Hawkins. “Chris Van Dyke (culinary director) and I brainstormed, and this is what happened.”
“This is the first year that this has been done here. It’s a whole new thing for all of us,” explained first year culinary student Corrine Windish.
The menu, created by head chef and instructor Hawkins, changes every three weeks, featuring items that allow culinary students to grow and learn new techniques.
The students either work the waiting, the line, or expedite duty (dishes and communications) depending on which term they’re in.
The menu is á la carte and can cost as little as $2.50 for a bowl of soup up to $10 for the Triple Play (soup or salad, entrée, and dessert). There’s even a vegetarian meal included. The entire menu, which changes every three weeks, can be found online here.
As for the food, UCC student Simon Stacey stated, “[It] was quite excellent, including an amazing beef wellington, though the dessert was slightly too sweet for me.”
The River Rush Bistro has recently expanded from being open two days to three days because of growing business. “Our ultimate goal is to be open four days a week,” said Hawkins. “We just need to ease ourselves in. It’s like working a block of granite into a wheel.”
The River Rush Bistro is currently open 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday inside the cafeteria.
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