Alexandra Martin/Staff Writer
The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at The Biscayne Bay Campus has consistently ranked as one of the top hospitality management schools in the country, winning international recognition, and their Food Production course is one of it’s notable programs.
With over eighty courses, students learn how to start, manage and expand successful organizations within the field, and it all culminates in the grand finale, the Food Production Course, an advanced capstone course that takes place every semester for graduating seniors. The course requires students to run a restaurant on campus and alternate holding restaurant positions such as, dining room manager, waiter, and hostess.
The course, which once took place inside of HTM in room 129, has now moved to the Kovens Conference Center for a one-year period due to renovations.
The center now housing the course is a ballroom designed primarily to serve as a place to conduct meetings for FIU and the general public.
According to Mohammad A. Qureshi, assistant dean of the HTM, students and Professors were faced with a few obstacles with the move.
“The first challenge was to fix all the equipment in the Kovens kitchen to make sure we could use it for instructional purposes,” Qureshi said. “The kitchen is smaller and its equipment was not all designed for teaching purposes, therefore about a year ago we started to make some modifications and bought a new grill, fryer, those changes are still going on.”
Some students agree with Qureshi sentiments.
“We only have one grill and so many students trying to learn so it’s a little more difficult to get everybody to do different jobs,” Senior hospitality major Ashley Atkins said. “The dining area though has a wonderful view and we have more leniency when it comes to the decorations.”
Throughout the course, students work in groups of five to six and design a luncheon in which they not only come up with a menu but also the center pieces, theme and music among other things. Students learn about culinary and service management while also gaining experience on how to manage people and products. Invitations are sent out to the guests so they book their reservations prior to the luncheon, of which anyone interested in attending the three course meal will pay $18 to participate in.
Other adjustments such as the delivery service of food and linens also needed to be change at the Kovens center. Qureshi further notes the transition was not easy and on once occasion he received several complaints from a large conference group who occupied the ballroom on the students making too much noise in the kitchen.
Lunch is mainly served in the ballroom, which fits up to 300 people, but if a private company takes up the space, the lunch is moved downstairs to one of the meeting rooms.
“The other restaurant in the HTM building is made for commercial purposes and has a space for each student to work in and is more familiar since this is open and more of a conference center,” Senior Hospitality major Danny Restrepo said. “At the other restaurant, we had an order and something to follow while at the Kovens we needed to figure out everything on our own the first day.”
With all these adjustments taking place, Qureshi explained the purpose of the renovation.
“For years from South Beach Wine and Food Festival we had year marked money set aside for the purpose of re-doing the restaurant including the front of the house, back of the house, new kitchen and new dining room. This dining room only sat about 60 to 70 people and was basically a make believe dining room.”
Christos Kantzavelos, senior and hospitality major, found the difficulties in the technical aspect.
“The other dining room was working from a point of sales system computer, which is what most modern restaurants use, allowing us to actually order from a computer,” he said. “At the Kovens though, we are working using tickets.”
Qureshi says that the whole process is giving students an opportunity to become more realistic of the industry. Students would serve small tables of two to four people in their former dining room, while at the Kovens Center they serve tables of ten.
“The aspect that I like the most is that teaches them how to communicate with other students, how to give them the job description, train and set expectations, which is what management is all about,” Quershi said.
Although some students have encountered a few obstacles, they all agree that the transition has been a learning experience.
“Using tickets to take orders is a good practice because if a computer goes down you need to learn how to work without one,” added Kantzavelos.
“I don’t really feel that we are at a disadvantage. I think it’s helping us by giving us a few more obstacles to deal with throughout the cooking,” Senior and Hospitality major Nathalie Fundora said. “The restaurant at the HTM building was kind of made easy for us because the dining area was literally right next to the kitchen but in the real world, the kitchen won’t be right next to you and you have to deal with keeping things warm.”
Another highlight the class offers is that it is the only course at FIU that allows students to act as managers within the school.
“It makes you understand the roles you have to play and the importance of it,” said Atkins. “It allows you to see if you want to pursue a career in this in the future.”
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