Every year, Radford High School’s Culinary Arts program offers designated menus to teachers who will decide if their students can afford to miss a period (or two) to experience the flavorful tastes of eah class’ cuisine.

On April 1 and 2, Culinary Arts teacher Jamie Kahalewai did a dry-run in order to prepare her Culinary 2 and 3 classes for the rigor of kitchen production. Offering opportunities for class periods of 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 to purchase food and drink with prices ranging from $1-$6, the restaurant, named Anykine Grindz, officially opened on April 3.

Depending on the class period, students can buy fried rice, garlic chicken, crab wontons, brownie sundae, kalua pig nachos, spam musubi, breakfast plate, malasada burger, and other dishes. Customers are also offered water, soda, juice, and iced tea.

Radford’s Culinary I classes are running a different version of restaurant this year, offering to deliver food instead of dining in. Planned by the school’s other Culinary Arts teachers, Jennifer Sugahara and Tiffany Peterson, the Snack Shop offers mini versions of the familiar foods offered by Anykine Grindz, along with shortbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and lemon bars.

Students have expressed different reactions to Snack Shop. Some students said that they would rather eat in, because they would miss out on teaching time. Others have opinions on the food produced by Snack Shop.

Culinary I student, junior Shantae Donald, said “the scones are good.”

Culinary II student, Vanessa Kan, junior, said “the garlic chicken should be crispier and they should have left it in the garlic sauce longer.”

Profits from the restaurant will fund the Culinary Arts program.
Besides supervising restaurant, Kahalewai also provides a three-course meal for the Military Youth Advisory Council, or MYAC, every month. Students in her classes can volunteer to experience cooking all day, making around 50-70 of the same dishes for guests to consume.