After almost three years of construction, the culinary room has officially opened. The  renovation concluded last year, and Culinary 2, 3, and Baking and Pastry classes are now starting. Many of the students who attend the higher culinary classes now get to experience what it’s like to cook in the class. 

“When I first saw the room completed I felt excited for my students and blessed to have an opportunity to work in there,” said Culinary teacher Jamie Kahalewai. 

The future chefs in this class have been anticipating to use the new room. Some students attending the classes think the new room is something many students will enjoy using. The Culinary students also feel happy to be working there, “I think it’d be helpful experience for students who plan on going into culinary arts in the future,” Culinary 2 student Jia Chen (12) said. 

“I enjoy the activities, MYAC, snack shop, and restaurants, as the food we make actually goes out to people. Seeing them enjoy our food and receiving positive feedback really gives me that satisfaction,” Chen continued. 

As many know, Culinary students enjoy having restaurant, a campus dining service, and inviting classes over to their room and ordering. Restaurant has been around for a while now and many of the students who attend really enjoy the types of foods, drinks, and desserts that the Culinary class has to offer. 

“I really like restaurant or snack shop,” Gabrielle Garcia (12) says. “You get amazing food from the students who make it.” With a large variety of choices, the list of favorite foods go on and on. “One of my favorites is the Firecracker Chicken,” a popular dish.

“With the Firecracker Chicken I like to get the fried rice on the side. Not only are you limited to food but to dessert as well.” Garcia said. “My favorite is the Brownie Delight which is a brownie with cookie and vanilla ice cream.” 

Another student Kaya Wilske (12) also really enjoys snack shop “because it’s something to look forward to in the week,” Wilske said. “It breaks away from the mundane of our school week. I like to buy fried rice from them.” 

For the new students who may not know what restaurant is, it is when Culinary classes send out a menu to teachers and invite them to come and order food the chefs make. The students in the class order food if they would like to and must remember to bring money the day their class goes to pick up their orders. 

 “The classroom is a blessing to our school,” said Tamryn Guillermo (12) a Baking and Pastry student.“The classroom gives us the opportunity for students to practice real life skills and scenarios in working kitchens and restaurants.” 

The new Culinary room has differences from the old one, such as the old room is being used for only Culinary 1 students and being a basic set up kitchen. 

Another student Kaylani Gallen (12) is in Culinary 2. “It’s actually pretty cool they have way more stuff in there than in any of the culinary rooms,” Gallen said.  

The new room is planned to hold Military Youth Advisory Council (MYAC) this year, which had previously taken place in the library. Using the room for restaurant, inviting classes over and having the students order beforehand so the food is already prepped. The students will be taking on the roles of chefs, cashiers, servers etc, which will be a great experience for the future cooks.