Making the Grade

One of the most exciting recent additions to the Texas Culinary Academy curriculum is their new on-site restaurant-training program. The Texas Culinary Academy now operates two restaurants -- Ventana and the Bleu River Grille -- that offer students real restaurant experience. Supervised by chef-instructors, but otherwise staffed entirely by students, Ventana and the Bleu River Grille are the incubators for Austin's future chefs and restaurateurs. Students work in the restaurants as part of a six-week training course -- their last before receiving their degree. In those six weeks, they rotate through all the tasks associated with running a restaurant. They spend three weeks working the front of the house, waiting tables, bussing, tending bar, and hosting. Then they spend three weeks working the back of the house, wending their way through the various kitchen stations. Along the journey, the students get a taste (both good and bad, no doubt) of what their futures might hold in restaurant management. They learn the finesse of customer service, purchasing, and tracking food costs. They perfect the art of timing and cooking for large parties. Instructors encourage students to create their own specials, as long as they stay within certain price parameters. The students are graded on their daily job performance -- how they set up their stations, plate designs, their success at costing, and the specials they develop. "It's fun to see the students come full circle," says Jim Cooper, a chef instructor at TCA, who has witnessed more than a few trainees negotiate the perils of running a commercial kitchen. Students enter timid and afraid and leave as competent grill cooks, hosts, and waiters.

Since the restaurants are training facilities, both the food and service can at times be uneven. However, the trade-off is that prices are much lower than average. In every other respect, the restaurants are just like any others.