Chef Joe Schmeltzer is familiar, you might say, with the culinary arts program operated out of Copley High School. Very familiar.
He was a student in the program, and he came back to Copley High School to take charge of the program 27 years ago. The chef has seen many changes during that time, in both the field and the educational program.
The culinary program started in 1978 as part of the launch of the Four Cities Educational Compact. It teaches high school students from the Copley-Fairlawn, Barberton, Norton and Wadsworth school districts about the many aspects of running a restaurant. The main teaching tool is Bistro 81 at Ridgewood, which is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays in Copley High School.
The restaurant itself has been in existence for some time, Schmeltzer said. It derives its name from its classroom number.
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The menu changes weekly to give students variety in what they learn to prepare, chef said. About three years ago, the restaurant started putting on three to four entrees a week, A typical menu today has fresh soup, “a couple of sandwiches and some entrees.” For example, a recent menu posted on the Four Cities Compact website highlighted the Bistro Burger, meatloaf and mashed potatoes with corn, house salad, roasted red pepper soup, pizzas, and angel food cake, to name a few of the options.
“We like to change things up because it gives our students a broad range of experience,” Schmeltzer said.
Senior citizens are key clients at Bistro 81, Schmeltzer said.
“They are so good with my kids,” he said. “They aren’t in a hurry to go anywhere.”
In addition to classes and operating the restaurant two days per week, Bistro 81 also has catered school events, administrative meetings, PTA events and occasions for other school groups, Schmeltzer said. Participants also sell items; recently, the restaurant filled orders for 172 dozen rolls.
A recent improvement is new flooring in the restaurant, Schmeltzer said, which was installed by the Four Cities Compact carpentry students. “Everyone helps each other out.”
“It’s a good real-world experience for our kids,” said Roger Wright, the director of the Four Cities Compact. “It prepares students for a lot of avenues in the hospitality field.” He added there are currently 21 students in the program.
Possible careers and skills learned through the culinary program include cooking, catering, managing a restaurant, and event planning, Wright said.
“Joe’s students do some culinary marketing,” Wright said. “They work with a teacher on professional skills and writing activities. How do you make a menu look nice? How do you market your restaurant?”
In fact, they don’t even necessarily have to wait until they graduate to find work in the hospitality industry, Wright said.
“They are always calling me for people to work for them,” Wright said of restaurants. “There is a great opportunity for students who want to find a job now.”
Bistro 81 did what many area restaurants did during the 2020-21 school year and adapted their services to work around the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They pivoted and did what restaurants were doing,” Wright said. “They were still making food.” This included providing takeout options, he added.
One alumnus of the program is Ashten M. Garrett, a 2016 Copley graduate. Among his accomplishments is winning the “America’s Next Chef” episode of “Guy’s Grocery Games” in March 2020 on The Food Network. Garrett currently works as a chef de partie at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland. He also published a “A Few Of My Favorites Cookbook.”
“We are really proud of him,” Wright said.
Aden Baker, 17, a senior in the culinary program, said he appreciates “the experience we get doing it, and the team aspect of it.”
“We all have to pull our own weight,” said Baker, a student at Barberton High School, who is in charge of the entrees.
Baker said he currently works at Magic City’s Remarkable Diner in Barberton. He said he would like to go further into the field and get more experience from other chefs.
Katie Bishop, 17, a senior at Wadsworth High School, said that she enjoys baking and would love to learn about baking and pastries in college.
“I saw this as a good way to gain experience,” Bishop said of her decision to enroll in the program. Currently, she said she helps prepare the soups and salads, and “helps out with the front of the house.”
Bishop said she has applied to the Culinary Institute of America and hopes she will be accepted.
“One day I want to own a bakery,” she said.
The restaurant is just one example of how the Four Cities Compact brings together students from the participating districts: this fall, a new pharmacy program launched at Copley High School in partnership with Summa Health. The compact also is preparing to introduce a proogram called Diversified Medical Tech and bring back its Teaching Academy in the 2022-23 school year, Wright said.
For details on the Four Cities Educational Compact and its programs, call 330-335-1479 or visit http://fourcitiescompact.org online.
Reporter April Helms can be reached at [email protected]
https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2022/01/03/student-run-bistro-81-turns-culinary-curiosity-to-work-experience-copley-norton-barberton-wadsworth/8843369002/