Bistro focuses on convenience

Lincoln Land’s student-run restaurant is expanding the days it’s open and creating a new service called Bistro Grab & Go.

The Bistro, located in the Workforce Careers Center, will be open 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

On Tuesday and Thursday, it will be the familiar Bistro To Go, a place you can order food prepared by culinary arts students as part of their training. On Wednesday and Friday, it will be the new Bistro Grab & Go, a new offering of food prepared in advance that can be purchased in the Bistro.

Both versions of Bistro will open until Nov. 15.

Nancy Sweet, culinary program and operations director, said the class that works for Bistro Grab & Go focuses on marketing, leadership and accounting skills. The pre-made lunch options and baked goods cannot be ordered in advance. However, Bistro To Go workers’ main interest is cooking items as they are ordered and made specific to the request of the customer.

Sweet said every culinary student works for the Bistro at least one semester while a student.

Precious Rolando, a 29-year-old Lincoln Land student, is working on two different degrees: one in Culinary Arts and another in Hospitality and Management. She also is pursuing a Baking and Pastry certificate.

Because of the two degrees, Rolando works for both the Bistro To Go and the Bistro Grab & Go.

“We all have our different roles for different weeks, this week I’m actually working on the numbers to figure out how much exactly each item costs and if we will make a profit,” Rolando said.

David Carter, whose sister is a culinary student at Lincoln Land, ate lunch at the Bistro in its first operating week this semester.

Carter enjoyed the Mediterranean Whole Grain Salad.

The dish was “really, really good,” Carter said. He usually doesn’t favor spinach but thinks it blended well with the dish.

This was Carter’s first visit to the Bistro, and he expressed his happiness in supporting his sister by dining at the cafe that furthers her education.

Bistro To Go offers student-made soups, salads, sandwiches, baked goods and more.  A full menu is available through Lincoln Land’s website or the culinary arts program’s Facebook page.

Orders can be placed in person, by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 786-2821. 

Customers can take their orders out or enjoy them at the tables provided by the Bistro.

Meredith Howard can be reached at [email protected].