2 weeks Ago
There's a lunch spot in downtown Buffalo where the meals are affordable and the chefs are young. (Really young.) At Emerson Commons (70 W.
Chippewa St.), Buffalo Public Schools students make and serve lunches such as blackened steak with housemade steak sauce ($14), seared salmon filet ($15) and bone-in veal chop ($17). It's open for breakfast from 7:30 to 10 a.
m. and lunch from 11:15 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m. on most school days and closed on Mondays and whenever school isn't in session.
Mecca Smith stuffs truffle Parmesan twice-baked potatoes during her culinary class at Emerson School of Hospitality. Emerson Commons usually serves breakfast, then a rotating selection of three lunch entrees ($12 to $17), four soups ($4), sandwiches ($9), quiche ($4) and dessert ($4). Juniors and seniors make and serve all of the food, cycling through classes such as bakery, catering, back of house and front of house.
Sophomores practice by making all of the student lunches. "Compared to what you get at other places, you definitely get your money's worth," said Jeffrey Lysiak, culinary arts and foods teacher at Emerson School of Hospitality. "We want it to be busy for the kids to get the experience.
" Mercury O’Dell listens to Christopher Schork's lesson on conduction during a culinary class at Emerson School of Hospitality. Mercury O’Dell, a junior who lives in South Buffalo, was about to carry a tray of twice-baked potatoes to the service station just before doors opened for lunch service. The potatoes were an improvement from a previous "mushy" batch, after O'Dell learned that he shouldn't bake them with the lid on.
("Now, they're crispy and good because we fixed it," O'Dell said.) He had been at school since 6 a.m.
for breakfast club, where he made grits and bacon. "It's just fun. I get to school on time every single day, and honestly, it helped my grades a lot," O'Dell said.
"Because I showed up to school. When I get here early, I'm just ready for the day." A brisket sandwich and truffle Parmesan twice-baked potato is one of the items served at the café.
O'Dell, who wore a black plumed chef hat, was assigned to front of house. His job was to carve brisket. "I do it good," O'Dell said with a grin.
"The one guy said I did it the best out of everybody." Mercury O’Dell enjoys carving brisket at the Emerson School of Hospitality's lunch café. The rest of his day fills out with math and science, but O'Dell has the most fun working in the first-floor cafeteria, where he doesn't feel like he's in school.
He plans to go into the restaurant industry after graduation. "My dream job, I want a little corner store with a grill in the back," O'Dell said. "That's all I want.
...
It would be fun just cooking all day, selling food, and the convenience store so people in my community will come around and I'll get to know people." Satisfy your cravings With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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