Each year, IPFW’s hospitality and tourism management students run their own restaurant in Fort Wayne.
It’s located in the Holiday Inn next to the campus, and it's featuring a Belgian theme this year. As part of our NorthEATS Indiana series, WBOI’s Lisa Ryan finds out what’s on the menu.
Breana Whitney says the endive salad was one of the more popular menu items during the mock service the week before the restaurant officially opened. The Belgian-inspired menu was created entirely by the students in the class. She says another popular menu item is the moules frites, or mussels served with fries, finished in a white wine sauce.
“That one’s really good,” Whitney said. “That was definitely a hit last week too.”
Whitney is a student in the class, and also the general manager of the restaurant, called Rubenesque. That’s a way of describing a style based on Peter Paul Rubens, a Baroque painter.
Chef Andreas Fleckenstein, an instructor for the program, describes Rubens’ style of painting.
"Rich, comfort food... if eaten on a frequent basis (you will) put on a few extra pounds."
“Elaborate pictures that Rubens painted of plus-sized women with food backdrops. It speaks to the quality of food and the type of food that’s being served: rich, comfort food, which will definitely, if eaten on a frequent basis, put on a few extra pounds, thus speaking to the Rubenesque style.”
There are six different areas that students are in charge of, including back of house or front of house, which is the difference between preparing the food and serving it. There’s also marketing, purchasing, stewarding, and the general manager position. All of these teams have to collaborate.
Haley Sumner works as a server and the front of the house manager. She says communication is one of the hardest parts of the project.
“Communication between us and back of house and finance and all of that has really been a challenge, but it’s gone well so far,” Sumner said.
Rachel Stuczynski works as the back of the house manager. She says the five weeks of preparation before they opened were the biggest challenge. She says they had to figure out plating, proportions, food costs and a number of other things before opening day.
“We pulled together as a team and we all, we got it done. We’re here, and we’re running,” Stuczynski said.
"I couldn't tell until they just told me that they're all students."
Victoria Edwards ate lunch at Rubenesque on its opening day, and she says she didn’t know it was a student-run restaurant.
“I couldn’t tell until they just told me that they’re all students,” Edwards said. “This is really neat. The food was great, the atmosphere. Everything was great.”
The menu items range in price from a two dollar and twenty-five cent fondue appetizer to a twelve dollar steak with bearnaise sauce. Proceeds from the restaurant go to the the program, including scholarships for students.
“It’s a great way to support IPFW. We’re students, and we’re all working together and seeing what this will be like when we get into the real world,” General Manager Whitney said.
Whitney has plans to open her own restaurant next year. She says running this restaurant has given her valuable experience for starting her own.
"They have stepped up to the plate and done a wonderful job."
Class instructor and Chef Fleckenstein says the class is designed to be challenging for the students.
“Given that they have five weeks to go from zero to opening, the amount of work that needs to be done is amazing, and they have stepped up to the plate and done a wonderful job,” Fleckenstein said.
The restaurant is open every Thursday for lunch, from 11:30 to 1:30.
