Menu.pdfStudent-run Ranger Café @ West Shore to debut
Grand opening set for January 26 at Lakewood High location
LAKEWOOD, OH – With a state-of-the-art kitchen unrivaled by any educational institute in the state, the students in the West Shore Career-Technical District’s Culinary Arts/ProStart program are ready to share their talents with the public as they open their new restaurant, Ranger Café @ West Shore. Please join the Lakewood Board of Education, the Chamber of Commerce and other community leaders as they celebrate the restaurant’s grand opening on Tuesday, January 26 at 11:15 a.m. with a formal ribbon cutting.
Housed in the front of Lakewood High School at 14100 Franklin Blvd., the 50-seat, student-run restaurant is part of the Lakewood City School District’s recently completed renovation of the western half of the high school. The renovation has allowed West Shore’s students to learn the art of culinary preparation and hospitality services in specially designed classrooms equipped with demonstration cameras, flat screen televisions along with the large, state-of-the-art commercial kitchen.
“In the past culinary arts students cooked and catered from a small Family and Consumer science lab and they could only imagine how a restaurant worked on a day to day basis…. now our students can gain from a real life restaurant experience in a new state of the art facility. What a wonderful opportunity for our students and the community,” said West Shore Career Tech director Linda Thayer.
The restaurant will serve American Regional fare with prices between $4.00 and $6.00 for sandwiches and entrees. As the restaurant is entirely student run – even the logo and menu were designed by West Shore students - hours will be limited to Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 216-529-4165 then selecting “1” for reservations.
The junior and senior students will be responsible for every aspect of the running the restaurant, from developing the menu, preparing and serving the food, running the point-of-sale register system, managing reservations and maintaining the kitchen to industry standards. It’s both a challenging and rewarding task for the students.
“The biggest challenge Culinary students have had so far, is adapting to the size and scope of the new kitchen and the level of detail involved in starting up a new restaurant,” said senior culinary instructor and chef Rob McGorray. “These challenges in turn provide a unique, hands-on learning experience and opportunity for our students. It’s exciting to watch them rise to the challenges and embrace the opportunity.”
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West Shore Career-Technical District is collaboration between Bay Village, Lakewood, Rocky River and Westlake school districts and offers hands-on learning an real-life experiences, often for college credit.
ProStart is a program for high school students supported by the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation that provides an opportunity for students to learn the art of cooking and restaurant management combining training from professional chefs and classroom instruction. Students can also earn college credit while in high school.
