For culinary students, a taste of real life

The smell of baking bread scented the Euclid Culinary Arts classroom at Shore Cultural Center.

Inside, the air was crackling with excitement. Students busily stocked shelves in the kitchen while painters put finishing touches on the room at Shore that will open Wednesday as the Euclid Culinary Bistro.

"It will be good experience for us. We're going to have to work hard, but it will be a lot of fun," Anita Laule of Mentor said.

The bistro is the second step in the culinary arts program which Euclid City Schools began last year. The program -- a goal of the teacher, Chef Dan Esquivel -- accepts students from the Lake Shore Compact, a technical consortium including Euclid, Mentor, Wickliffe, and Willoughby-Eastlake schools.

The café will be run by the second-year students, all seniors, who have learned safe food handling and storage in addition to cooking techniques.

"We worked hard last year, but we didn't have anything riding on it. Now it's time for us to step up and show what we can do," said Brandon Ostrow from Eastlake North High School. "We'll offer great food at good prices."

Students came up with the names for the menu items, which include sandwiches such as Euclid's Bistro Angus Burger, and entrees such as Willoughby Cedar Plank Salmon and Eastlake pasta trio.

In addition to the standard menu, a special soup, entrée and dessert will change weekly.

Brandon Simonelli of Willoughby South High School will be one of four front-line cooks at the outset. He knows what to expect after a year's experience as a cook at IHOP in Willoughby.

"It's fast-paced, so I pretty much know what I am doing," he said. "We get to alternate our jobs every week so everybody will get a chance to do everything."

Mark Welland of Mentor will be the sous chef, basically in charge of the floor. He has experience as a line cook at Winking Lizard in Mentor....