While Cafe 91 might be the only time many students come in contact with the culinary department here at Mt. SAC, it represents the culmination of effort and learning for aspiring food professionals studying here.

It can be a bit of a challenge for the Mt. SAC community to partake in because of the limited hours. The cafe operates from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Dec. 4 this semester, but the experience of dining is well worth the effort of finding the time.

In addition, the Fall semester is the only time to experience cafe dining. In the Spring, the class will shift back to a grab and go model.

Chef Shelley Doonan is the department Chair of the hospitality program here at Mt. SAC. She had some thoughts on the evolution of the culinary program at Mt. SAC.

“I was hired as a hospitality instructor, and then we were moving into this beautiful building, and so I wrote a culinary program to go along with the beautiful space that we have now,” Doonan said.

An interesting side note that you should consider as you’re enjoying the tempura cauliflower with a sweet and spicy glaze is that Cafe 91 is the result of some significant grants from the state of California.

“So our biggest grantor would be the Strong Workforce Grant and that really is the reason that this program is this program. They initially granted us a lot of money,” said Doonan of the over $500,000 that established the current culinary program.

You may have seen the food truck emblazoned with the Mt. SAC logo on campus. One might assume that it’s associated with the culinary program.

“That’s through Sodexo, which is the managed food service on campus,”Doonan said. “So that has nothing to do with us, although that would be super fun.”

A future grant might rectify that need. One can dream.

In addition to the state grant, Doonan has been hard at work writing even more grants so that the program can expand further. But the program has another challenge according to Doonan.

“The hardest message to get out for me has been that they’re classes,” Doonan said. “So we have to follow the block schedule. And we have to, you know, we have, we can only be in session when the class is scheduled. Right? So we can’t do dinner service, we can’t do breakfast service,”

A Mt. SAC student comes full circle

While Doonan has worked to administer and build up the culinary program, Chef Alex Carrillo oversees and guides the students in running the cafe. It seems appropriate considering Carrillo’s origin story.

“I actually started as a student here at Mt. SAC,” Carrillo said. “So that’s kind of what brought me here. I was studying hospitality management but I really leaned towards the culinary side.”

After his time at Mt. SAC, Carrillo moved into the restaurant world of southern California. He worked in catering in Pasadena where he was able to hone his cooking skills, then moving to the prestige restaurant, Animal in Los Angeles. After that, he became a line cook at Bread and Barley in Covina where he worked his way up to become its executive chef. That is when Mt. SAC came calling.

“They were like, hey, you were a student worker you did the program, you’re in the industry, we can use your help with building up this program,” Carrillo said.

They built from the ground up according to Carrillo, “So we came into this kitchen and it was completely empty. There was no equipment or anything like that.” In addition to working towards establishing Cafe 91, Carrillo was presented with an opportunity, “Then the opportunity to be an instructor presented itself and I seized it and they offered a job to me. So right now I’m going through the tenure process.”

Turning to Cafe 91 itself, Carrillo addressed the service the cafe offers during alternating semesters.

“So for now the compromise was doing it every semester but the idea is to eventually go to making it where we can run it Monday through Thursday whether it’s grab and go or restaurant,” Carrillo said.

When asked about trends in the restaurant industry, Carrillo said, “So I think a lot of restaurants now are trying to keep employees, trying to invest in them and then really build them up to promote them into higher positions in the restaurant.” Which is good news for students coming out of Mt. SAC’s culinary program.

One aspect of the cafe that makes it unique is its cost structure.

“Typically when we look at the food cost of these items, we’re looking on the higher end, we have a higher end food cost because we don’t have the overhead the students are not getting paid, they’re here to get credits,” Carrillo said. “Also, many of the items are made in-house, like the brioche buns and pickles for the burgers.”

Carrillo also emphasized that while the delicious burger on the menu is very popular, there are healthier options as well.

“So cooking technique, we try to go a little bit healthier, a little bit vegan, vegetarian and leaner cooking methods,” he said.

Carrillo wanted to emphasize that the cafe was a learning environment, “Sometimes people forget that these are actually students that are learning. And so it’s not often but just be patient with them as they learn.”

Out into the real world as a kitchen specialist

This is the last semester in the culinary program for Monique Chavez-Diaz. While she hopes to one day open her own restaurant, for now, she aspires to the position of kitchen specialist.

“I currently want to be a kitchen specialist to help open new stores and learn how to open new establishments.” Chavez-Diaz said.

Chavez-Diaz loves to bake and her specialties include cheese cake and conchas. When asked what she found most challenging about working in a kitchen, she had an interesting response.

“The doneness of the meat and people’s different tastes to it. Different preferences, especially if you have a big family where you have a lot of different preferences,” Chavez-Diaz said.

Another challenge for Chavez-Diaz in the kitchen is time management.

“So I would say maybe that time management can be difficult sometimes if you’re not on your list or you’re not on time or if you just, even if you take a few minutes in one spot, it can throw off your whole line, your whole meal, your whole rhythm,” Chavez-Diaz said.

Mt. SAC is fortunate to have the culinary department it has. The instructors, staff and students have developed something very special in Cafe 91. Every semester the community of Mt. SAC can experience the food artisanry and teamwork of the students in a very intimate way. Food is us and we are food. Whether we think of it or not, food nourishes not only our body, but our soul and without it, how could we chase and achieve our own dreams?

So, if you want to support the culinary artisans of the future, make the trek to Cafe 91 between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Tues. and Thurs.