In the middle of a college campus, filled with casually dressed students toting backpacks, a small, elegant restaurant awaits diners seeking something beyond a fast food lunch.
The Christine Room at Lynn University includes 10 linen-covered tables decorated with fresh flowers. Meals such as cheese tortellini with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, fresh talapia, and Delmonico steak are served on silver trays while classical music plays softly in the background.
The staff at The Christine Room are students at Lynn University. Their work at the restaurant is a lab for their degrees in the Hospitality Administration Program.
“This is all new to me,” said Kenny Zegarek, 20, of Long Island, N.Y. His experience includes working in his father’s motorcycle shop.
Zagarek’s lessons in The Christine Room should come in handy. He plans to own or manage a restaurant in the Bahamas one day.
Patti Flaherty, 20, who lives in Delray Beach, is also working in the Christine Room lab. She will soon begin her senior year, and she plans to work in the hotel industry with conventions and conferences after graduating.
The same small group of students works together several times a week at the lab. “I love the fact that we get to work with other students. A regular class does not offer that much interaction,” Flaherty said.
Food served in The Christine Room is prepared by an executive chef in the same kitchen used for the main dining hall at the university. The students take orders, serve beverages, meals and desserts and clean the dining area. They learn how to write and plan menus.
David Schapiro is manager of The Christine Room and an assistant professor in the College of Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation Management. He instructs about 14 students each semester at The Christine Room lab.
“The students are in here not to become professional servers. They are here because they are going to own or manage restaurants and clubs, and to get an appreciation for the work,” Schapiro said. The Christine Room is more controlled than a regular restaurant, with more one-on-one attention, he said. “I’m here to see that they succeed,” Schapiro said.
Schapiro, originally from South Africa, is in his sixth year at Lynn University. He worked in hotels and restaurants in Las Vegas, Palm Beach and Boca Raton before joining the university.
About half of the students in the lab have some previous restaurant experience, Schapiro said. “The challenge of it, as in any restaurant, is to stay organized … It’s a team. We all do it together as a team.”
The intricacies of serving a meal are nothing new to Troy Espy, 24, of Savannah, Ga. The sophomore has several years of experience as a waiter. He works in The Christine Room lab during the day and is a waiter at an upscale steak restaurant in Boca Raton in the evening.
Espy said he wants to work in a spa after earning his degree. He said working in the lab allows him to spend more time with patrons than he can at his restaurant job. “We try to let them know they are remembered,” he said of the people who eat at The Christine Room.
Michael Shannon, 21, of New Jersey is a senior in the Hospitality Administration Program. The Christine Room is his first experience as a waiter. Shannon worked behind the scenes in the kitchen when he was an apprentice to a pastry chef during high school.
Lunch is served at The Christine Room 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday during the school year. A $100 membership contribution allows patrons to use The Christine Room for a school year. The contribution is applied to a scholarship fund for Hospitality Administration students.
Members may use the Christine Room for private breakfasts, dinners of special parties. The Christine Room is in the center of the university campus, adjacent to the dining hall. Lynn University is at 3601 North Military Trail, Boca Raton.
