On Tuesday, December 23, students in the Monroe College Department of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts will be cooking lunch for four-hundred at the Part of the Solution (POTS) community kitchen.  "The hospitality industry has the opportunity to deliver an enormous amount of pleasure and good will to many people," said Associate Academic Dean Carol Genese.

"It's important for our hospitality students to learn that we can provide much of the same kind of service to those who can't afford to pay for it."  A majority of the culinary students and Chef Craig Rutman, the Director of Culinary & Pastry Arts for Monroe College, will be cooking up a sumptuous feast for the POTS dining room, including lentil soup, breast of chicken with mushroom au jus, honey-glazed carrots, rosemary-roasted red potatoes, focaccia bread with herbs, basil, garlic and parmesan. For dessert there will be apple shortcake with maple-whipped cream and heart-shaped shortbread cookies.

"We're grateful that Monroe students have reached out to us in this way," said POTS Executive Director Sr. Mary Alice. "But they too will receive something. They'll learn how to be better human beings and get a feel for the broader face of humanity." For the Monroe College luncheon, POTS will be open from 12 - 4 p.m. POTS is located at 2763 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY. Their phone number is 718-220-4892.

When it was launched in January, the Monroe College Culinary Arts program offered a full range of courses necessary for careers in the food service industry. During this academic year, the program is being expanded to include intensive courses in Advanced Baking and Pastry Arts, Advanced Culinary Arts, Restaurant Management, and Stewarding, which will provide students with the competencies necessary to obtain meaningful, focused employment in the field.  The Monroe College Culinary Arts minor is open to Monroe students at the Bronx and New Rochelle campuses who seek an Associate's Degree in Hospitality, Tourism, and the Culinary Arts. The facility for the program, Chefworks @ Monroe College, is located in MacMenamin's Grill in New Rochelle.

For more information about Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, or any of Monroe's other programs, contact the Monroe Admissions Department in New Rochelle at 914-632-5400 or in the Bronx at 718-933-6700.