The saying, “A tradition unlike any other” couldn’t be more fitting for one class at Greene County High School.

Instructor Julie Kennedy leads the Ram Restaurant class where the less than ten high school students have had to either take the introductory courses of food and nutrition or bakery in order to serve in the third trimester Ram Restaurant. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio the program is set up with the beginning of the school year as the beginning food classes, then during the second trimester it is the bistro and the third trimester is the restaurant. 

Kennedy notes that each week, the students are given different responsibilities within the restaurant.

“If this student is the baker, they are in charge of all of the bread for the week. So they need to get all of the pre-prep done, so that when the day rolls around they have the bread made for service. Somebody else is the pastry chef, somebody else makes the side, that’s their job for the week.”   

Sophomore Gavin Trecker’s interest in cooking started at home with his father and he compares  the different atmosphere Ram Restaurant provides. 

“Cooking at home, you have half the stuff they have here that you could be able to do like you’ve got a prover and so it takes half the time to do bread, you’ve got big ol’ ovens, you’ve got big freezers, walk-in refrigerators, it’s just a lot different than cooking at home.”

Junior Matthew Hovick describes the feedback from customers.

“I think they’re very appreciative because, I mean it’s all a learning process and so they’re not just going to come in here and think everything’s perfect, no, it’s high school kids. They know we’re learning. But I mean, I’m glad it’s in like a small community like Greene County because I mean we have regulars everyday. They give us compliments all the time. They enjoy it.” 

The student-led class is in its 43rd year and they are serving meals through May 26th. Kennedy requests that orders be submitted a couple of days in advance to give the students time to prepare. You can call them at 515-386-6102, email them at ramrestaurant@greenecountycsd.net, or Facebook message them. 

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/101ramrestaurant