Ready for the World Café: Japan

The Ready for the World Café will take diners on a gastronomical journey across the Pacific on Tuesday, February 21. The café will serve up Japanese cuisine.

The Ready for the World Café, which is sponsored by US Foods, operates from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the UT Visitors Center, 2712 Neyland Drive. Each luncheon will consist of intermezzo, or small appetizer, salad, entrée and dessert. Advance tickets will be sold for each of the ten luncheons, and capacity is fifty to sixty diners. Cost is $12, and the faculty-staff discount applies. For tickets, see Marcia in 110 Jessie Harris Building or call 865-974-6645.

The Japanese luncheon menu is:

Appetizer: Chicken yakitori (skewered chicken dipped in a savory, sweet, and robust yakitori sauce)

Salad: Wakame salad (wakame seaweed marinated in soy sauce and rice vinegar)

Entrée: Tonkatsu (fried pork served with a delicious dark sauce and sides of rice and cabbage)

Dessert: Green tea ice cream and daigakuimo (subtle sweet green tea gelato joined with candied sweet potato)

The Ready for the World luncheons will be produced through collaboration of HRT 445 (the Advanced Food Production and Service Management class), the UT Culinary Institute, and Pellissippi Culinary Institute.

Students enrolled in hotel, restaurant, and tourism management (HRT) 445-taught by Clinical Assistant Professor Donetta Poisson-will work as general managers, dining room attendants, assistant kitchen managers, dining room managers, and dining room service employees. They will be responsible for the execution of the dining experience, managing staff, help in menu planning, preparation, participate in cooking, quantification, cost analysis, service during meal time, marketing of the event, and customer satisfaction activities.

Culinary Institute students will do most of the food preparation and will assist with dining room responsibilities.

This week's student café manager is Cheryl Wang of Memphis, a junior majoring in psychology and minoring in restaurant management. She is a recent graduate from UT's Culinary Institute. She currently works part-time as a server at Wasabi Japanese Steakhouse, and she plans to attend graduate school. Her career aspirations are to open a cafe and do food-related research.

In addition to the café, a variety of other Japanese culture events will be held on campus next week. The International House will hold Japanese Movie Night on February 20, a Japan-themed coffee house on February 21, and Japanese Culture Night on February 22.