Chez Nous is a student-operated five-course restaurant that is opening Wednesday, Nov. 9 in the Jacobetti Center.

Chez Nous is open from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday until Dec. 8. The cost is $14.99 plus tax.

It is both a class and a restaurant. The restaurant has been around for over 20 years, but has only been open in the fall semester for four years. The students create the menu, order the food, prep the food and wait the tables.

“Chez Nous means ‘our place.’ It was chosen to reflect a restaurant for the students,” said Yvonne Lee, faculty supervisor for Chez Nous.

There are two sections of HM 221, Hospitality Services Management, this semester. One section is in charge of Wednesday evenings and the other oversees Thursday evenings.

“Students do everything,” Lee said. “The more experienced the student, the less the faculty has to do. [This was] so the students can have a real life experience. [It’s] part restaurant and part class.”

There is a different theme every night. Within the classes, the students have been divided into groups and each has created a different theme.

The themes are based on a wide range of cuisines of the students’ choosing: Mediterranean, soul food, southern style, Indo-Javanese and seasonal menus to use fresh food wherever possible.

“I think that I would like to share every group’s menu with my fellow NMU students,” said Derrik Bench, a senior hospitality management major.

The students are required to make six items per night: an appetizer, soup, salad, two entrée options, beverages and a dessert.

Opening night’s menu is: mini-phyllo-tarts, chilled cherry soup, goat cheese spinach salad, grilled chicken with cinnamon apple chutney, lamb with spiced berry sauce served with roasted Yukon potatoes, zucchini and squash sauté provencale and lemon crepes with raspberry sauce for dessert.

“[For] opening night, I’m looking forward to the rush,” Bench said. “I’ve been working in kitchens for a while now, and I have to say there is nothing like the adrenaline rush of the kitchen.”

Bench is co-sous chef in Thursday’s class. This means that he does just about everything in the kitchen and goes wherever he is needed.

The Dec. 1 menu will consist of fig compote, butternut squash with caramelized apples, roasted beet salad, braised short ribs, wild mushroom ravioli and crème caramel wit mulled cider.

“[It’s] my favorite and such a holiday menu,” Lee said. “I’m sure everyone and their brother is going to come.”
Chez Nous is mainly by reservation. It can only seat 60 people at a time and reservations go quickly, Lee said.

“It’s always been a desire [of mine] to attract more NMU students,” Lee said. “Most haven’t experienced a five-course meal. We don’t demand that you dress for the occasion. We want you to experience the whole thing.”

Some students who have completed the course return to expand their management skills, like running the back house (kitchen) or front house (dining area).

“I’m really looking forward to the training process for the front of house staff,” said Kenna Gadzinski, a senior hospitality management major. “It’s a great chance for me to get more managerial experience before graduating.”

To make a reservation, call (906) 227-1981 or email Yvonne Lee at [email protected].