Today we attended Thomas’ “Food & Beverage Management” practice class. In chef’s uniform for the first time, we followed him into Waiariki Restaurant kitchen, entering a brandly new world.

As arranged we had a discussion before the practice began. Thomas presented the course outline, introduced course characteristics and stressed the importance of practice skills---- though Hospitality students don’t have to become chefs, they are supposed to learn the cooking procedure and arts in order to provide better service..

Upon entering thespot, we were surprised at the variety of cooking facilities and scientific kitchen layout. We were also fascinated with the students of different colors and different ages. Supervisor Davis told us the students were taking assessments, of whom the oldest one was already 38 years old. He briefly introduced the assessment criteria and the menu on the front board and all the students were engaged in preparing their cooking. The only one judge is a famous Rotorua chef. The tutor, the supervisor and the chef answered all the questions we raised and satisfied our curiosity. Seeing our deep interest, the chef offered us a set of course books and we took a photo for memory.

For lunch , Thomas treated us in the campus restaurant to provide service practice. We ordered the assessment menu and they tasted very nice. After that we presented our evaluations seriously. Thanks to Thomas , we experienced both cooking and service practice and was deeply impressed.

(Translated by Wang Yanning)