LAURINBURG — Scotland High School is continuing its culinary program with the student run, in-house restaurant called the Bagpiper Restaurant.
The planning for the restaurant began in 2005 when Steven Dribble, chef and program director, was recruited by Scotland County Schools to establish a new culinary arts program. The restaurant was established in the spring of 2007.
“(Bagpiper Restaurant) can help those who are currently working in a restaurant better their jobs and for the ones who are leaving us to go to culinary school …,” said current instructor Sam Richardson, who came after Dribble in the fall of 2008 to help assist with teaching the students in culinary.
According to the Bagpiper Restaurant’s website, the program and the Bagpiper Restaurant is run by two chef instructors who are responsible for the implementation of curriculum and instruction of the students in the program.
The restaurant is opened to the public and Scotland High School’s staff, but not to the students.
“We do have demos during in-class sessions where students can try food and items off the menu,” Richardson said.
There are three different courses available for the students: intro to culinary, culinary arts I and culinary II.
Eighteen to 20 students attend each class and work within the restaurant for meal prepping, cooking and managing the facility.
As part of the course, students are able to learn and gain experience by working in the restaurant in the different positions they are participating in for credit. For example, they can take on cooking ranging from basic knife skills, cooking methods, baking, safe food handling, dining room service and supervision skills.
“We need to get more support from the community,” Richardson said. “I think it’s a great way to see students in action within the restaurant because the community can come in and check out what the students are doing in the program.”
The menu from the restaurant provides various different dishes that customers can pick from during the breakfast and lunch hours. They also provide dine-in or take out.
Days and hours of operation for the Bagpiper are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — for breakfast 8:15 to 10:45 a.m. and lunch 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
For information, contact the Bagpiper Restaurant at 910-276-1540.
Octavia Johnson is a fall semester intern from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
