Off to the Cabaret Cafe in Kilcullen college
Holly Lawlor, Emily Singleton and Tanisha Murape.
When more than 70 Transition Year students at Kilcullen's Cross and Passion College operated their one night only Jazz and Cabaret Cafe last week to a full house of invited guests, it was an example of learning especially one particular lesson — the importance of team work.
The now annual event is the culmination of the TY Hospitality Module in the college, which is operated for CPC by Georga Dowling and Conor Wafer of Newbridge-based Food School. The college Assembly Hall was converted into a recreation of a 1920s restaurant, complete with jazz band and a curated selection of appropriate entertainment.
Up to 80 invited guests included parents of students as well as a small number of college staff.
The 5-course menu included choices from three starters, soup, four main dishes and three desserts, ending with coffee and petits fours, all prepared by a Kitchen Crew group and served by a large cohort of waiting staff. Other students operated as managers and greeters, welcoming the guests.
The students had worked really hard to establish the theme and set up the occasion, with all in the group having a say in how it should look and feel. They created the paintings, the art deco pillars, constructed a Cupid's Bar, and devised their menus.
Front of House participants focused on learning correct table waiting etiquette for serving food and drinks, some of them tasked with welcoming guests and bringing them to their assigned tables. The furniture and tableware were provided by local restaurant Fallons.
Members of the Kitchen Crew spent several weeks devising, cooking and tasting different dishes to come up with a menu that was both delicious and gave a nod to favourite dishes from the 1920s.
The initiative debuted in 2020, and was run in 2023 and 2024 following postponements due to the pandemic.
