Chef Jeffrey Stuart (left) enjoys teaching a new generation of culinary artists the finer points of cooking.

By Gabriela C. Martinez

When you enter Highlander Café at Somerville High School, you will be greeted and led to a table by talented, energetic teenagers dressed in formal waitressing attire. As a starter, you could order a creamy roasted butternut squash infused with ginger or a pear and apple salad. For your entrée dish, you may choose a homemade chicken pot pie topped with a buttery, flaky crust. There are also options for vegetarians. The vegetable lasagna is made with tender eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, and roasted red peppers, all layered in between house made lasagna noodles and a ricotta-mozzarella cheese blend. All of this and more is created and prepared by Somerville High School’s culinary arts students at the Highlander Café.

This year, the students at the Highlander Café have new teachers: Melissa Nova and Jeffrey Stuart. Both Nova and Stuart are accomplished chefs that have had extensive experience teaching and working in the field of culinary arts. Chef Stuart has taught for over ten at the high school level and post-secondary level at Johnson and Wales. He was nominated for Outstanding Vocational Teacher of the Year and won a gold medal the Cup of nations Culinary Arts Competitions in Quebec.

“I love my job. That’s why I do it. I love these kids. Yes, I could be back in the industry and make four times what I’m making right now. But it’s not about the money,” Stuart promptly answered when asked about his relationship to his job.

Although this is her first year of teaching at the high-school level, Melissa Nova worked for four years as the Sr. kitchen manager at the Cheesecake Factory, where she was in charge of teaching and training the kitchen staff. Prior to that, Chef Nova worked in a French-inspired restaurant Lumiere in Newton and Masa Southwestern Bar and Grill as a sous chef.

The SHS Culinary Arts program students learn the essentials from the ground up.

“There is something more exciting about teaching young adults. You get to help them find a passion, guide where they want to go, and figure out what their next step is going to be. We offer a really great menu that is up to standard with the industry. We show the students the fundamentals of cooking, techniques. They learn the fundamentals of French cooking. They are actually the ones who prepare the food. The public gets to eat really delicious food for a really good price. And at the same time the students get to practice what they’ve learned and what is like to work in the restaurant environment, which is fun, but is also takes a lot of discipline,” says Nova.

Most of the students receiving technical Somerville High School’s Culinary Department plan to go to culinary school upon finishing high school. Marissa Carr, who is seventeen years old, plans on pursuing her culinary arts degree at Johnson and Wales after receiving her high school degree. Lillian Batista, also seventeen, is interested in a career in Criminology, but is immensely passionate about cooking and working in the hospitality industry.

As part of their culinary arts curriculum, the students at Somerville High School are required to complete three hours of service each week by working as chefs or waiters at the Highlander Café. They are also in charge of creating and preparing new dishes, such as holiday pastries and other seasonal favorites, for the public.

“I try to lean on the seniors and get their input, whether it is something they saw on TV or something their grandmother cooks. We often try to feature something that might be old school but with a nouveau twist to it. Our interpretation of the classic Shepherds Pie is much different than the classical interpretation,” explains Chef Stuart.

Highlander Café, which has been operating for over thirty years, serves lunch on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11: 00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is open to the general public. The restaurant also offers in-house and off-premise catering for special events.