MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – Northern Michigan University is giving hospitality students an opportunity to work at a student-run restaurant.
The group of around 20 students prepares and serves food to anyone who makes a reservation at Chez Nous.
Trixie Maguran Jacobson is one of those students. A sophomore hospitality management student at NMU, she is the co-manager of the dining room at Chez Nous, the student-run restaurant that has been operating for around 20 years.
“We have created and perfected a kind of front and back of house set up making sure that everything looks presentable for our guests but also runs professionally,” Maguran Jacobson said of the dining room and kitchen operations at the restaurant.
Maguran Jacobson is a student in Professor Loganne Glendening’s Hospitality Management Guest Services class. Professor Glendening says her class is meant to prepare students by giving them real-world experience.
“The point is to train students in being comfortable with guest interaction as well as fine dining experiences,” Professor Glendening said. She continued, “We co-collab with our HM 120 Professional Cooking Management 2 course and what they do is create the entirety of the static menu, student features, and operate our back of the house.”
Maguran Jacobson says her dream is to own her own restaurant. She adds her time at Chez Nous taught her many new and important skills. “This is my first time serving in a restaurant like this,” Marugan Jacobson said. “I’ve usually done counter service, so this has not only taught me a lot and given me that firsthand experience but really has prepared me for what I should know out in the field.”
The restaurant plans to move to the Northern Center beginning next semester where it will rebrand as ‘Ascend Marquette.’
Professor Glendening hopes this change will make the restaurant more visible and bring in more customers.
In the meantime, Chez Nous welcomes students, faculty, staff, and the general public to make a reservation.
If interested in reserving a table at Chez Nous, go to the NMU website by clicking here.
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