Local · Trusted · Free
The Morning Impact — your neighborhood's most important stories, delivered every morning.
Amanda Smith has been helping the next set of chefs and restaurants prepare for the real world for the past 10 years at Keller ISD.
Smith is the culinary arts practicum teacher at Keller Center for Advanced Learning and uses her real-life experience as an executive chef, executive pastry chef and executive sous chef to teach students.
The details
The teaching lessons often come as the seniors in the program operate The Heat, a student-led restaurant that serves the public.
At the restaurant, the chef and sous chef work in tandem to get food prepared at various stations. All of the students, a mix from the high schools within KISD, have been part of the culinary program since their freshman year.
Each month of the school year, Smith mixes up the type of service so the students get a wide range of restaurant experiences. There is quick service with to-go orders, a mix of to-go and sit-down ordering and a three-course meal where no orders are taken and the planned dishes are served.
Schelbitzki said the core memory of helping his parents cook in the kitchen played a factor in why he chose to join the culinary program. He works for Hoshi Ramen in Keller and his experience at KCAL has helped.
“What I learned here is the assembly line and how everybody has a station and even though you’re working in your station, each station works together,” he said.
Among his favorite items he’s cooked at KCAL is Italian food, the current menu offering, as well as learning how to cook steaks.
A closer look
Millie Peters, a senior at Keller Timber Creek, plans to study culinary arts when she goes to Utah Valley University in the fall.
For the April menu, Peters was responsible for the tiramisu and learned some lessons when things did not go as planned. Timing is everything in a kitchen, she said.
Smith recalled a group making caramel that walked away for a little too long and it burned.
“It’s a lot of failing and learning how to problem solve in the moment,” Smith said. “Which is hard for them because they want to do it perfectly the first time, but that’s not life.”
Smith's journey to becoming a chef started by accident, she said. She failed a math class and was uncertain of her future until a friend in culinary school inspired her to try taking classes.
KISD students pick career tracks in eighth grade before going into high school. Some love it and others find a passion elsewhere.
“I don’t shy away from my story to them because I failed something really badly and I kind of gave up. Then I found out what I loved,” Smith said. “We use failure as an opportunity to learn.”
On the menu
Tristen Schelbitzki, a Keller High School student, is the restaurant's executive chef and leads a group of students preparing meals. With the school year almost over, the final course offerings were chosen by the class.
The "arrivederci" menu included artisanal stuffed shells, hand-pressed gnocchi, fettuccine tre modi and chicken parmigiana as the main courses. Tiramisu, Nutella-swirl panna cotta, gelato al Simone and berry pavlova were dessert options.
“They’ve taken stuff from each class and each thing they’ve learned and all the techniques are theirs,” Smith said.
The winter menu was a three-course meal that featured Texas red chili, Texas cornbread with jalapeño butter, pan-seared chicken thighs with poblano cream, smoked gouda and roasted sweet potato risotto and Texas citrus olive oil cake.
Ramen, tacos, elotes and a glazed donut burger have been other choices at The Heat.
Looking ahead
The menu will change during the next school year with a new class of seniors running the kitchen. KCAL posts the menu on its Facebook page.
Smith will work with the next class on sourcing food from the vendors, buying cups and teaching lessons on the cost of failure, like breaking a plate, at a restaurant.
“They like to rely heavily on TikTok videos or the Food Network or a recipe, but that’s not real life,” Smith said. “It’s real-life, practical problem solving that has to happen on the fly because we have people coming to eat. So if it doesn’t work, you can not just not have it. You've got to do it.”
