By: Tyler Banks, Roxana Casanueva, and Abigail Rosales

Food is the way to a man’s heart. The kitchen is the heart of a home. Meals are a time of celebration: birthdays, holidays, sometimes simply the small victory of making it through math class.

At MLEC, there is one place that makes lunch time extra special: the C-Cafeteria, affectionately known as C-Caf. This is where the culinary students create their culinary masterpieces, from pastries and cakes to the hearty salads and wraps.

“I’m a picky eater, I’m cautious about what I eat and where I eat it from. But at C-Caf the food is always good. I always try and get something I haven’t tried before, and I can easily say that I have no complaints,” said Amanda Castellanos, a junior in the Health academy.

Every week, students at MLEC look forward to Wednesdays, not just because it marks the middle of the week, but because it is the day that C-Caf opens for the week.

Unfortunately, C-Caf is only open three days of the week, while F-Caf (main cafeteria) is open all five days. Students have voiced multiple times that they prefer C-Caf to be open all five days of the week rather than three, since it is their first option for lunch.

“C-Caf should be open all the time because everyone loves the food especially the fries, they’re amazing,” said Isaac Mezawi, a freshman in IT.

But perfection takes practice. Culinary students have a lot to prepare for, from certification exams to perfecting recipes, it takes time to plan for the week.

From the first day of school, Jaguars begin preparing for their futures; for culinary students that includes the skills necessary to open restaurants, bakeries, or become chefs. The rest of the MLEC family is more than happy to share in that preparation.