‘They want us to be open more’: Student-run restaurant in Grayslake expected to increase public availability
Despite a summer schedule limited to lunch on Thursdays, public interest in the Prairie at Brae Loch restaurant in Grayslake has been strong.
In fact, reservations for the facility, which occupies most of the renovated and re-imagined space in what had been a banquet hall at the public golf course, are booked for its eight-week run.
Curious visitors such as Dave Johnson of Third Lake have been known to stop for a look at what’s inside the familiar building fronting busy Route 45 just south of College of Lake County’s main campus in Grayslake.
“I drive by here all the time and wanted to check it out,” said Johnson, who popped into the student-run operation on a Wednesday afternoon. “I love the idea.”
So does CLC, which wants to expand available public times and hands-on programming for students in the hospitality and culinary management program.
“CLC invested a lot for us to have this space and they want us to be open more,” said Chef David Hooper, who has decades of teaching and work experience. “That will be the big question for 2024.”
When Johnson stopped in, Hooper was busy behind closed doors in the kitchen. This was prep day for HCM 151 American Regional cuisine and the destination was South Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Students were preparing and staging for the Thursday lunch service featuring Ybor City black bean soup with Cuban bread to start and Jamaican-American jerk chicken; Cuban sandwich with gaufrette potato chips; and grilled mahi-mahi with boniato fries as main courses.
“This is restaurant-level,” Hooper said.
Because the restaurant is a class for students, service dates are tied to the class schedule. The Prairie has been open one day a week this summer with plans to open for lunch two or three days a week in the fall.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know CLC had a culinary school.”
CLC has had some form of hospitality and culinary training for more than 35 years. The program was redesigned about 10 years ago to ensure real experience in restaurant environments, explained Jeff Stomper, dean of business and social sciences.
“This is what makes our graduates sought after by local employers,” he said. “They can walk into just about any kitchen and function at a very high level and make an immediate, positive impact.”
Students who get associate degrees rather than more targeted certificates can transfer to a baccalaureate institution such as Kendall College or Johnson & Wales University for additional hospitality and culinary training.
The Prairie restaurant opened in the basement of the A-wing on campus about 2013. A desire to expand programming and make the restaurant more accessible to the community led to an arrangement with the Lake County Forest Preserve District, which operates the 18-hole Brae Loch Golf Club.
Brae Loch’s restaurant and banquet hall hadn’t been in full use for about 10 years and was a financial drain. A 20-year agreement effective Jan. 1, 2021, allowed the school to use and manage the clubhouse for a restaurant and other facilities for $1 per month. CLC is responsible for building improvements and costs associated with the entire building envelope.
The college authorized $1.5 million for renovations, which included new kitchen equipment students can expect to find in workplaces after completing the program. A bake shop at the main campus has been built for the bakery and pastry degree program.
COVID and related issues delayed work at Brae Loch and the restaurant didn't open to the public until this past March.
“Before we were open, people were knocking on our door,” said Martha Arias, career program manager.
CLC also is responsible for the snack bar, which is operated by an outside vendor and isn’t part of the culinary program.
Summer semester students have been preparing and dishing up different cuisine themes weekly. New York City will be the eighth and final service of the semester July 25.
Having the restaurant at Brae Loch has the advantage of steady traffic and high visibility, Stomper said. A new hospitality degree and certificate with a “front of house” focus on the customer experience and overall management of a restaurant or event space will be launched, he added.
As for the added lunch days?
“Make sure to make a reservation or call ahead if you don't have one,” advised Nathan DuPont, restaurant manager.