VGCC Culinary program announces spring dates for The Vanguard Café


VGCC Culinary Arts student Terri Pulley of Louisburg prepares mashed sweet potatoes for a Vanguard Café lunch. (VGCC Photo)

VGCC Culinary Arts student Terri Pulley of Louisburg prepares mashed sweet potatoes for a Vanguard Café lunch. (VGCC Photo)

The Vanguard Café in Oxford, where Vance-Granville Community College Culinary Arts students prepare and serve lunch for the public, is inviting the public to participate in developing culinary students’ kitchen and hospitality skills by dining there on scheduled Thursdays during the upcoming spring 2014 semester.

Members of the public can enjoy à la carte lunch service from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on the following Thursdays: January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, February 20, March 6, March 13, March 20, April 3, April 10, and April 24.

The two-year Culinary Arts degree program, based at the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford, prepares students for entry-level professional positions in restaurants, hotels, catering operations, health-care facilities, schools and other institutions.

“The Vanguard Café is an opportunity for the students to show off the skills they have been learning in a real public service setting,” said Chef Ross Ragonese, head of the VGCC Culinary program. “That’s the best way to prepare them for their careers.”

Reservations in advance are required.

For more information and to make reservations, call Chef Ross Ragonese at (919) 690-0312.