Culinary masterpieces on campus

Winter Berry Salad for NIC Cularts deli. Photo by Lydia Hanan,

Restaurants on NIC’s campus, Emerys and NIC Cularts deli, provide a way for students in culinary programs to get the experience of working in a deli or a restaurant setting.

Austin Cooper, a student working at the deli said, “We get here at 8 am and start working and are generally here until 1 to 1:30 pm, and we figure we [Emery’s] would be open during a prime lunch hour, so that we [the students] have the experience of what a lunch rush is like.”

The deli opens up at nine and closes at 1 pm whereas Emery’s opens up at 11 am and closes at 12:30 pm and are open on Wednesday and Thursday. These restaurants are located on the second floor of the Hedlund building facing towards the lake.

Emery’s and NIC Cularts deli are unique in the sense that they both have rotating menus.

“There are going to be some repeated products, like various types of quiche, different scones. We always try to have a variety of sweet and savory so if someone wants a dessert for breakfast they can do that, or if that want something more filling they can do that too.”

Rotating the menu allows for the students working at the restaurants to develop skill in making a variety of different food options.

Latte made by Austin Cooper. Photo by Lydia Hanan.

Recently card-readers have been added to both establishments, after battling to get them for around six to seven years.

“We went from about fifty to sixty sales to eighty to one hundred forty sales a day.” Arran Sharma, a student working at the deli, said.

Those numbers are just from the deli, Emery’s is in it slow season right now so the number of people learning about the card-reader is most the people swinging by the deli.

Both restaurants also take cash and checks, which can be made out to NIC Emery’s.

To make a reservation at Emery’s people are call (208) 769-7763.