Nayland’s most popular pop-up eating establishment, the Manaaki Cafe, re-opened its doors at the beginning of term 3.

Since then it’s been busy every Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime with customers who  come to sample the ever-changing and inventive menu and to be waited on by the attentive level 2 hospitality students.

As well as the obvious benefits for the customers, the lunchtime sessions at the cafe offer the student waiters the chance to demonstrate they’ve got what it takes to get their table service assessment credits. Behind the scenes, there’s plenty of other student involvement with a crew on-hand to plate up the food, ideas for menus being generated by food technology classes and students in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

On the Tuesday that we visited, the menu featured a couple of delicious options to choose from. Attendance officer Carrie Wilson was impressed with the vegetable soup, singling out the fresh corn taste as something “special”.

She was dining with primary industries teacher Jeff Bryant who enjoyed his beef burger, especially the fact that it was served on Turkish bread, rather than your usual burger bun. “Superb!” he said. “Almost as good as the one I make at home.”

The idea for the beef burger came from a year 10 food technology student who won a competition to have their burger on the cafe menu, as well as the chance to dine at the café with the three runners up.

The tables full of diners were clearly making the most of the experience. German international student Annika Laubscher said she invited her German and Slovakian friends and her outdoor education teacher to join her for lunch on one of her last days at Nayland before she headed home.

As with all hospitality ventures, there are always challenges. For year 12 waiter Keiller, these were dealing with tables who had members come late and the fact that some people are "really slow eaters".

Shania, who’s now waitered twice at Manaaki, said that this second time was a much smoother experience and that she didn't need to ask for help. She says the experience has helped her to better understand the whole process, such as when to use which cutlery and when to clear tables.

Hospitality teacher and cafe mastermind Michaela Nicholas is very pleased with how the cafe’s been going this term. “I am really proud of how far [the students] have come in such a short time. Some offer better service than what I have experienced when dining out myself, so I am really happy we can reach such a standard in a school setting.”