Oct. 25, 2023

Foods, nutrition students hosting two Friday Night Café events in November

Northwest Missouri State University students studying foods and nutrition are resuming the program’s Friday Night Café this fall and serving guests internationally inspired meals and décor.

Students will host two café nights featuring a taste of Thailand on Friday, Nov. 3, and Nigerian cuisine on Friday, Nov. 17. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., and meals are served from 5-6 p.m. on the third floor of the Administration Building.

Tickets are $15 and available to purchase online by clicking here. Seating is limited to 50 guests per evening.

The menu for the Thailand-themed night will feature main entrées of authentic beef pad Thai and creamy red curry with chicken with sides of roti bread, garlic chili edamame, vegetable stir fry and jasmine rice. The menu also features a variety of salads and desserts, including banana custard, mango sweet sticky rice, banana chocolate spring rolls and traditional Thai pancake.

The menu of Nigerian cuisine will feature a main course of peppery obe ata – savory baked chicken topped with a spicy, bold red stew full of herbs and spices – and spicy beef suya made with aromatic herbs and spices on thinly sliced skewered beef. The menu also features fufu, tender African-roasted carrots, curry Zulu cabbage, Agege bread and a variety of salads. Desserts will include warm spiced puff puff, sweet coconut shuku shuku, crispy chin chin and rich garri chocolate truffle.

Friday Night Cafés satisfy the lab requirement for students enrolled in Northwest’s quantity foods course, taught by Kelli Wilmes, who is the director of Northwest’s dietetics program.

“We are excited to continue the tradition and bring the cultural meals back this semester,” Wilmes said. “The students have been working hard to provide a unique experience.”

Students organize into management teams and committees, which are responsible for budgeting, grocery shopping and marketing as well as setting up and decorating the café. 

All aspects of the evening – including the theme, menu selection, pricing and décor – are prepared by management teams of students. The profession-based experience helps students practice skills in safe and healthy food preparation as well as management, teamwork, organization, budgeting, crisis and quality management.

Meleah Walkup, a junior dietetics major from Gower, Missouri, who is working with the team organizing the Thai-themed café, said she is looking forward to gaining experience with producing large quantities of foods. After graduating from Northwest next summer, Walkup hopes to pursue a master’s degree and complete an internship program in dietetics. Eventually, she wants to practice dietetics in a clinical or community setting.

“There is a lot of food preparation to be done the week of Friday Night Café that I believe is going to be a huge learning experience for all of us participating in the distribution of food to the consumer,” Walker said. “I have already gained a lot through this project with how much goes into a larger food production.”

Walkup also says the Friday Night Café is helping her hone communication skills.

“Dietitians in any setting need to communicate and work together with others, which can be difficult at times, but extremely rewarding in the end,” she said.

Bailey Nothstine, a senior dietetics major from Barnard, Missouri, is working with the team organizing the Nigerian-themed night. She is managing the creation of two recipes for the night, in addition to designing the menu as part a marketing committee. She will complete her bachelor’s degree at Northwest in December and then plans to pursue a master’s degree and complete an internship program in dietetics with the intent to become a registered and licensed dietitian.

“Dietitians work around food for a living – whether we are examining what people regularly eat, suggesting what they should eat or preparing it ourselves,” Nothstine said. “Food service and safety is a huge part of that, so Friday Night Cafe is a great way to get more experience in the kitchen individually and with a team.”

For more information about Northwest’s foods, nutrition and dietetics programs, click here.